Organizational Listening: The Missing Essential in Public Communication

Abstract

Organizations including government departments and agencies, corporations, and non-government organizations claim they want and practice two-way communication, dialogue, and engagement with citizens, customers, employees, and other stakeholders and publics. But do they in reality? Voice—speaking up—is recognized as fundamental for democracy, representation, and social equity. But what if organizations are not listening? This book reports findings of a two-year, three-continent study that show that public and private sector organizations devote substantial and sometimes massive resources to construct an ‘architecture of speaking’ through advertising, PR and other public communication practices, but listen poorly, sporadically, and sometimes not all. Beyond identifying a ‘crisis of listening’, this landmark study proposes that organizations need to create an architecture of listening to regain trust and re-engage people whose voices are unheard or ignored. It presents a compelling case to show that organizational listening is essential for healthy democracy, organization legitimacy, business sustainability, and social equity and brings benefits to organizations, their stakeholders, and society.

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