The Best Ideas Come from the Frontline, If You Listen

My biggest wins usually don't come from my own ideas… they come from listening to the frontline. Yet as our business has successfully grown, the frontline risks becoming more distant, and our leadership team must work hard to maintain that direct connection.

I believe a central answer to nurturing the leadership-frontline connection is through listening.As I’ve learned, listening well is really hard, and there are specific steps you can take to create the right environment. Here's what we do...

Each quarter, the sales leadership team meets for a two-day summit in one of our offices around the world (most recently in Singapore), during which we hold listening sessions with local employees. There are several critical steps to running these sessions well that can be replicated by leaders everywhere.

1. Set the stage. At the opening, we explain that the goal of the session is to understand what they like and dislike about working at LinkedIn so that we can make the company an even better place to work. Under our corporate value of “Being open, honest, and constructive” we remind them that giving great feedback is part of what we expect of them.
2. Be conscious of posture & tone. Giving feedback is incredibly stressful for some people. In fact, it may be the first time they have ever told an executive what they think about their job. It’s important to be focused and present, but at the same time calm and balanced.
3. Have a designated note taker. It’s hard to listen when you’re focused on taking notes.
4. Everyone gives feedback. Our sessions are an hour long and we invite eight to 10 people to participate. We go around the room person by person, and ask each person to participate one at a time.
5. One thing. We ask each person to highlight one thing they like and dislike, which forces prioritization and clearly identifies what needs to be improved.
6. Get Examples. When people meet with leadership, they often explain things at a high level. If someone’s description is too thematic, ask them to be very specific by providing examples. These examples are typically what we remember most and what allows us to fully appreciate the issue.
7. Don’t respond to critiques. The most important and perhaps hardest part of the feedback process is the leadership team not responding to the critiques raised by the team. We highlight this at the beginning of the session and hold each other accountable for it. It’s hard though because sometimes the feedback will be about something that is being fixed or has an obvious solution. Whatever you do, don’t respond. Responding will completely change the dynamic and impair your ability to listen.
8. Ask Questions: While you shouldn’t respond to the feedback, it is okay to ask clarifying questions and especially for examples.
9. Thank people for good feedback. Giving feedback is a skill that has several traits: it’s specific, actionable, clear, provides examples and compassionate. When people give great feedback, thank them for their thoughts and explain to them why the feedback was particularly helpful.
10. Debrief. Immediately debrief with the leadership team after the session. Identify the key themes and determine a follow-up plan that includes who owns what and deadlines.
11. Follow up. Within a week, send a note to the team you met with detailing your plan in response to their feedback. Be honest about what feedback will and won’t be address and why. In many cases the person who gave the feedback can be looped into the initiative.
12. Celebrate: Some of the issues raised during these sessions will turn into strategic initiatives that add massive value to the company (I can think of several at LinkedIn). Remember to celebrate and recognize the fact that these wins started with a frontline employee sharing their thoughts in an open, honest and constructive manner because it will inspire others to do the same. I often call these wins out at our monthly all-hands meetings.

These sessions are like gold. When done right, you get a greater sense of how employees perceive your company and a roadmap for addressing issues that lie at the heart of improving your employee experience. Best of luck!