Director of talent strategy and development talks about building an effective employee listening strategy
When it comes to building an employee listening strategy, having multiple data points is the most important factor.
That’s according to Michelle McCrackin, director of talent strategy and development at United Airlines.
These data points allow employers to see a complete picture which can often get lost when only using a single data point, she said.
“If you don't have multiple data points, you can find yourself in a situation where you might be over pivoting into feedback, or where you're not getting enough data to really paint that feedback picture, with both the tactical and the big picture items. So, you really want to make sure you're getting different moments that matter, and that these moments aren’t always set in stone,” she said.
Creating a continuous listening strategy
United made an intentional decision to shift away from a once-a-year static employee listening survey, instead replacing it with a continuous listening platform, which allowed the company to get constant feedback about the employee experience, McCrackin said.
Ongoing employee feedback allows United to understand in real time what their employees are experiencing, as the business changes and evolves.
“There's never a good time to give an employee survey, so it's about getting to a place where you’re able to constantly get feedback and data without pigeonholing ourselves into a one-time-a-year survey,” she said. “People travel more in the summer and during the holidays, so being able to get feedback from employees not just at some random time throughout the year helps us better understand what our employees are thinking and responding to at any point in time.”
Receiving data that is relevant now, not six to nine months old, allows United to pair employee experience with customer data and experience to ensure the most efficient business outcomes, said McCrackin, who recently spoke at Qualtrics’ X4 Summit in Salt Lake City on May 2.
“When you're serving employees and listening to them over the period of a year, not just once a year, you're able to identify employee experience gaps quick and early and take immediate action in order to close that gap — versus allowing it to linger over time,” she said.
Benefits of continuous listening
With a global, mobile workforce, continuous listening allows United to keep up with the challenges faced by having such a widespread employee base.
“Our employees are all over the globe at all times of the day, at all times of the year, so making sure that we have points of communication to be able to understand the sentiment that's out there, what data and insights are coming in, and looking at this on a bigger scale as well, is so important,” she said. “A successful employee engagement program means looking at both aspects; what are the big picture things that change over time and then what are the small, easy, tactical wins that allow us to continue to gain and evolve that trust in the program and allow us to accelerate forward as well.”
Not only does continuously listening to employees allow the airline to handle potential challenges quickly and easily, but it also allows the company to identify trends within their employees’ needs and desires.
One of the key trends United employees care about is a desire for internal growth and career mobility, McCrackin said. Knowing this allows United to shift its focus to promoting employee growth and ensuring employees know what skills are transferable to other positions within the organization.
“A focus for us has been making sure our employees know what their transferable skills are and how they can open a new career path within United, so they don’t have to go outside of the organization to do that. That’s really been a huge unlock for us, as we think about our future strategy and making sure we continue to focus on that and highlighting the employees who have stepped out of their comfort zone and gone into a different career path option,” she said.
Creating a strong employee value proposition
From an employer value proposition standpoint, United’s employees help connect customers to the moments that matter most to them, alongside some of the hardest moments of these customers’ lives, McCrackin said.
The onus is on leaders to ensure they are creating environments for employees to thrive in these customer-based environments, which is heavily impacted by employee listening, chatting and strategy, she said.
“Our frontline employees are the heart of operation; they're the ones who make the magic happen and keep everything moving forward, and ultimately, they're the ones who help create these wonderful experiences for our customers. That right there is the number one reason why employee listening matters because our employees are the ones who are out there day to day. We need to take care of them, we need to know what we can do to better support them and help them grow their careers if they want to,” she said.
“Ultimately, it's those individuals who are meeting with customers on a day-to-day basis, and happy, engaged employees help create better overall customer experiences.”
