Given the possibilities for organizational disasters, managers need a new perspective on how to elicit employee concerns. Far more effective than suggestion boxes, aggressive listening requires managers to meet with their subordinates to ask about any possible threats to the organization. Then, of course, a system must be in place to route each such concern to an individual able to act on it, as well as to provide for follow-up and communication back to the relevant employee(s). An effort of this kind, the authors say, has value beyond the warnings obtained: it demonstrates managerial humility and empowers employees.
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Rob Austin McKee
University of Houston–Downtown
Rob Austin McKee is an Assistant Professor of Leadership and Organizational Behavior at the University of Houston–Downtown. He earned his Ph.D. and MBA from the University of Houston. His research interests include decision-making, leadership, personality, and visceral...
Betsy Gelb
Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston
Betsy Gelb is the Marvin Hurley Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship in the Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston. Her Ph.D. is from the University of Houston, in Management. She teaches the course “Books an MBA Should Read,” and also...
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