By Eric Chester

A great workplace culture does more than merely share timely and relevant information with its employee -- it goes to great lengths to listen to them and digest that feedback.

Employee surveys can be useful tools, but by themselves, they're not enough to truly know what your people are thinking.

There's no survey, assessment, or digital app in the world that can take the place of a manager finding a few moments of quiet, pulling one of her employees aside, and asking, "Hey, how are you making out around here? What kinds of dragons have you had to slay today? Do you have all the tools and resources you need? Are you seeing any challenges on the horizon that you're going to need help with? What can I do to support you?"

And once employees start to open up, the most important thing the manager can do is to shut up, listen, take notes, and then take action.