Listening to Grow: How Active Communication & Inclusive Listening fuel engagement in a Scale-Up

At Insight Survey, listening isn’t just what we do for clients , it’s how we show up for each other. As our team embarks on a growth trajectory, we’re reminded that scaling up isn’t simply about expansion: it’s about strengthening the culture, elevating every voice and safeguarding what makes us unique.

Why engagement matters

When a company is growing rapidly, the risk is real: voices can get lost, hierarchies can form unintentionally and decision-making can become centralised.

That’s why inclusivity initiatives matter. They keep growth from happening around people and instead make sure it happens with people. Inclusive communication, active listening and psychological safety aren’t “nice-to-have”, they’re critical to engagement, innovation and sustainable performance.

A live practice: Active listening in action

Recently, our team slowed down for 30 minutes before lunch: pairs took turns answering the prompt, “When do you feel most heard and what helps make that possible?” One talked, the other listened. No jumping in, no fixing. Then we swapped. We ended the exercise asking: “What made you feel heard? What stopped you from feeling heard?”  The result? Simple but effective reminders that listening is a skill — a culture habit — and that how we communicate internally reflects what we deliver externally.

What our own research proves

Our Employee Engagement Research solution at Insight Survey underscores this. In a case study with a leading financial services provider, we achieved an 88.9% response rate in a survey exploring ten core engagement themes (goals & objectives, leadership, recognition, career development etc) with the aim of supporting a major transformation.   Key findings from that research included:

• Employee sentiment and engagement need to be understood and acted on to support sustainable performance.
• The action plan spanned short-term (recognition tools, feedback mechanisms), medium-term (leadership development, resource audits), and long-term (embedment of values, standardised feedback, bi-annual tracking).
• The impact? A roadmap for reducing attrition, improving leadership credibility and aligning workforce strategy with transformation goals.

This case reinforces what we practise internally: engagement flourishes when listening is structural, when feedback informs action and when the culture stays human.

Linking our internal culture with our research DNA

• As we scale up, we’re guarding against lost voices by practising listening intentionally.
• The skill of listening internally mirrors the empathy we bring to employee engagement research externally.
• By modelling inclusive communication now, we’re building the kind of organisation we help our clients build, one where feedback leads to action and voices lead to change.

What we’re committing to

We are committed to inviting input from every level of the organisation, recognising that shaping our culture is not limited to senior staff. We aim to embed active listening into our meetings, brainstorming sessions and team check-ins, mirroring the depth of engagement we expect from respondents in our research. Most importantly, we will ensure that all feedback is met with visible action, reinforcing that every voice matters and demonstrating that we are not only asking for input but genuinely listening and responding.

Growing bigger doesn’t have to mean becoming more distant. For us, growth means becoming more connected, more intentional, more human.

We’re scaling up together: by listening up, showing up and ensuring every voice is heard.

Because when that happens, engagement thrives, culture deepens and performance follows.