Generous listening

Question

Viva Glint shows us what our organizations and teams need to change within the employee experience to help our people thrive. However, that insight can be wasted if it isn’t carried forward through continuous conversations between leaders and their people.

But how often do we stop to assess if we're actually listening for the sake of hearing, and not for the sake of answering?

A World Economic Forum article describes the act of "Generous Listening" as several factors that we should make space for when we set out to listen to someone: having true intention, making space, being fully present (not distracted, or multi-tasking), leaning into curiosity and being open to hearing something unexpected, and role modeling openness ourselves.

What listening strategies have you seen, or tried, that can help build a habit of truly listening to the perspectives of employees and the accounts of their lived experiences?

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/generous-listening-work-skills-leadership-davos23

avneeta_solanki · Answer

Thanks for the thought-provoking post Sonya! In my experience (as an employee but also a People Scientist), I think the best strategies for listening are simple ones. If managers have a coaching mindset, are trained to ask open-ended questions and pause to just listen and let their employee speak this alone can unravel a lot of the conversation that needs to happen to understand the employee experience. If this becomes a habit, what managers see in their employee survey results for their teams should never come as a surprise and that moment shouldn't feel like an 'event' with a heavy lift on taking action (as the manager would already be working with their employees to drive change). Curious to hear what others think!

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