So, I HAD to write this piece!
To emphasize the importance of continuously listening to your employees through a data-led platform.
And I’m going to do it with data, examples, and insights from 5 CHROs, plus EX survey results from 700,000 employees.
No fluff. JUST STRAIGHT HARD FACTS!
An HRMS is NOT an Engagement tool
No matter how fancy your HRMS claims to be, here's the deal: it’s not using continuous listening & engagement to improve your employee experience & productivity. 🙅♂️
Sure, it may have a survey feature, but let's be real—it's anonymous, won’t help you identify people to meet in real-time, and definitely won't recommend actions required to motivate or retain top talent.
So unless your HRMS helps you improve the experience of each employee at scale, it’s just a talent management tool topped off with a slice of surveys.
🎓 "When people talk about a listening strategy they all think it is a survey. But listening has so many more aspects to it. It is about aggregating everything you’re hearing - your 1-1’s, AMAs, town halls, and of course pulse surveys too. You’ve got to have a listening strategy that goes beyond polling."
Suman Gopalan, CHRO at Freshworks
Want to know if your HRMS is really a listening tool? Get the full inside scoop here.
Employees need a safe sanctuary
Forget anonymous surveys! What employees REALLY crave is a trustworthy environment.
🎓 "The role of people leaders is to create the right conditions for people to feel they can share knowing that they're not going to be judged.
Addressing negativity, nipping it in the bud, not necessarily avoiding healthy conflicts…Ultimately it is about being human and recognizing that other people are human and showing empathy. "
Sergio Salvador, Group CPO - Carsome
This Lenovo example reinforces the fact that when employees feel safe, they open up and speak their minds.
🎓 "There's one employee who actually sits three workstations down my aisle. He responded in his conversation with Amber to a few things that I had no clue about…and I talked to that employee every day."
Rohit Sandal, ex-CHRO - Lenovo
Listening without action is useless
(It’s like a smartphone without the internet)
Here’s what Amber learned from 700,000 employees to prove this:
- 60% of at-risk employees leave within 6 months if their feedback is not acted on.
- 70% of at-risk employees showed no signs of dissatisfaction after real-time action on their feedback
- Amber saw an 11-point increase in the overall engagement of employees whose grievances were heard and resolved.
Like Sunil Setlur ex-CPO of Gojek rightly shares - “Listening is not just about asking people and then forgetting about it. It's also about closing loops.”
Effective decisions come from deep insights
EX platforms use a structured listening process to help HR leaders with:
Data-led decisions: Unified insights into eNPS, attrition prediction, manager effectiveness, and org mood score to make effective decisions.
🎓 "You're not spending a lot of time guessing, guesstimating, and trying to figure out..how people are feeling…and talking to a bunch of people…10, 20, 30, and trying to extrapolate. But now with this tool, they will reach out to everyone…and everyone can express themselves, if he or she desires and then you can process all of that. That is the power of many."
Deep Kalra, Founder & Chairman - MakeMyTrip
Systematic action: Systematically address problem areas with solutions personalized to each employee’s & team’s challenges.
Seat at the table: Drive company-level growth and change management at scale by becoming true business leaders
🎓 "People leaders have a new opportunity to reinvent themselves as business leaders. Personally, this is how I lead my team right. We must be a data-driven business unit where we demonstrate our value to the business versus what is our cost to the business. And a lot of the tactics flow from there."
Sergio Salvador, Group CPO - Carsome
Accelerate with AI
Lastly, as an HR leader, you should amplify the impact of this new listening approach by embracing Generative AI. Genpact has been using AI for employee engagement since 2018, leading to improved HRBP productivity and significant improvements in retention.
🎓 "Regular employee surveys were unproductive and laborious, requiring human orchestration. Genpact also found it challenging to continuously measure mood and organizational sentiment with traditional surveys, putting it at risk of losing valued talent.
Amber provides real-time analytics, allowing Genpact to create policies that reflect the workforce’s immediate wants and needs. The tech-first approach has proven successful with an average response rate of 82%, up from 77% in 2022." (As told to Fortune)
Piyush Mehta, CHRO - Genpact
In the end…
If you're okay with getting inconclusive insights from anonymous surveys, stick to the traditional approach.
But if you genuinely care about each employee, want to boost motivation & productivity, and drive business success with a people-led approach - an EX platform is a must. It's non-negotiable. Period.
Say goodbye to reactive employee listening!
Discover how tiket.com uses Generative AI to listen and respond to employees in real-time!
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