The Art of Listening to your most important Stakeholder: The Employee (Part 1 of a two part series)

by Abhi Shanker:

During a meeting with an external vendor earlier today, they mentioned, “if you want to conduct randomized training for your employees, don’t bother training them.” It took me a moment to understand the statement, but it clearly emphasized the need for personalized learning and development for staff. In an era where entire training programs can be generated by AI, have we drifted so far from personalization that we require reminders? When was the last time you received an email from your CEO and it spoke to you, perhaps other than just mentioning your name at the start of the memo?

Much has already been discussed about customizing messages for employees, whether during a transformation effort or when introducing a new process optimization. Many change management frameworks highlight the importance of having an Executive Sponsor who possesses both the willingness and the influence to support the initiative. The question remains: how extensively can we personalize messages to effectively motivate the audience and encourage them to embrace change?

To approach this issue, organizations need to segment the target audience and understand their preferences, expertise levels, and peer networks. While many organizations aim to gather such data, they often struggle to provide detailed ‘personas’ of their employees. Without this information, change managers or internal communicators can only make informed estimates.

Grouping employees based on common parameters can be a challenging, if not an impossible task. In an age where the attention span is all of 7 seconds, estimating what might hit the mark in terms of employee engagement, can quickly wear away the audience who doesn’t quite agree with the personalization effort.

Organizations should initiate and maintain frequent engagement with their employees when embarking on a change journey. They should work collaboratively with colleagues in the data teams. Some of these colleagues might be found in human resources, who are responsible for safeguarding this data, and may not want to part with this information, hiding behind various policies. So, is this the road less traveled, and never to be engaged with? (with apologies to M. Scott Peck) One of the best ways I have found audience (employees) segmentation to be successful within organizations, is to figure out the peer networks. Starting with focus group discussions, or pulse surveys, or even the annual employee surveys, asking questions like these may help:

1. Are there any informal networks you are a part of?
2. Who do you turn to, outside of your immediate team, when you have questions?
3. Which colleagues do you consider to be influential in your wider team or within the organization?
4. What is your preferred mode of receiving communication about organization changes?

Once you have figured out the informal networks, which may also include a shadow social media channel, it may be a good idea to pilot test your communication with a small representative group before your email blast. There may be several hidden subject matter experts (SMEs) within your target audience you may not be aware of. In several organizations I have worked in, or worked with as a Management Consultant, I have discovered a bestselling published author who is a creative designer in her day job. Or an Executive Assistant who was the Editor of his college magazine. I have found them to be excellent partners in the communication, or the change journeys, or sometimes both.

Which brings me to my next point: the art of listening. This coincides with the short attention span I spoke about earlier. The open-door policy will likely not cut it. I have seen the (open) doors stay ajar for many Senior Executives and Executive Directors of International Aid organizations to drink beer with the employees watching the World Cup and later balk at the employees not opening to them. We cannot ever underestimate the folks we hire to take our organizations to newer heights. They always know if we are trying too hard to listen. Installing listening mechanisms does not mean beckoning your favored ones to fill you with the watercooler gossip. It must be a genuine two-way conversation, with both parties taking a liking to the chatter, and not be top-down ‘executive speak’. Genuine two-way conversations are not just about talking, but about engaging and involving everyone in the dialogue.

….Continued (Part II: What can you do to capture the unsaid? What should you do to know what your employees want to tell you, but haven’t yet?)

+++

Abhi Shanker is a transformation leader and change management expert with deep experience driving global initiatives across technology and sales organizations. Currently at AWS, Abhi leads strategic programs that equip teams to navigate change effectively, blending innovation, data-driven insights, and customer-centric approaches. He is a #WeLeadComms honoree.

Written by: Editor