Don Harris - TalkBack: +353 87 2488941

Don Harris – Facilitator of change
"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

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. Integrity and loyalty underscore Don’s relationship with clients and media alike. His promise is to offer an absolute assurance of quality one- to -one communication as the foundation of any project in which he is involved.

My work allows me the opportunity and privilege to meet some outstanding people who feel that nobody at work is listening to them, or interested in their views. Sadly, in some cases that’s true – company morale often reaches rock bottom as a result.

Main focus is on improving productivity through:

  • Empathetic Communication Practices
  • Feedback
  • People Engagement
  • Dialogue Development
  • Coaching

In every instance so far we have been able to demonstrate to clients that people within their organisation have a lot to say and CRUCIAL feedback to offer. HERE’S THE BIG QUESTION – is your CEO interested in hearing their views? The truth can be hard to handle, and difficult to reach. That is why third party intervention works well. Preserving anonymity is paramount in the process.

I initially carry out feedback 1-1’s with your people as we initiate the Employee Engagement process using EMPATHETIC PRACTICES. It is a privilege and perk of the job to get to know some extraordinary people whilst chatting to them about what may be bothering them about their work and how we could work together to improve their working environment or the atmosphere prevailing.

Speaker & Broadcaster

In 1983 Don set up Airtime Limited which went on to become Ireland’s first radio advertising sales agency. He was the first CEO of IRS (Independent Radio Sales) and established the hugely influential Radio Advertising Awards in 1992, whilst running Cohesion Advertising, which eventually led him to set up TalkBack in 2009 thereby extending an unbroken thread of professional expertise built up over 30 years

I am the presenter of ‘You and Your Business’ each Friday at 12.30 on Dublin City FM on 103.2 FM. Empathic Communication and radio are my life. I am fortunate to have reached a time where I love my work. With 30+ years of experience, TalkBack has made me realise how much there is to learn about people and the way we all think! Let’s have a conversation soon….

 

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