Webinar Recap: Listening Is the New Leadership

In a recent webinar hosted by Charter and Perceptyx, Emily Killham, Senior Director and Head of The Center for Workforce Transformation, joined Booz Allen Hamilton's Patrick Boyle, People Analytics Lead, and Courtney Tarquinio, Director of People Tech, Data & Analytics, to discuss how forward-thinking organizations are turning employee feedback into tangible business outcomes.

The Evolution of Employee Listening

Killham kicked off the discussion by sharing actionable insights from Perceptyx's The State of Employee Listening 2025 research. The study reveals a dramatic shift in listening practices over the past decade. Fourteen years ago, only 18% of organizations were surveying employees once a year, typically through an annual engagement survey. Today, 95% of organizations have surveyed all employees at least once in the past year, with quarterly listening becoming the norm.

Organizations are also broadening their listening channels beyond traditional surveys. "When we started this research four years ago, most people said when they listened, it was a survey — a point in time snapshot," Killham explained. "But what we've seen develop is this broadening of listening channels." Companies now frequently use crowdsourcing, targeted behavioral listening, and 360-degree feedback to gain deeper insights.

The research also identified a growing challenge: while organizations are collecting more data than ever, many struggle to translate feedback into action at the same pace. HR leaders report generating substantial data without the necessary analytics capabilities or resources to act quickly enough.

Inside Booz Allen Hamilton's Comprehensive Listening Strategy

Booz Allen Hamilton exemplifies an organization with a mature listening program that spans the entire employee lifecycle. Tarquinio described their approach as "thinking about all these different places experientially that we can tap into what the workforce is saying," from candidate experience through exit.

Their strategy incorporates multiple listening methods, including:

• Annual census surveys,
• Career cycle surveys at key milestones,
• Onboarding and exit surveys,
• 360 feedback for leaders,
• Targeted pulse surveys for specific business needs, and
• Event-based feedback through QR codes.

During the virtual event, the team from Booz Allen Hamilton elaborated on their use of employee listening with practical examples:

• Transforming Leadership Communication: When their EX census survey revealed concerns about business strategy communication, leadership took action. Tarquinio explained: "We were hearing in our main census survey that what leadership really wanted to know more about was our business strategy, and different financial management processes. From there, we stood up a transformational learning opportunity for leadership. Then, during that training and throughout that process, we were listening as well. During the training, after the training, and then from there, that insight from our workforce allowed us to think through how we scale that training opportunity further into the organization."
  
  
• Skills-Based Workforce Planning: Before implementing a skills development strategy, one business unit paused to survey employees about current skills and future needs. "The workforce came back with data, and Patrick [Boyle] and the team worked closely with HR business partners to build a plan," said Tarquinio. This resulted in custom learning pages where employees could easily access targeted skills development resources.
  
  
• Event-Based Feedback Implementation: Booz Allen has also implemented real-time feedback collection at company events. Tarquinio described an empowerment fair they organized: “This was an event where every employee in the company could come and learn all about Booz Allen's benefits, programs, opportunities, training. Imagine a place, like a career college fair with desks and booths. We ensured that there was survey capability during the actual event. The QR codes that people were given at multiple places at multiple times let them tell us how they thought it went."

From Data to Action: Overcoming Implementation Barriers

One of the most significant challenges organizations face is translating listening insights into meaningful action. Killham highlighted that the most mature organizations excel in two areas:

1. Aligning Listening Strategy with Desired Business Goals: They connect listening to clear outcomes by "starting with the end in mind," ensuring each listening event has a specific purpose. They can also pivot quickly as priorities change and integrate listening with other organizational systems.
   
   
2. Multi-level Action: They enable action at all levels of the organization — not just senior executives or HR — by involving employees throughout the process.

For managers specifically, Killham emphasized the importance of making feedback actionable through technology. "What are those key drivers of the outcomes you're seeking? If it's employee engagement, what are the three things you could work on today that would most impact that next year?"

Perceptyx has addressed this challenge by developing Intelligent Nudges that provide managers with targeted, bite-sized actions based on their team's specific feedback. For example, if data shows a team needs improvement in psychological safety, the manager might receive a prompt nudging them to, "end your meeting five minutes early to ensure everybody gets a chance to speak."

Balance Technology and Human Connection

Throughout the discussion, speakers emphasized that technology should enhance human connection rather than replace it. Boyle noted, "Having a good partnership with the person that is the subject matter expert is critical. A leader comes to them with a question and says, 'You know, I am interested in learning more about this.' And we have the data to answer that question. We just need to go and sift through it all so that we can tell the story back to the manager."

Tarquinio shared a vision for the future in which listening data from various sources — surveys, help desk interactions, and other touchpoints — could be aggregated and made accessible through AI agents to support leaders in real-time decision-making. She described how they're working toward "being able to compile that data in a place like a data lake and then applying this opportunity for an agent to answer the question of the manager who is right there, ready to engage in a team meeting or go into a business planning session. Simply ask the question and it pulls together this broader set of data to help shape these answers quickly."

Build a Culture of Continuous Improvement

When asked about the common concern of survey fatigue, the Booz Allen team offered a perspective based on their extensive experience. "I think that's more communication fatigue," said Boyle. "People love to share their opinion. We're doing it throughout the lifecycle. These are not the same people getting the same things over and over again."

Boyle explained how they manage the volume of feedback requests: "We have an idea about using a sampling strategy. We can get the insights we need from a representative sample so we don't have to ask everybody. We don't have to bug everybody to take some time during their day to answer questions."

Booz Allen also keeps their surveys concise and focused. "Even the longest of our surveys don't take all that long — ten, fifteen minutes max for our annual census, and the other ones, five to ten minutes is a good target," said Boyle.

Tarquinio reinforced the importance of demonstrating the impact of feedback: "It's important to make sure that we are listening and acting on these insights. It involves coming at it with your leadership in a way of showing them these examples of where when we have gotten the input, we acted on it — and here’s the impact." 

She added, "You show them that tactical ROI, so a leader can step back and say, 'Now that's powerful.' This idea that feedback came from the business, we actioned on it, and then it had this bottom-line effect, is what really makes the difference."

The Booz Allen approach illustrates that closing the feedback loop — consistently communicating actions taken and progress made — builds trust and ensures continued engagement in listening initiatives. As Boyle shared, "I've seen the impact of it, and I've seen how people recognize it in the data when we continue to ask people year after year. Like, 'I saw this happen. This is great. I love what Booz Allen did here.'"

Key Takeaways for Organizations

For organizations looking to enhance their listening strategies, the speakers offered several key recommendations:

1. Connect listening to outcomes by starting with the end in mind. Every listening initiative should have a clear purpose tied to specific business results.
2. Match the listening method to the business challenge. Use different approaches based on whether you need quick wins or long-term change.
3. Democratize data by getting it into the hands of decision-makers. Make insights accessible and actionable for leaders at all levels.
4. Use technology to make feedback actionable. Provide managers with specific, bite-sized steps they can take to address team needs.
5. Close the feedback loop. Show employees how their feedback is being used to drive change.

By implementing these practices, organizations can transform employee listening from a periodic data collection exercise into a powerful driver of business impact and cultural transformation.

For more information on utilizing our People Insights Platform to build an effective employee listening strategy, contact a member of our team.

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