A lot of people don’t feel that their opinions matter in the workplace, Try conducting a survey and ask the business and HR professionals about how well their organizations listened to employee input and you will find that they feel their leaders did not do an excellent job of actively listening.

“Listening” in business often consists only of measurement through one-way communications like annual surveys. Of course employees are disengaged! Their leaders aren’t paying any attention.

There is a better, more human way to listen to employees, and it’s called “active listening.”

Here are the steps your organization can take to cultivate an active listening culture:

Establish Solid Values: Believe that people deserve to be heard. Openly share the principles of respect, humility, curiosity, empathy, and inclusion with everyone on your team and in your organization.

Cut Down Stress: Stress causes people to stop listening to one another. To avoid stress, carve out time for everyone to reflect on three levels: individual, group, and self.

Implement Humility: Don’t take personal stances when listening to employees. Recognize that great insight can come from anyone. The stronger someone feels about an issue, the less likely they are to accept input from others.

Take Away Distractions: In the current digital environment, people are persistently barraged by distractions via social media and smart phones. To really listen, you have to put those distractions aside when talking with others.

Duplicate What You Heard: Doing this will ensure that you’ve understood the message and let the sender know you’ve received their feedback.

Initiate Communication: Annual surveys are outdated one-way and too slow for this generation of smart phone users and video streamers. Instead, try short, quick surveys aimed at gathering real-time feedback. This will lead to increased participation and more authentic insights from your workforce.

If you want an engaged workforce, you need to start listening to what your employees have to say. Cultivate a culture of active listening today.