Listening is listening is listening: Employees’ perception of listening as a holistic phenomenon

The article examines how laypeople perceive interpersonal listening and aims to construct a scale reflecting these perceptions. The research involves three stages:

1. Laypeople listed features and characteristics of interpersonal listening in various contexts.
2. Another sample rated the centrality of these features.
3. Employees rated their experiences of being listened to by supervisors or colleagues, revealing a holistic perception of listening.

Key Points:

• Interpersonal listening research includes a wealth of conceptual definitions and measurement instruments, with no consensus on any of them.
• The past decade has seen remarkable progress in research complexity and quality.
• The research identified six main stages in effective listening: formal contracting, relationship building, assessment, feedback and reflection, goal setting, and implementation and evaluation.
• The most influential factor in listening success is the quality of the listener-client relationship.

Conclusions and Recommendations:

• The authors call for bridging the gap between researchers and practitioners.
• Research should deepen understanding of which listening approaches suit which clients in which situations.
• The authors see potential in extending listening beyond business contexts to other social domains.

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