Celebrating Success: Stewart Johnstone

Dr Stewart Johnstone was recently interviewed by the Institute of Internal Communications, the professional body dedicated to internal communication in the UK, on the topic of Creating Listening Organisations. In the interview Stewart outlined the benefits of meaningful employee voice and the value of dialogue between an organisation and its workforce. Academic research demonstrates that organisations stand to benefit from employees speaking up, as employees often have ideas and insights that managers are missing out on. Most employees also value the opportunity to express themselves and this can be highly motivational. It can also mean workforce annoyances can be resolved. However, modern organisations often focus upon cascading information downwards to employees, while underemphasising the need to listen carefully to what employees are actually saying, and to act upon this valuable feedback.

Failing to listen to employees can lead to organisational scandals such as those in healthcare and financial services in recent years. In extreme circumstances the consequences of not listening can be deadly as disasters in aviation and oil exploration starkly demonstrate. Investigations into such events usually reveal staff in the organisation were well-aware of what was going on but did not speak up. Why? Perhaps they were too scared or disengaged to say anything – or they did try to speak up but feared the risks were too great. Or their concerns were ignored or shut down.

For organisations interested in promoting a listening culture there are two main implications. First, they must not limit themselves to top down communications but encourage greater two-way dialogue with their workforce. This might be through well-established techniques such as town hall meetings, forums and focus groups, or involve digital technology including enterprise social media platforms such as Yammer.   However, regardless of the mechanisms used, managers and organisational leaders must accept they do not have all the answers. They must be open to having their ideas and suggestions scrutinised and critiqued.   For some this might feel quite alien and at times extremely uncomfortable. But employees will quickly learn if they are wasting their time.   As meaningful two-way dialogue and becomes embedded, employers and employees can become more comfortable with the process, even at times of significant disagreement. And where this is achieved, there are potentially significant benefits for both organisations and their employees.

The full interview appeared in the October 2019 issue of Voice Magazine, the publication of the Institute of Internal Communications.