What HR can learn from Hootsuite’s active listening strategy

Listening to your employees pays off. Or at least it did for Hootsuite, the social media management company that used active listening to create an environment of collaboration and productivity among its employees.

Since joining Hootsuite in December 2020, Chief People and Diversity Officer Tara Ataya has spearheaded several initiatives that, she believes, have improved the employee experience and led to what she says are historically low turnover rates at the company, which she credits to employee feedback.

While listening to your staff may sound obvious, not all employers do. More than 50% of employees said their employers rarely or never ask for their feedback, according to a 2021 Medallia survey.

We hear you. As the Covid-19 pandemic accelerated, Ataya realized that the workplace was going to evolve quickly and drastically, and things couldn’t return to how they were when all was said and done. To prepare for the future of their workplace, Ataya and the people team got to work cultivating employee feedback through continuous focus groups, surveys, and manager roundtables.

Hootsuite zeroed in on remote work, asking its “owls” or “peeps” (what the company calls its staff) what they liked and disliked about remote work, and what the organization could do to improve their work-life balance.

Give them what they want. Hootsuite incorporated the feedback it received into its benefits, policies, and initiatives. A common theme: As much as employees enjoyed being able to work flexibly, they craved connection.

“People wanted to connect again and they were hungry for that,” Ataya said. “So, we created a program this year called ‘perch days.’”

Perch days (get it, like owls on a perch?) are voluntary in-office days where employees can gather together and connect through more than just working in the same space. Hootsuite provides learning sessions and lunch, and allows teams to present roadmaps for their goals. Ataya said that perch days allow employees to connect more deeply.

“What we heard from employees was that nobody wanted to come in and sit at a desk and code for eight hours of the day beside each other or come in and be on calls all day,” she said. “They were really looking for perch days to be about collaboration and having those stand up meetings together in person. It’s that human connection that they were looking for.”