Let’s Talk About Voice: 

Why listening should be your first move in EX Design
When we talk about designing great employee experiences, we often jump straight to solutions. But if we skip one vital step — really listening — we risk getting it all wrong.
Katie Austin

Minutes
15th April 2025
Employee Experience
Employee Voice
This World Voice Day, we’re putting the spotlight on something that sits right at the heart of human-centred design: employee voice.Because here’s the thing. Too many organisations base their decisions on assumptions — not insight. They roll out changes based on what they think people want, rather than asking the right questions and listening deeply to the answers.

When you make space for voice — and really act on it — the impact is huge:
  • Teams are 4.6x more likely to do their best work when they feel heard (Salesforce)
  • Listening cultures see up to a 15% boost in engagement (Qualtrics)


...but today only 1 in 4 employees feel their feedback actually leads to change (Gallup) – We can do better.

And it starts by putting people first in the design process — not as an afterthought, but as the foundation.

Turning Voice Into Valuable Insight

If you want to design experiences that truly work for your people, start by making listening part of your everyday practice — not just a project phase.

Here are a few ways to strengthen employee voice right now:

  1. Ask better questions – Go beyond satisfaction scores and dig into how people experience work. Try open prompts like: “What gets in the way of doing great work here?” or “What does good look like to you?”
  2. Involve people early – Bring employees into the design process from the start. Co-creation and insight workshops can uncover a lot that could otherwise be missed!
  3. Make feedback visible – One of the fastest ways to build trust is to close the loop. Let people know what you heard, what you’re doing about it, and where their input made a difference.
  4. Listen in layers – Data from surveys is useful — but pairing it with stories, qualitative input and conversations helps you get under the surface and spot trends that numbers alone might not reveal.

It doesn’t need to be complicated — just consistent, intentional and human.

You don't need to figure it all out alone...

Whether you’re designing a new approach, reviewing policies, or just want to better understand what your people really need — voice is your starting point.

And at The EX Space, we’ve got everything you need to make listening a habit, not a one-off:

🎥 Webinars on human-centred design, listening strategies, and culture change
📚 Blogs and case studies to spark ideas
🛠️ Tools, templates and frameworks to put insight into action
🤝 And not forgetting a community of peers to learn from and lean on

If you're not already a member, then you can join now for free as an Essentials member to access selected tools, blogs, our webinars and the EX community. Or if you choose to go Pro you can unlock the entire suite of learning, tools and templates – everything you need to level-up your EX practice

👉 Join now and start putting voice at the heart of your EX design.