Don Harris - TalkBack: +353 87 2488941

The Active Listening Coach,Tour Guide and Mentor

Through feedback, I work with organizations to help them reach the truth from employees and foster increased empathy within their places of work, wherever that may be in these unpredictable days.

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Broadcaster

My ‘You and Your Business’ radio show on Dublin City FM each week is one of the highlights of my week. Every Friday at 12.30 I get to meet some exceptional people who regularly surprise and delight me with their stories of achievement and innovation. The show has built a loyal listenership since launching in 2009 and the range of special guests on the show continues to expand. If you have a story to tell about your business please feel free to send me an email and let’s have a chat soon.

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"As the UK’s largest cargo airline operating 26 aircraft to 60 destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the USA, over 75% of our employees are absentee professionals such as pilots and engineers and, despite our best efforts we were simply unable to achieve high levels of participation in our annual...

Paul Bishop, CEO DHL Air (UK)

Talkback
2021-02-26T18:13:47+00:00

Paul Bishop, CEO DHL Air (UK)

"As the UK’s largest cargo airline operating 26 aircraft to 60 destinations in Europe, Africa, Asia and the USA, over 75% of our employees are absentee professionals such as pilots and engineers and, despite our best efforts we were simply unable to achieve high levels of participation in our annual Employee Opinion Survey (EOS). If feedback is golden then our ability to drive employee motivation by understanding and addressing their issues was a critical challenge we had to overcome. It was time for a fresh approach so I asked Don to become involved with our Employee Engagement programme. He created a solution that revolves around meeting people in their workplace at times convenient to them and always on their terms. This makes it sound simple but there is a lot more to it than that. Don’s easy going style and Empathic Communication process fostered the trust required to discover new ways of co-operating and working together. We have for example reduced reliance on email as a primary communication medium. Don’s enthusiasm and professionalism encouraged managers to engage with the project and as their confidence grew we saw better flows of effective communication throughout our business at all levels. Everyone is an employee, not just the employees. Since we began our strategic partnership with TalkBack, Employee Engagement has improved beyond expectations and participation levels in our annual opinion survey have increased every year, in the case of Pilots from 53% in 2012 to 62% in 2013 and 74% in 2014. The proof as they say, is in the pudding."
"After speaking at two large events recently I asked Don Harris of TalkBack to capture feedback from the audience. The information Don provided was invaluable – an honest reaction provided immediately after the event is much more powerful than any feedback provided at a later stage. The testimonials gathered gave...

Aristo Connect2Grow

Talkback
2021-02-26T17:18:51+00:00

Aristo Connect2Grow

"After speaking at two large events recently I asked Don Harris of TalkBack to capture feedback from the audience. The information Don provided was invaluable – an honest reaction provided immediately after the event is much more powerful than any feedback provided at a later stage. The testimonials gathered gave a deep understanding of what the audience got from the event, which was most informative and extremely valuable in preparing for future events. As we all know, written testimonials are very powerful, spoken testimonials are extraordinary"
"The key aim was to get feedback from members directly to ourselves, and the great thing in terms of getting the members feedback was it was anonymous so we were not attributing any specific comments to any particular members. That was fantastic because with the forum that we had it...

Robert Cooper – ESB , St Patrick’s Credit Union

Talkback
2021-02-26T17:29:49+00:00

Robert Cooper – ESB , St Patrick’s Credit Union

"The key aim was to get feedback from members directly to ourselves, and the great thing in terms of getting the members feedback was it was anonymous so we were not attributing any specific comments to any particular members. That was fantastic because with the forum that we had it meant members were much more comfortable and more at ease and with Don’s easy style he was able to obtain the feedback from members unobtrusively in a very relaxed manner. The key findings from the feedback provided insight, which was really helpful for St Patricks Credit Union with our existing strategy and to formulate strategy for the coming year. It helped us really focus on the products and services that we really need to deliver for our members, as opposed to the ones we believed before we got the feedback from TalkBack. The members were actually telling us the most relevant ones. One of the key things that Don provides is a platform for two way dialogue and for members to get across their opinions in a very safe way. That’s absolutely imperative for the comfort and safety of members. I’m more than happy to recommend Don and if the opportunity arises we will certainly be using TalkBack again."
"TalkBack worked really well for us. It was natural non-intrusive way of getting feedback, which we really needed from our customers. The customers appreciated the opportunity to give feedback. The findings were very interesting from our point of view. It was very encouraging in that the customers found that the...

