Organizations that truly listen to their people are 4.6 times more likely to retain them and enjoy 23% higher workforce productivity, according to research by Explorance. They’re also significantly more likely to unlock breakthrough ideas. 

Yet here’s the uncomfortable truth: many organizations still struggle to operationalize employee listening. During a From Day One webinar about “Elevating Employee Voice: How High-Performing Organizations Turn Input into Impact,” leaders from Explorance shared candid thoughts on why listening efforts often stall—and how businesses can pair technology with a comprehensive ecosystem of strategies to transform their employees’ voices into a catalyst for lasting, positive change.

Why Listening Efforts Fail

Employee listening efforts often begin with the best of intentions but falter due to avoidable missteps. One common problem is what’s known as “drive-by sponsorship,” said Shawn Overcast, general manager, enterprise solutions at Explorance. 

At the outset, executive teams show enthusiasm and visible support for the listening initiative, only to disengage as competing priorities emerge. This inconsistency leaves employees questioning whether leadership was ever genuinely committed, she says. Some organizations often fall into the 80/20 trap—investing the majority of their time, budget, and energy into survey design and data collection, while leaving little for meaningful follow-through. The result is a trove of insights with no clear path to action.

Neglecting to invite employees to the table when solutions are finally discussed is another common misstep, says Overcast. HR and management teams take over the response, sidelining the very people who understand the problems best. 

And even when data reaches frontline managers, it often arrives in the form of dense dashboards with little guidance. Without support to interpret and act on the results, managers are left feeling overwhelmed, and the listening effort stalls before it can spark meaningful change.

Together, these pitfalls turn promising initiatives into missed opportunities. To truly harness employee voice, organizations must stay engaged, close the feedback loop, invest in action, include employees in crafting solutions, and equip managers to lead with insight.

The Listening Gap: From Feedback to Follow-Through

Overcast and colleague Peggy Parskey, principal consultant shared that the difference between high-performing organizations and those that merely track their employees’ sentiment lies in intentionality, leadership, and, perhaps most importantly, trust. They shared eight levers that make employee listening work:

Establish Feedback Channels: Carefully evaluate available mechanisms for gathering employee input. You might opt for a mix of structured tools, such as online surveys and more informal methods, like interviews or casual conversations. 

Manage Data Responsibly: Ensure the tools and platforms you use for data collection respect employee privacy and meet ethical standards.

Commit to Transparent Communication: Before launching your listening initiative, inform your employees about the process, clarify its purpose, timelines, and the guardrails you’ve put in place to ensure confidentiality. 

Bring Your People on the Journey: Invite your people to co-create solutions. You can do this by asking them to interpret feedback and shape action plans.

Act on Feedback: Remember, turning feedback into real change requires more than just listening—it demands translating insights into decisive action plans.

Engage Your Managers: Managers need to be empowered with the skills and insights to reinforce your organization's listening efforts.

Set the Tone from the Top: Embedding a culture of employee listening requires sustained executive-level commitment and strategic ownership.

Maintain the Momentum: Establish long-term feedback loops with regular check-ins, continuous improvement, and visible impact tracking.

Measuring Maturity: From Emerging to Leading 

Explorance has developed a maturity model to help businesses assess the maturity of their employee listening capabilities. First, emerging organizations—those just starting to tune in—show early signs of listening, often through basic feedback tools and informal responses, but their efforts are sporadic and largely reactive.

As organizations move into the foundational stage, they establish more consistent channels for feedback and begin to act on what they hear. Communication and follow-through become more routine, though execution may still vary across teams, revealing gaps in alignment and accountability.

Established organizations take things further. Listening has become a well-structured practice, and leaders are committed and visibly involved. Employee input doesn’t just get acknowledged—it results in tangible action. These companies demonstrate that listening is more than a process; it’s a principle embedded in how they operate.

Advanced organizations elevate listening to a strategic capability. They integrate sophisticated feedback mechanisms directly into business planning, using insights to shape priorities, improve performance, and drive outcomes. Listening isn’t just reactive—it’s predictive and intentional.

At the top of the model are leading organizations. Here, employee voice is a catalyst for innovation, a driver of strategic decisions, and a cornerstone of culture. Listening is deeply embedded at every level, shaping not just what the organization does, but who it is.

Interestingly, most businesses don’t progress in a straight line. “The reality is that for organizations, you may go from crawling to walking and may never get to running, or you may find yourself in a situation where lots of things change and you're back crawling again,” said Parskey. To keep momentum, an effective listening strategy requires infrastructure, follow-through, and involvement of employees at all levels. 

Editor’s note: From Day One thanks our partner, Explorance, for sponsoring this webinar. 

Elizabeth Beaupre is a freelance B2B writer and editor based in Wisconsin.

(Photo by FG Trade Latin/iStock)