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HR representatives should really listen to employees

Posted on October 19th, 2012 Read time: 1 minutes

Companies can experience periods of stagnation not just in finance but also in energy, enthusiasm and HR administration.

Fortunately, there are a few easy ways firms can jolt HR departments back to life. In a recent article for Forbes, Meghan Biro suggests that staff members stop being overly dependent on numbers. Instead, to find insights, administrators should start talking to employees and other workers to understand what really matters to them.

Additionally, these conversations should not be dominated by HR representatives. Instead, Biro advises these individuals to be silent and really listen. This means not just passively accepting what employees are saying but paying attention to how they are communicating their thoughts.

"Listen to how often they repeat what others say, what verbs they use (active or passive), how many first-person pronouns they use," Biro writes. "Listen to see who mimics the cadence of another's speech patterns. You’ll spot the leaders in a group quickly and be able to determine the tenor of their contributions to the health of the organization."

What HR representatives hear can then be used to create motivational programs, as well as better manage staff members.

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