"A record number of employees are quitting or thinking of doing so". The article “Great Attrition or Great Attraction, the choice is yours” from McKinsey highlights how peoples’ needs and wants in the workplace have changed over the last couple of years, but there is often a mismatch between what the business thinks people want and what people actually want. It highlights a gap.  The tendency for businesses to focus on transactional solutions at a time when employees need relational engagement; to feel listened to, valued and with a role to play in the future organisation. So what practical steps can you take to close that gap? Addressing the transactional in itself is not that easy given the current changes in the world of work, but what is often harder is the time, effort and skills it takes to be relational. The best leaders actively create the space and time to bring their people together to build those relationships, generate dialogue and listen. Building a psychological safe space where people can express themselves and talk openly, exploring the inherent strengths as well as the barriers to progress, where the power of diversity and collaboration can be unleashed and the future narrative, in which everyone has a role, can be articulated. Evidence from the likes of the CIPD, Gallup and Engage for Success consistently demonstrate that highly engaged organisations have significantly better retention, with employee turnover being as much as 40% lower. Not to mention the greater revenue, profitability, innovation and safety that these organisations experience. Engage for Success recognised four enablers of highly engaged organisations. Employee voice Engaged managers Organisational integrity Strategic narrative Bringing people together is one of the most effective ways to generate progress across all four. And in many ways it has never been easier. The event landscape has changed rapidly over the last couple of years and we now have at our fingertips many more techniques and technologies to create the space and time to have those important conversations. And with the proven ability to deliver hybrid, virtual and live events, you are no longer restricted by time or location. We can easily gather global teams for an hour, or a few days, or a combination of both, in a room or on zoom. So, make sure you take the time this year to engage and listen to your employees, build a relationship with them, and address those critical issues. It will help your business to progress and address the critical risk of losing out in the great resignation. And if you need help to create the space and time for these vital conversations or to think more deeply about how the four enablers show up in your organisation just give us a call.  We'd love to start a conversation.

Just take a moment to pause.

To shut up.

To stop.

And make sure you are creating the time and space to listen.

To listen to your colleagues.

One of the most important things you can do for your business at the moment, is to make sure you listen to the voice of your colleagues.

As you start to plan your strategy days, leadership meetings, forums & summits, many of which will take place in a virtual world this year, don’t just fill the space with strategic points you need to cascade, but hold the space for voices to flourish.

Ensure you create time for rich conversation in these virtual environments, and most importantly make sure you create space in the agenda to listen. Really listen.

So, how do you begin to listen to 100’s of voices in a virtual space? At egi:live we have created a process called Excellerate which is designed to facilitate multiple meaningful conversations whether they be face to face or virtually.

We create psychological safe spaces, these are spaces where people feel comfortable to share, question and develop ideas that can transform your business. We ensure that every person has an opportunity to contribute and even the quietest voices are heard.

This can be hard to do in the real world, but is even harder to do in a digital space, but through experienced design and expert facilitation we can create that space in online virtual meetings.

So we design agendas that will help surface the strengths of your business and through conversation involve your people, so they are an active player in the strategic narrative rather than just a servant of it. Truly engaging your people in the process.

When you are planning your next meeting, be bold; cut out the content, make time for the conversations that matter and then simply shut up and listen. You will be amazed and inspired with what you get to hear.

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Get in touch to find out how we can help you listen...