Organizations with mature employee listening and action programs are six times as likely to exceed their financial targets as those without. Yet, the fourth annual State of Employee Listening report, published by Perceptyx, reveals that HR leaders are less confident in their programs’ ability to deliver measurable impact than they were a year ago.
The survey of 750 HR leaders, conducted by Perceptyx’s Center for Workforce Transformation, finds that, while 95% maintained or increased their listening efforts in the last 12 months, just 27% are confident their listening program will help them achieve their desired business outcomes, compared to 43% in 2024.
“There’s no lack of imperative to gather insights,” says Emily Killham, senior director and head of the Center for Workforce Transformation at Perceptyx. “The problem is not when or how organizations listen—it’s how they act on that feedback and follow through.”
Organizations are diversifying their listening programs, with many more using methodologies such as crowdsourcing (60% in 2025 vs. 43% in 2024) and listening for behaviors in 360 feedback (36% in 2025 vs. 28% in 2024) than in prior years.
However, they face a challenge with taking action in response to employee feedback across all levels of the organization. Less than one in three HR leaders feel strongly that their organization does a great job of sharing listening results across all levels of the organization. This is further highlighted by only a quarter saying that their organizations had direct team meetings, and just one in 10 saw their organizations do one-on-one meetings to share results and plan action steps.
The number one barrier to actioning feedback? Intense HR workloads. More than four in 10 HR leaders say their jobs have become much more difficult over the past year, and a full 30% have considered leaving the HR profession entirely. One in three is experiencing mental and physical exhaustion—early warning signs of burnout—while one in four admits to already being burned out.
“Organizations have more data than ever, but many people leaders don’t have the necessary skills or time in their day to sort through and create actions that will be effective,” Killham says. “Additionally, getting teams together to plan and execute actions can be disruptive to work, especially for distributed teams. This is why using advanced and AI-powered analytics to identify and surface areas where action is most needed which actions will be most effective is important to ensure no time is wasted in the activation process.”
Organizations that are able to continuously act in response to employee feedback are not only six times as likely to exceed financial targets as those that aren’t, but also eight times as likely to achieve high levels of customer satisfaction, six times as likely to adapt well to change, and eight times as likely to innovate effectively.
“Successful organizations today understand that their greatest competitive advantage lies in motivating their people to action — not only listening to their feedback, but also equipping them with the right skills and resources, and creating space for them to be involved in actions to improve their employee experience. This is literally the key to a high-performance culture,” says Lisa Sterling, chief people officer at Perceptyx. “HR professionals know this and it’s what inspires them to do their best work every day. That’s why it’s so important for HR leaders to have the resources, skills, and buy-in they need to drive this level of strategic change.”