AIB Bank, Marie O’Sullivan

Talkback
2021-02-26T18:15:19+00:00

AIB Bank, Marie O’Sullivan

"TalkBack worked really well for us. It was natural non-intrusive way of getting feedback, which we really needed from our customers. The customers appreciated the opportunity to give feedback. The findings were very interesting from our point of view. It was very encouraging in that the customers found that the networking session we held for them was very useful in terms of what they got from our guest speaker to help them with their business, and equally the chance of networking with other businesses. That was the objective of the morning and that was achieved from the feedback we got from TalkBack. It was really assuring that we were on the right track. Having the feedback so instant and in the moment was great because when you contact customers a week or so afterwards it has lost the momentum of the occasion. It’s a really great idea and we would definitely recommend using TalkBack for feedback from other events we might be holding in the future"
"Venture has many networks running throughout Dublin, we are a progressive and quite dynamic business network geared towards business owners and managers. We found that TalkBack gives us an immediate response, very timely information on what we’re doing at any given time. We run seminars and information presentations regularly and...

Shay Cahill, Venture Business Network

Talkback
2021-02-26T18:18:59+00:00

Shay Cahill, Venture Business Network

"Venture has many networks running throughout Dublin, we are a progressive and quite dynamic business network geared towards business owners and managers. We found that TalkBack gives us an immediate response, very timely information on what we’re doing at any given time. We run seminars and information presentations regularly and TalkBack gets direct feedback immediately after those events and feeds it back to our management team so that we can act straight away without waiting for months at a time. The immediacy of it is hugely important because if somebody has attended an event or network meeting or seminar, if you ask them a week later, or a couple of weeks later what they thought, or what the benefits were of attending it may not be as clear or vivid, or real-time, so the fact that Don is on site getting immediate feedback means that you’re talking to people whilst still, if you like ‘in the driving seat’- that’s very useful for Venture. We’re finding quite a lot of our members are talking about TalkBack, it’s a product/service that anybody who has interaction with customers, which we all do in one shape or other form, could and probably should be availing of. It is honest truth straight back from the horse’s mouth, and you can’t beat that."5
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Talkback

ALL TESTIMONIALS

I improve Engagement using Empathetic Practices

Welcome, we’re here to help, we just need to explain a few things first…

this might involve a few short questions.

We all like hearing the truth. Revealing it helps facilitate change in people and through their engagement prompts organisations to seek alternative ways to doing things.

  • What are you doing to facilitate change in your organisation?
  • How will you get at the truth, are you ready to face the bare facts?

The answer to these questions can only be found by looking inward and asking the difficult questions of yourself and others around you. Happily, at TalkBack we go a long way to providing the answers by asking the right engaging questions one to one.

  • Have you the necessary skillset available in your company to listen accurately to what your employees have to say?

Don Harris - TalkBack

Don Harris

As Principal of TalkBack, Don Harris brings over 30 years insight and experience to any communications project. Don is an Executive Coach and Mediator which fits well with his broadcasting background and interest in Feedback and Employee Engagement assignments.

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Profile of Don Harris and Regular Posts

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Listen here to a welcome message from TalkBack…

Greater Engagement Leads to Greater Productivity

How we begin to help you

Feedback

  • How do you discover what your clients think of you, or your organisation?
  • When was the last time you talked with your staff to establish how they feel, to guage their mood?
  • Would you like help affirming the truth, can you handle hearing honest opinions expressed by people you respect? What have you to fear?

TalkBack takes a pro-active approach using engaging questions leading to revealing answers.

Employee Engagement

There’s no swift answer to deciding which form of engagement strategy is suited best to you in order to connect better and more effectively with your employees.

One thing is certain however, it’s going to involve one to one conversations with your people, some of whom you may not have considered opening a line of communication with before now.

Dialogue Development

  • How do you communicate effectively with your people?
  • Do you use emails, presentations or think-ins?
  • If you were confronted in a communal canteen by a staff member, would that feel out of the ordinary to you? In fact, is there a communications disconnect going on within your company?

TalkBack opens conversations with your people on your behalf and helps take the awkwardness out of hearing sometimes emotional views, expressed openly in a 1 to 1 meeting. Conversations are carried out in confidence and anonymity is guaranteed to the participants. (names are not asked). Good Communication is a Conversation!

Coaching

I have been a Coach for over 15 years, but I been coaching people for most of my career. Seeing the enlightenment and progress made by people I have worked with is one of the best parts of my job. To be successful a coach must inspire, challenge, work to deadlines and be in a position to measure effectiveness. The feelgood factor from a person or group who benefit from coaching sessions is particularly motivating and seriously beneficial.

Mentoring

Don is somebody who has been mentoring and coaching clients facing a wide variety wide of challenges in a personal and business capacity for more than 35 years. He brings a wealth of knowledge to his role as an experienced Mentor, Coach and Mediator whose background is steeped in people well-being and engagement productivity projects.

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    We can assist you in bringing about real change in your organisation

    There is a saying that still holds true today…

    “If nothing changes, everything remains the same”

    We can assist you in bringing about real change in your organisation.

    It’s your call – we hope to hear from you soon for all the right reasons.

    Trained to Listen – Primed to Help