Employee roundtable discussion: topics, questions and follow-up

Decide what you want to explore and why a group discussion will help. Choose participants who have relevant experience and can contribute different views of the subject.

Keep the group manageable enough for everyone to speak. The facilitator should guide the conversation and prevent side discussions from taking away another participant's opportunity.

Acas describes workplace forums as a way for employees to raise ideas and questions and for employers to listen to their views. Its guidance favours discussion of issues affecting the wider workforce, which is a useful boundary when choosing a roundtable topic.^[1]

This is a suggested agenda, not a fixed rule. Use one topic, such as what new employees need during their first month, so the group can finish with a concrete next step.

Ask what people find useful or difficult in their work and what they need to address a challenge. The questions can cover resources, communication, recognition or opportunities to learn.

Examples include: 'What is the biggest challenge your team is facing?' and 'What do you need to address it?' Leave room for an explanation rather than relying on yes-or-no answers.

When someone asks for training, ask which task they need to practise, what support they have tried and what prevents them from learning now. That gives the facilitator a concrete request to record rather than a broad wish for more development.

Separate an agreed action from a suggestion that needs a budget or manager decision. Record who will review the request and when participants will hear back. Use the learning culture guide to examine whether time, resources or manager support is missing.

Let participants ask their own questions about management and the work. Discuss what the organisation could change without turning the meeting into speculation about individuals.

One question to try is: 'If you were a manager for one day, what would you change?' Use it to explore the process or support people want to improve, and clarify the reasons behind the suggestion.

Let employees submit questions before the meeting if they prefer. Explain how those questions will be handled, including whether they will be shared anonymously.

If participants say information arrives too late, ask them to describe one recent example: what update they needed, when they needed it and where they looked. Do not promise a new communication tool before understanding the gap.

Record which team owns the information and who will investigate the timing or location of updates. Use the internal communication guide to review the route from that owner to employees, then agree how participants will receive the outcome.

Consider a fictional fintech infrastructure company where recently hired Support and Implementation colleagues struggle to find the current product introduction. The roundtable explores one question: where did the learning handoff become unclear?

Ask where each participant looked, which introduction helped and what was missing. The facilitator records a proposed change: one named content owner reviews the introduction, while managers confirm where new colleagues should find it. Agree a review date and report back before treating the proposal as approved.

This is an illustrative people and learning problem, not a customer case study. The fintech infrastructure page explains the wider hiring, onboarding and learning context.

Invite employees to suggest a change to a process, service or way of working. Ask what problem it would address, who would be affected and what information is still missing.

Record a proposed small trial, the person who will review it and any approval needed. A roundtable can surface an idea; it does not give participants authority to change customer processes or commit a budget.

Review whether the meeting stayed focused and everyone had a chance to contribute. Keep the ideas connected to the original topic and the work they would affect.

Give follow-up actions owners and revisit them with the relevant people. Explain what can change and what needs further review, rather than leaving participants to guess what happened to their input.

Use a short action note: the issue raised, the proposed change, the person reviewing it, any approval required and the date participants will hear back. For the fictional learning example, record who will check the product introduction and when managers will confirm its location. Share process changes and decisions without including confidential personal details.