The Employee Voice: What Employees are Saying and Who's Listening to Them

The world of work is in a state of constant change. That means the dynamic between employee and employer is also evolving, and now employees are starting to become more vocal about their needs. 

This is why feedback plays a vital part in driving this change. When organizations initiate a two-way dialogue with their employees and actively listen to what they have to say, it's not only critical for employee engagement, but it results in better performance, productivity, and employee retention. 

In our Heartbeat report titled The Employee Voice, we examined over 11 million survey comments to find out why employees speak up, what they’re saying—and crucially, if their employers are listening.

This is what we found.

Employees Don’t Want Magic—They Just Want the Basics

In our platform, we use both targeted and open-ended questions to help organizations understand what their employees need.

Many organizations use the following open-ended question to find out what’s at the forefront of employees’ minds:

Responses to this question ranged from pay and workplace relationships to business strategy. Employees also notably called for better communication from their employers.

These responses may not seem magical, but they reflect that employees are discussing very real issues that their organizations have the ability to solve—as long as they’re listening.

Employees More Likely to Speak Up When Upset

Employees are also asked targeted questions about different aspects of their workplace experience. For example:

Respondents provide a score on a scale of 0 to 10, and have the option to leave a comment.

When they leave a low score of 0 on a survey question, they are over 40% more likely to comment telling their employer why. Comparatively speaking, employees are twice as likely to leave a comment on a score of 0 than a score of 10.

Employee Needs Evolve Over Their Tenure

From day one at a new organization, employees have an ever-evolving set of needs and expectations that are reflected in the topics they bring up in their survey comments.

Employees in the first three months of their tenure are twice as likely to refer to their organization’s culture, while between three months to a year, they’re beginning to find their voice at work.

Between one to two years, employees are considering their future career path and are almost three times more likely to refer to growth opportunities, while at two to five years, employees are looking to become leaders—and it could be at another organization, as their comments refer to looking for other opportunities.

At five to ten years with their company, employees are thinking more strategically about their company’s mission and goals—and are three times more likely to refer to business decisions. When an employee has been with their organization over a decade, they deeply value their relationship with their company, and feel a sense of pride and satisfaction with their professional life.

Generations Have Different Experiences at Work—But Have More in Common Than You Might Expect

Generation Z, Millennials, and Baby Boomers each show linguistic markers unique to their generation. Gen Z employees are more likely to refer to themselves in the first person and describe the vibe of their workplace, while Millennials use the 🙂 emoticon to express positive experiences. By contrast, Baby Boomers are more likely to use formal language, and refer to "remuneration," while Millennials talk about their salary.

The younger generations—Millennials and Generation Z—both surface financial concerns in their comments, too, showing that today’s uncertain job market continues to hit them hardest in their wallets. But that doesn’t stop Generation Z from caring about the environment—their comment topics show that plastic use at work is a concern. Meanwhile, Generation X, Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation all value communicating with their employer and contributing ideas—are you tapping into their collective expertise and viewpoints? 

Employees in Government and Energy and Utilities Most Vocal—But Technology and Professional Services Most Responsive

Analyzing the employee voice by industry shows that there’s a clear split between office and non-office-based industries.

Employees in the Government and Industry and Utility sectors are the most likely to leave a comment—with almost 40% of respondents likely to leave a comment when they leave a score on their survey. Technology, Transportation, and Finance employees are among the least vocal.

Employer responsiveness doesn’t quite match up: office-based businesses in the Technology and Professional Services sectors are most likely to respond to employee comments, while Energy and Utilities employees—which has one of the highest employee comment rates—are some of the least likely to see a response.

Employees in Oceania, Latin America, and the Caribbean Most Likely to Speak Up—But Europe Is Most Responsive Region Overall

When we segment employee comment rate by region, it turns out that employees in Oceania and Latin America and the Caribbean are the most likely to speak up, with an almost 40% likelihood of leaving a comment on a survey. By contrast, Africa and Europe are the least vocal regions.

Europe is the most responsive region overall, while Africa takes the bottom spot for organization response rates. While Latin America and Caribbean employees may be the most vocal, they are also the least likely to receive any kind of response from their organizations.

Why Organizations Need to Listen

Looking at these findings, we can see that this matter represents two sides of the same coin. Employees are most likely to speak up when they have a problem they want their employer to fix. If you’re not listening to what they have to say, then this could result in reduced productivity and engagement, and eventually, higher turnover.