Listening supports safety and a strong people culture that values mental health. It’s something we can all learn to be better at, says Lucinda Neal, from confidential safety hotline CIRAS.
Most of us believe we know how to listen. If someone wants to share something with us then we’re ready to step up and listen to them – a problem shared is a problem halved, after all. But what makes a good listener? Are we doing that? And why does it matter for safety?
At its most basic, listening is hearing what someone is saying. It’s more than that, though. You’re actively stopping what you’re doing and paying careful attention. This is better than ‘listening passively’, where you don’t fully understand the words being said because you’re paying more attention to the thoughts in your head or your surroundings.
If someone is listening, you might expect them to show this with their facial expressions and verbal sounds, as well as by not talking over you.
But listening doesn’t always take place at the same time as something is raised or spoken about. Online channels and apps can help people to be heard and to receive a response later. In these cases, proof of listening comes through the type of response and actions that follow the listening.
Why we listen
When we listen, we may have an intention, an idea of why we are listening. Maybe we’re finding out information to help us carry out a task, or we’re trying to understand someone’s perspective of a situation. But it’s better to listen with no agenda, no expectation of what someone’s about to say. Then we can hear more and learn more.
Where we’re listening to understand or help, our focus is what we can do for other people. Even so, it’s worth checking that our expectations of a discussion don’t stop us from truly focusing on what the other person is saying, so we don’t miss out on valuable insight and understanding what will really help them. The insight might not even come from the words. Listening includes paying attention to gestures, expressions, and even what’s left unsaid.
In our daily lives, we’re likely to listen closely to those we care about, such as family, friends, and close colleagues. If someone’s having a tough time, we want to be there for them. Often, the best way we can do this is to listen.
Ways to listen
Listening models help us think practically when we want to offer our support to someone who’s struggling. These can help us be more present in any conversation.
For example, Samaritans uses SHUSH:
- Show you care.
- Have patience.
- Use open questions.
- Say it back.
- Have courage.
There’s more information on samaritans.org.
There’s also the RAILS model:
- Remain calm.
- Approach.
- Inquire.
- Listen.
- Support.
Find out more on CIRAS’ website.
What else do we know about what good listening looks like? Research backs up the above suggestions.
Asking questions not only shows understanding but also helps you discover more. It signals careful listening. Repeating back what you hear helps confirm your understanding and gives whoever you’re listening to an opportunity to clarify or correct it. It becomes a conversation.
Importantly, it’s about asking the right questions that follow on from listening, not from your own separate train of thought, and talking at the right time, not over the top of the person speaking. Take your cues from them. Cooperation is key.
When someone feels safe, as though they’ll be listened to, they’ll say more. By asking open-ended questions, where the answer isn’t just ‘yes’ or ‘no’, you can help develop the conversation and show you’re safe and want to listen without judgement.
Not judging and not being defensive will help them open up. Defensiveness may be natural if you’re hearing criticism, or if you disagree, but showing this will close down the conversation, and neither listener nor speaker will feel that it’s been effective.
Listening to stay safe
As discussed, we can listen to gather information. Having the right information means we can remove hazards and prevent risks and harm. So, listening better can also help us be safer.
This isn’t just about an individual listening out to warnings and instructions to carry out tasks safely. It also means organisations listening to concerns without judgement or bias, so the focus stays on the information and what can be learned from the concern or issue raised.
If you feel you’re not being listened to, even if you’ve raised a concern before, there are ways to be heard that you might not have tried. Within your company, you can reach out to your line manager, your supervisor, a site manager, or a health and safety professional. Or you could use other internal reporting channels. Unions can also provide a listening ear. Someone will listen and respond.
There is also CIRAS, the confidential safety hotline. You can raise a concern through CIRAS, and CIRAS will share it with the right person who can act on it, with your identity protected. You can use CIRAS to raise concerns for companies that aren’t your employer, too.
When someone is really listening, people make the right call and report their concerns.
Visit: https://www.ciras.org.uk/rightcall
Lead photo credit: © istockphoto.com/sturti
