Nearly half of employees say lack of involvement in decisions contributes to stress in the workplace. The psychological benefits are great when leaders not only solicit employee feedback but use it to inform their decisions.
American Psychological Association. (2024, May 16). Listen to what employees need and act on it. https://www.apa.org/topics/healthy-workplaces/mental-health/listen-employee-needs
Why this matters to leaders
- Employees are more likely to remain in their job when they feel they have a voice in organizational decisions.
- Proactively communicating support to your employees matters. Employees value optimistic, supportive messages from senior leadership. In companies where CEOs regularly sent encouraging company-wide emails, employees reported higher rates of engagement and a deepened commitment to the organization.
What the research says
- 48% of employees say lack of involvement in decisions contributes to stress in the workplace (APA’s 2021 Work and Wellbeing Survey).
- 78% surveyed say they have had a positive experience of well-being, connection and caring, senior leader response, and virtual work support (Kincentric Emerging Trends pulse survey, April–May 2020 [PDF, 392KB]opens in new window).
Approaches to consider
- Ask staff for their input on company-wide policies.
- Use tools like anonymous surveys, town hall suggestion boxes, and focus groups to gather feedback and create specific opportunities to listen to employees of diverse backgrounds.
- Share the results in a transparent way, develop a plan to address one or more of the issues identified, and take action. It’s not enough to use employee feedback—you must communicate any positive policy changes you’ve made based on employee input.
- All-hands meetings, video messages, and social media can be effective ways to communicate empathy and support.
Acknowledgments
APA gratefully acknowledges the following contributors to this content.
CEOs Advancing Health Equity is a group of executives from some of the nation’s largest nongovernmental, nonprofit organizations who joined forces during the Covid-19 pandemic to improve health equity, with a focus on vaccines and mental health in the workplace.
