LISTENING – Around the Workplace

by Kerry Larkan on April 13, 2010

They say if you really want to know what your faults are, ask an enemy. Not too many of us take that advice. After all, who wants to go through that kind of discomfort, even for the sake of self-improvement? In the workplace, it’s also true that the people who gripe about us have a lot to teach us if we’d but listen.

Just like hearing criticism on a personal level, listening to criticism of the way we do our job, supervise or run our business is no picnic. But it’s the way to get the honest truth about what we’re doing well, what we need to do better, and what we ought to stop doing entirely.

“Listening” doesn’t have to mean subjecting yourself to insubordination or a tongue lashing. It can be done discreetly, casually – paying attention to the conversation around you, to the jokes you hear employees make to one another, to their shared sighs and low-toned gripes. What are your people laughing about, shaking their heads about?

Take notes. Keep a journal page for remarks you overhear, and record them. You may not get the picture at first, but as you add employee comments to your page, a pattern will start to emerge. Maybe your crew is being overworked. Maybe one person is being unfairly favored. Perhaps your team feels like they don’t have much of a say.

When you’re listening, attune your ear to the phrases people use to describe the company or the office. Do they call it the snake pit? The sheltered workshop? Their roost? Think about the phrases they use and the message the phrases represent. A snake pit is a workplace without cooperation and support. A sheltered workshop is a company without accountability. A roost is a job that feels homelike and safe.

Once you’ve got a clue what your people think about your workplace, what are you going to do about that? It’s easy to ignore what you heard, or discount it. But clearly these things matter to your crew. Retaining good people, keeping them motivated and productive, and succeeding in your business goals all depend on having a staff that feels respected, appreciated, included, fairly paid, and safe (emotionally and physically).

It pays to listen around the workplace only if you’re willing to make improvements based on what you learn. Treat yourself to the pleasure of hearing the comments and jokes start to shift in your favor, as your employee problems begin to evaporate. Both will happen, if you let your people’s cares and opinion matter to you.