A good mechanic can listen to a car and know just what the problem is.
A high-pitched squeal from under the hood? Time for new engine belts. A clicking noise while you’re turning? You might have to replace the whole axle.
HR professionals, similarly, can listen to their team’s feedback and translate it into actionable improvements. But that’s only if they take diversity, inclusion, engagement and culture into consideration, too.
The Voice of the Employee
Your employees’ feedback—the voice of the employee (VoE)—is inexorably linked to company culture, diversity, inclusion and engagement.
Six Sigma concisely defines VoE as “the stated and unstated needs” of your employees, but the reality goes deeper. While gathering the stated needs of your employees is relatively easy, it’s more complicated, yet equally important, to understand the unstated needs of your people.
Through Motivology—the strategic and intentional identification of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators exclusive to ITA Group—alongside corresponding tactics, employers can create an environment that encourages open dialogue and addresses these unstated needs.
Alongside Motivology, understanding the role of VoE in your company can address the unstated needs of your people by promoting diversity and inclusion, encouraging engagement and developing a powerhouse company culture.
Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and inclusiveness are closely related, but distinct. As one Gallup study finds, diversity is about the people you hire, but inclusiveness is about a work environment of trust and involvement.
Today, these terms go beyond referring to varied groups of people to focus on the value of diversity of thought. A diverse, inclusive organization is one that encourages and celebrates different ideas and experiences alongside distinguishing characteristics.
When a diverse group of people feels included, and they have a shared purpose and intent supported through a strategic mixture of intrinsic and extrinsic motivators, employers will get the results they need. Successful companies strategically motivate their people and demonstrate a strong commitment to diversity and inclusion because of the tangible business benefits that result; most notably, ingenuity, vision and employee engagement.
Employee Engagement
Trust is the foundation for employee engagement. Employees need to feel trusted, and to trust in their organization, before they feel connected as a whole. As a Deloitte study finds, when diversity practices and trust co-exist in an organization, employee engagement increases.
At the same time, the more trusting your people are of your company, the more forthcoming they are with their own voice—the VoE—on how to make it better. In turn, that feedback from your engaged, motivated employees can be translated into actionable changes which improve their environment.
That intersection of diversity, inclusion, engagement and VoE in your workforce factors into what’s needed to build a company culture that thrives.
The Importance of Culture
When you focus on the ability of a diverse workforce to thrive and feel included, you create a team that feels unified and is willing to share their voice. Those feelings also contribute to the creation of a mutually beneficial, thriving culture.
As one study finds, VoE is critical to organizational culture, but only if employees see the benefit of speaking up as outweighing the risk. Simply put, VoE—the foundational element that promotes mutual trust—can only be truly heard in an environment that values diversity, inclusivity and engagement by building a thriving company culture.
Loosely defined, culture is the shared values, practices and beliefs of a group of people. As your diverse organization grows, and as inevitable organizational changes impact your company, the importance of an intentional culture becomes more apparent.
Is It Time for a Tune-Up?
At their very root, employee disengagement and dissatisfaction stem from a lack of certainty. People need to feel safe and connected, especially during times of uncertainty, such as mergers, acquisitions or organizational transformations.
In these times of stress—when an employee most wants their voice to be heard—an individual’s safety and security are threatened and their ability to perform at optimal levels is affected.
Making use of VoE and laying the foundation for a motivated, turbocharged culture today, before any organizational change, is key to driving both individual and corporate performance to higher levels.
How can HR professionals tune up their culture? Find out in our ebook, “Ensuring Successful Business Transformations Through Powerhouse Culture.”
Inside, you’ll learn:
- Why employee engagement must be a top priority during disruptions
- What really matters during restructuring and strategy transformation
- How the five key components of a powerhouse culture can help companies navigate change
About ITA Group
We create and manage events, incentives and recognition programs that align and motivate your people. Headquartered in West Des Moines, Iowa, ITA Group has operations in every region of the United States and award solutions for 75+ countries globally.
