The research, which was carried out with more than 1,000 workers in the UK, has found that, of the 48% of the UK workforce who are introverts, over half (55%) feel that their voice is rarely heard by the CEO. A further third (33%) of introverted workers would go so far as to say their voice is not heard “at all” by their business leader. In comparison, 63% of those who identify as extroverted feel that their voice is heard by the CEO.
This is in spite of the fact that almost two-thirds (61%) of introverts believe that they have ideas which would benefit the wider organisation.
The research also indicates significant concerns with approaches to employee feedback in the enterprise. Across the board, workers expressed that their feedback had been previously ignored, with 46% of extroverted employees and 54% of introverted employees admitting to submitting feedback that had not been acknowledged or actioned.
Speaking on the findings, Laura Harding, EX XM Scientist at Qualtrics said “No matter your personality type, feeling listened to and knowing your opinion is valued is a vital part of employee engagement. But it’s not just detrimental to the individual – if employees feel frustrated by being left voiceless, then staff retention can also suffer.
“Businesses need to consider different personality types and build feedback processes that help every employee voice their opinions. In order for this approach to be effective and beneficial to everyone, CEOs need to be driving the initiative from the top downwards.”
To find out more about Qualtrics’ Silent Worker research, visit https://www.qualtrics.com/uk/lp/silent-worker/
