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7/12/23, 5:06 PM The Importance Of Listening For Organizational Success
FORBES LEADERSHIP
The Importance Of Listening

For Organizational Success
Ryan Arshad Forbes Councils Member

Forbes Business Development Council
COUNCIL POST | Membership (Fee-Based)
Jan 5, 2023, 07:00am EST
Ryan Arshad, Chief Strategy Officer, Emergn.
GETTY
It’s a simple concept that many leaders struggle with: effective

listening. Listening skills are crucial to giving leaders access to
the knowledge and diversity in perspective needed to make better
business decisions, mitigate risk and improve the employee
experience.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2023/01/05/the-importance-of-listening-for-organizational-success/?sh=2f41995… 1/6
Research has shown that leaders who carry a style strongly in

interpersonal skills such as listening are rated as significantly
more effective than those who prefer dictating their orders. But
all business leaders must continue to actively work on listening.
In the words of the late Larry King, “I remind myself every

morning: Nothing I say this day will teach me anything. So if I’m
going to learn, I must do it by listening.”
Learning to listen effectively is more important than ever, as

leaders who do so will help their organizations grow, innovate
and retain top talent. When becoming a mentor or teaching
others, leaders must remember that communication is always a
two-way street. Both parties gain value by listening to each other
and sharing insights.
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Listening is especially important in today’s business

environment, as employees are often spread across the globe,
working remotely and in different time zones. When open
communication and active listening by leaders is baked into an
organization’s culture, the organization’s chance of success is
much greater.
Employees value listening but don’t feel

heard.
Unfortunately, many employees in the workplace do not feel

heard. According to research from The Workforce Institute, 86%
of employees feel they are not heard “fairly or equally,” and 63%
believe their voice has been ignored by their employer or
manager. This is a troubling statistic, especially if you consider
how much organizations can gain from actively listening to their
employees.
In a recent Salesforce Research study, over 1,500 business

professionals were surveyed on value-driven leadership and
workplace equality. The study revealed that when an employee
feels heard, that person is 4.6 times more likely to feel
empowered to perform to the best of their ability.
Businesses with a pulse on their employees’ feelings—including

professional aspirations and goals—not only exude a level of
compassion for their staff but also gain a better understanding of
which technologies, solutions and best practices will benefit their
operations most. They can also recognize and address any
employee concerns before losing top talent.
A culture of listening can optimize a fail-

fast environment.
The environment in which employees work directly impacts how

successful a company becomes. A report by The Engagement
Institute found that disengaged employees cost U.S. companies
up to $550 billion a year. So, how can leaders listening help
improve the environment employees work in? Simple: Leaders
must ensure employees feel like they can speak up about their
ideas or concerns without feeling like they will face unfair
repercussions.
Leaders can—and should strive to—create an environment where

learning and listening are valued. This can be done by creating a
fail-fast environment. The fail-fast approaches utilize the speed
of agile strategy to create a workspace that allows employees to
test innovative ideas to improve processes and outcomes and
quickly receive feedback to validate or invalidate their theories.

Feedback is a critical component of successful fail-fast
environments.
The principle of discovering quality with fast feedback introduces

the notion of a product mindset and an environment in which
uncertainty is incrementally reduced via crucial, instructive
feedback. Feedback helps the organization gain the learning
needed at the right point—when change is still possible and less
expensive. It’s a cornerstone of successful teams—and successful
leaders.
A fail-fast environment encourages collaboration and two-way

communication—two key requirements of a healthy, innovative
and forward-looking company.
Fail-fast environments also ensure that ideas are being shared

freely and openly. Great ideas come from all facets of the
organization and at all levels. If leaders do not give employees the
forum to speak and share ideas, they are almost certainly missing
out on valuable insight and potential innovation.
The outcomes of successful listening are

clear.
Listening is really about empowering employees. Leaders who

focus on listening build an organization focused on inclusivity
and wisdom while creating a more open, trusting relationship
between themselves, their employees and the company. Leaders
can help empower employees to express themselves through
workplace learning and the use of new technology, but here, too,
listening remains key.
Listening to employees’ aspirations and goals can help leaders

link workplace training programs to employees that will get the
most value out of them. Making the benefits of workplace
training more recognizable to employees can be as simple as

asking for input.
In a 2022 study conducted by my own company Emergn, 55% of

learners stated that learning and development (L&D) programs
increased job satisfaction and employee morale. Additionally,
75% said that strong workplace training would have a very high
or high impact on their decision to stay with an employer rather
than seek other opportunities. As a disclosure, my company
Emergn is a provider of such L&D solutions.
When it comes to implementing new intelligent technologies,

listening to employees can help ease fears and concerns.
According to a 2021 report from Emergn, 55% of the top barriers
preventing organizations from seeing the most positive impact
from intelligent automation are related to people. These include
managing and integrating multiple processes (22%), resistance to
process change among the workforce (13%), resistance to process
change among senior leaders (11%) and lacking the skill sets to
implement automation (9%).
Leaders must communicate openly, listen to employee concerns

and share how a process will work from the beginning of its
announcement and implementation. It is up to leaders to remove
the barriers that prevent organizations from adopting new,
mission-critical technologies.
Listening has many benefits, especially when leaders listen to

employees within their organization. It builds a better working
environment and helps solve challenging barriers to successfully
implementing workplace training and new technologies. By
stepping back and taking the time to listen with intent—leaders
can propel their organization forward.
Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only

community for sales and biz dev executives. Do I qualify?
Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website.
Ryan Arshad
Ryan Arshad, Chief Strategy Officer, Emergn. Read Ryan Arshad's full
executive profile here.
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7/12/23, 5:06 PM The Importance Of Listening For Organizational Success

The Importance Of Listening

Ryan Arshad Forbes Councils Member

Jan 5, 2023, 07:00am EST

Ryan Arshad, Chief Strategy Officer, Emergn.

It’s a simple concept that many leaders struggle with: effective

Research has shown that leaders who carry a style strongly in

In the words of the late Larry King, “I remind myself every

Learning to listen effectively is more important than ever, as

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Best Covid-19 Travel Insurance Plans

Listening is especially important in today’s business

Employees value listening but don’t feel

Unfortunately, many employees in the workplace do not feel

In a recent Salesforce Research study, over 1,500 business

Businesses with a pulse on their employees’ feelings—including

A culture of listening can optimize a fail-

The environment in which employees work directly impacts how

Leaders can—and should strive to—create an environment where

quickly receive feedback to validate or invalidate their theories.

The principle of discovering quality with fast feedback introduces

A fail-fast environment encourages collaboration and two-way

Fail-fast environments also ensure that ideas are being shared

The outcomes of successful listening are

Listening is really about empowering employees. Leaders who

Listening to employees’ aspirations and goals can help leaders

training more recognizable to employees can be as simple as

In a 2022 study conducted by my own company Emergn, 55% of

When it comes to implementing new intelligent technologies,

Leaders must communicate openly, listen to employee concerns

Listening has many benefits, especially when leaders listen to

Forbes Business Development Council is an invitation-only

Follow me on LinkedIn. Check out my website.

Editorial Standards Reprints & Permissions

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