5 Questions To Uncover What Employees Aren’t Telling You At Work

What Are Employees Seeing That You Might Be Missing?

“What are you seeing that I might be missing?” is a simple question, but it changes the usual conversation between a leader and an employee. You are acknowledging that your view may be incomplete and that the employee may know something you do not. Employees are often closer to the actual work than the people making decisions about it. You may have the reports and the numbers while they know why those numbers look the way they do. Asking what they are seeing gives them permission to bring up something you may have overlooked, and it makes it easier for them to disagree with your view.

This can become even more useful as AI impacts the future of work. Leaders may know which AI tools have been implemented and how much time they are expected to save, while employees know what actually happens when they use them. They may experience problems or discover benefits nobody anticipated. Those details can be easy to miss when the conversation focuses on whether the technology is working as planned.

What Is Frustrating Employees That Nobody Has Asked About?

Most workplaces have frustrations people learn to live with. The things I see most often are inefficient processes, unnecessary approvals, meetings that run too long, and even technology that creates more work instead of less. Sometimes the problem comes from things employees have mentioned before without seeing anything change. After a while, people can stop bringing these things up because they assume there is no reason to keep talking about them. Asking, “What’s frustrating you that nobody has asked about?” gives employees an opening to revisit something they may have stopped expecting a leader to address.

There is a big difference between asking employees whether they are frustrated and asking what is frustrating them. The first question makes it easy to say everything is fine and move on. The second gives them somewhere to go with the answer. You may discover an issue you can solve fairly easily, or you may learn about something affecting several employees that has been around so long everyone has simply accepted it.

What Would Employees Change If They Were Leading The Project?

Employees are often asked for updates about the part of a project they own, which can keep the conversation focused on tasks, deadlines, and what comes next. Asking, “If you were leading this project, what would you change?” requires them to look at the work from a different position. They have to think about the project as a whole rather than simply report on their responsibilities. You may hear an idea that would never have surfaced if you had simply asked whether they had any suggestions.

This question can also tell you a lot about an employee. You get to hear what they pay attention to, what they think could be improved, and what they would prioritize if they had more authority. As AI continues to change jobs and responsibilities, employees may be capable of contributing in ways that go well beyond what appears in their current job descriptions. A one-on-one conversation can give you a chance to discover some of that before a formal role or project ever gives them the opportunity to show it.

What Would Employees Try If They Had Complete Freedom?

People become accustomed to the limits surrounding their jobs, such as what the budget allows or how long approvals take. Those limits can eventually influence which ideas people even allow themselves to consider. Asking, “If you had complete freedom, what would you try?” gives employees a chance to think before all of those restrictions enter the conversation.

That can be especially useful when technology is changing quickly because some limitations employees learned to work around may no longer exist. AI may make something faster, less expensive, or possible for the first time, yet people can continue making decisions based on what was true a year or two ago.

What Question Has Nobody Asked Your Employees?

Leaders usually determine what gets discussed in a one-on-one because they arrive with the questions. Asking, “What’s one question nobody has asked you?” gives employees a chance to introduce something you did not know should be on the agenda. You cannot know which subjects employees are waiting to discuss when every question originates with you.

Coaching and mentoring expert David Clutterbuck told me that when he asks senior people when they last felt truly listened to, the answer is often that it has been a long time. I think that is easy to overlook because asking a question and listening to the answer can seem so basic. Yet when organizations are moving quickly, leaders may be focused on everything else competing for attention. Giving employees the opportunity to introduce the question can tell you where their attention actually is and lead to a conversation that would never happen if every one-on-one followed the same agenda.

How Leaders Can Get More From Conversations With Employees

You do not need to ask all five questions every time you meet with employees. One good question can be enough if you listen to the answer and allow the conversation to go somewhere you did not anticipate. Ask a follow-up when something surprises you, find out why the employee sees the situation that way, and pay attention when the answer challenges an assumption you have been making. Employees also notice what happens after they share an idea or concern, so doing something with what you hear can make it much more likely that they will speak up again. As AI gives leaders access to more data and more ways to analyze work, there is still enormous value in asking employees these five questions. If you want to uncover what employees aren’t telling you at work, the questions you ask can help you hear what all that data may have missed.