Change is tough for any business, but it’s also a chance to grow and improve—if you know how to navigate it. Emphasis on “If”.
Whether it’s reducing employee turnover, boosting engagement, or handling major transitions like mergers or remote work, getting honest feedback from your team can make all the difference. That’s where employee voice can be a game-changer. We’ve helped businesses of all industries and sizes manage change more smoothly by listening to their employees and taking action before, during and after the change.
Now we’re going to share five real-life examples of how Hive has helped organisations turn feedback into progress.
1. Travelodge: Tackling employee turnover with predictive insights
Travelodge had been seeing solid engagement scores for five years, but something wasn’t adding up—turnover was going up, too. With the uncertainty of Brexit, they were especially worried since many of their hotel staff were non-British.
They turned to Hive to get to the bottom of it. With help from our People Scientists, they switched from yearly surveys to more frequent, targeted pulse surveys to hear from their people and dig into the turnover issue.
What did we find?
- 75% of those who left didn’t fill out the surveys.
- eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score) detractors were three times more likely to quit than their happier peers.
- Relationships with managers and career progression were make-or-break factors, especially for part-time staff who didn’t qualify for their Aspire development program.
Armed with this data, Travelodge took action:
- They kept a close eye on survey responses and eNPS to spot turnover risks early.
- They revamped their management structures.
- They ramped up training for managers.
- They opened up the Aspire program to more employees.
The result?
You can read their full story here.
2. Afiniti: Keeping employees connected during COVID
When COVID-19 hit, Afiniti had to find a way to keep employees engaged while they worked remotely. Talent Lead Sarah Corsar had a brilliant idea—she asked Hive to create a special “COVID BUTTON” within our Open Door feature, so employees could easily share their concerns during this tough time.
“That was quite a big moment for us because lots of people started to send in viewpoints as there were naturally lots of worries, and having that channel to respond to people was very powerful. We started addressing comments in our all-hands – listening to people and having the always listening feature was incredibly helpful.” – Sarah Corsar – Talent Lead at Afiniti
This new feature gave employees a way to speak up and be heard. Afiniti’s leadership made sure to address comments during all-hands meetings, which helped everyone feel more connected and reassured.
The result?
Want to learn more about Afiniti’s partnership with Hive? You can do that here.
3. Hive HR: Practising what we preach with peer recognition
At Hive, we’re all about helping companies listen to their employees, but we also make sure to walk the talk.
One way we do that is with our own peer-to-peer recognition tool, Hive Fives. Anytime someone sends a Hive Five, it gets shared with the whole team on Slack (our internal communication channel), and the recipient also gets a personal email with the message.
This simple system has had a huge impact on morale. In the past year, our team has sent 678 Hive Fives! That’s 678 moments of appreciation that bring us closer together—even though we’re a hybrid-remote company.
By using our own tools, we’ve created a culture of recognition that keeps us all feeling connected, supported, and motivated.
You can learn more about this in our Employee Voice Playbook for Change Management.
4. Navigating a merger of councils smoothly with employee feedback
Mergers can be stressful, and this was the case for a council that was bringing together six smaller councils into one. To gauge employee sentiment, they initially conducted a baseline survey, but as the integration progressed, they recognised the need for more frequent updates on how staff were feeling.
By using Hive’s pulse surveys, they gathered real-time feedback on key issues such as trust in leadership and pride in the organisation. The insights revealed that trust levels were low, and employee pride in working for the council needed attention.
Armed with this information, the council launched the Workplace Project, which included:
- Flexible working arrangements
- Enhanced support for remote work
- Office redesigns to foster better collaboration
- Improved communication from leadership
The result?
Amazing right? The impact of listening to your employees, the people who are doing the day-to-day running of your organisation can be transformative, leading to stronger engagement, lower turnover, and a culture where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute to meaningful change.
5. The Percy Hedley Foundation: Rebuilding culture
The Percy Hedley Foundation recognised the need to reset its employee experience to better meet the evolving needs of its workforce. They partnered with Hive to track how their team was feeling through both pulse and annual surveys. These surveys provided valuable insights into what was working well, where improvements were needed, and how to align with their organisational priorities.
By consistently checking in with employees, they were able to make small adjustments and fine-tune their strategies to better support employee needs, particularly around well-being and leadership development.
The result?
Ready to drive change with employee voice?
These examples show just how powerful employee feedback can be when it’s used the right way. Whether you’re trying to reduce turnover, improve remote work culture, or lead a company through a big transition, listening to your people and acting on what they say is key to success. And with Hive, you’ve got the tools to do just that.
Thinking about how Hive can help your organisation manage change? Take our Organisational Readiness Quiz to find out if you’re ready to take the next step!
If you’re still looking for more insight into how employee voice positively impacts change initiatives in the workplace, download our Employee Voice Playbook for Change Management.
