Member Article

More than a quarter of employees lack confidence to contribute to meetings

More than a third (34%) of employees in large organisations say that management rarely or never listens to them and addresses their ideas, according to a new study commissioned by IT and services company Vevox. In contrast only 7% of the employees working in large organisations surveyed felt they were always listened to.

The research also found that more than half of employees (57%) are often afraid to voice ideas to management about how their role or the business could be improved. In addition, just under a third of respondents (30%) said they either lacked confidence or the opportunity to contribute to company meetings.

Worryingly, more than one third (36%) of the overall sample claim their organisation does not even have a process in place to address employee ideas, and a further 35% are unsure if there is a process. However, 42% think their organisation is committed to putting employee ideas that meet the required standard into development.

Peter Eyre, managing director, Vevox, commented: “Organisations must start making employees wellbeing a prioirity and listening to them will begin to make sure they feel valued and engaged while at work. Businesses need to start moving from the visionary phase to actually putting processes and systems in place that actively address the feedback and ideas that employees have to offer. At the moment there is clearly an engagement gap.”

Respondents were also asked which process to assess and develop ideas they would like to see in their organisation. The two most popular options were ‘suggestion boxes’ (41%) and ‘engagement with the management team’ (28%).

The survey also found that if management listened to and addressed more of their ideas, 55% of employees would feel happier and more valued, while almost a quarter (23%) felt they would be more able to voice their opinions openly in the future.

Eyre commented: “It’s clear that employees within large organisations increasingly want to put their ideas forward to management, whether that is anonymously or face to face, and they would feel happier and more confident about coming forward in the future if they felt management was taking their ideas more seriously and addressing them properly. Management need to take this on board and look at measures they can introduce to ensure they are listening to their employees and engaging with them more positively.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Vevox .