At Software Solved our value of “inclusivity” runs through everything we do including encouraging our team to make their voices heard; we very much have an open-door policy (or the virtual equivalent!)
Ensuring our team feel listened to and that their views are taken into account is important to us for many reasons. It of course helps to improve the team’s wellbeing and engagement, but it also enhances our innovation, agility, and overall business performance. We encourage everyone to express their opinions, concerns, and suggestions for improvements in a variety of ways, including in regular 1-1s, staff surveys and our employee forum.
At Software Solved, we have adopted five principles that underpin employee voice:
- Everyone’s opinion counts no matter how junior or senior
- No suggestion or question is off bounds
- Give honest feedback
- Present solutions as well as problems
- Finally, and most importantly, don’t just listen, also act!
Our employee forum is crucial to ‘employee voice’ and consists of representatives from different areas of the business who meet quarterly both as a group and with the senior management team. Its purpose is to allow the team to be consulted on changes, proactively voice ideas and concerns, act as a sounding board, and challenge practice at leadership level. The forum meets with their teams on a regular basis and makes sure they are represented. The forum also helps to analyse our staff survey and put forward suggestions for change.
A great example of the value this brings is that when we moved to remote first/hybrid working, the employee forum helped us to develop our approach and policies to ensure everything was considered and thought of before the rest of the team were consulted. They have also helped us shape our whole team stand-ups and key communications, arranged staff events, advised on the benefits package and are a great sounding board for any new ideas or changes.
Cory shares his experience of being a part of the employee forum.
