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May 28, 2025

How do U.S. and Chinese organizations use digital tools to listen to employees?

By Yuan Wang, The Education University of Hong Kong and Linjuan Rita Men, University of Florida

Title Card: Digital Listening with USA and China flags in the background

The COVID-19 epidemic enabled many organizations to realize the importance of digital internal listening to employees. How do American and Chinese organizations use digital tools to listen to and communicate with their employees?

A recent comparative study found that large organizations in the United States and China seldom use artificial intelligence (AI) tools for listening to employees. However, American organizations have utilized AI tools to do basic work (e.g., brainstorming ideas and transcribing online meeting records), whereas Chinese organizations have mainly used AI-powered chatbots to respond to consumer inquiries.

Furthermore, American organizations often adopt emails, video conferencing tools (e.g., Microsoft Teams and Zoom), and social media (e.g., Facebook and WhatsApp) to listen to employees, respond to their questions, and communicate with them. By comparison, Chinese organizations usually use enterprise social media (e.g., WeChat) and emails to convey organizational announcements and solicit employee feedback in a timely manner.

We conducted in-depth interviews with 10 internal communication managers working in large organizations in the U.S. and China, respectively, in 2024. We found that many large organizations in the U.S. regularly conduct employee surveys to collect employee feedback and suggestions. Internal communication managers working in Chinese organizations call for maintaining a certain level of distance in communication and more personalized and interactive communication approaches, which can make employees feel heard and understood.

On one hand, digital internal listening can allow employees to express their opinions freely, access conversation records, feel valued, and foster team cohesion. On the other hand, digital internal listening enables organizations to address employee concerns, minimize misunderstanding and conflicts, and provide tailored support to employees.

This study yielded practical insights for American and Chinese large organizations into how to effectively utilize digital tools to listen to and communicate with employees and facilitate their engagement with the organizations.

For instance, organizations should:

  • Combine online and offline communication channels for effective internal listening practices.

  • Use AI tools and social media to respond to employees more promptly, streamline workflows, and facilitate employees’ involvement in decision-making processes.

  • Evaluate the effectiveness of digital internal listening by assessing its impact on key performance indicators, employee satisfaction and team cohesion

  • Explore ways to utilize AI tools for internal listening and communication.

For more information on this study, please contact Yuan Wang at wyuan@eduhk.hk or Rita Linjuan Men at rmen@ufl.edu. This project was supported by a 2023 Page/Johnson Legacy Scholar Grant from the Arthur W. Page Center. Feihong Pan, Chuling Song (Ph.D. candidate at City University of Hong Kong), and Yan Wang (Ph.D. candidate at Hong Kong Baptist University) also contributed to this research project.