Creating an employee council can be a powerful way to strengthen communication and collaboration across an organization. When done well, these councils give employees a meaningful voice in shaping company culture, policies and priorities—transforming engagement from a buzzword into a shared responsibility.
But to make a real impact, an employee council needs more than good intentions; it needs focus. Clear, measurable goals ensure the group doesn’t just talk about ideas but translates them into action that builds trust and drives cultural change. Below, members of Forbes Coaches Council share smart, strategic starting goals to help companies set their employee councils up for long-term success.
1. Aim To Meet Monthly
A smart goal is to establish an employee council that meets monthly, with 80% participation, to surface and address at least three actionable ideas per quarter. This is a good start because it builds trust, creates measurable impact and demonstrates the council’s value through visible outcomes. – Curtis Odom, Prescient Strategists
2. Identify And Document Core Values
A smart first goal for an employee council is to identify and document three to five examples of how core values are—or aren’t—lived across teams. Why? Because culture lives in behavior, not in branding. This gives the council a concrete, actionable starting point to align “how we roll” with what the company says it stands for. – Kimberly Jackson, Coach Kimberly International
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3. Prioritize Employees Feeling Heard
Within six months, 75% of employees should report that their ideas are heard through council feedback loops. Starting here matters because it makes the council measurable—proving it’s not just symbolic, but a real driver of trust, engagement and stronger decisions. – Yann Dang, Aspire Coaching
4. Define The Council’s Purpose And Structure
Start by defining the employee council’s purpose, role and focus areas, ensuring alignment with the company’s mission, vision, core values and strategic objectives. Identify the right mix of cross-functional participants—staff and management, exempt and nonexempt employees—and clarify reporting lines. Effectively communicating these guidelines to the appropriate audience ensures well-informed decisions on participation, leading to engaged council members equipped to plan smart goals aligned with business needs. – Deborah Vereen, THE VEREEN GROUP
5. Increase Cross-Departmental Collaboration
Increase cross-departmental collaboration by implementing three employee-led initiatives within the first 12 months. This works as a starting point because it sets the tone that the council isn’t just symbolic but a driver of tangible outcomes. It also builds trust—employees see their input turning into real changes, and leadership gains valuable insight into what matters most. – Kathryn Lancioni, Presenting Perfection
6. Amplify Employee Voices
A smart first goal for an employee council is to amplify employees’ voices through clear, transparent feedback loops that capture what matters most and deliver actionable insights to leadership. This creates quick wins, demonstrates trust and builds momentum. When people feel truly heard, councils move from symbolic gestures to strategic engines that shape culture and drive growth. – Alejandro Bravo, Revelatio360
7. Define The Council’s Role And Expectations
Start by clearly defining the council’s role, expectations and desired competencies—then let peers vote for a team or department representative. This builds a trusted group of top talent who reflect team voices and surface cross-functional insights, and it minimizes leadership bias on selection. Aligning the vision of the role to the right people ensures authentic feedback and stronger employee engagement. – Scott Hicks, L.O.S.T. Consulting, LLC
8. Rotate Council Representatives
Launch an employee council with clear goals and rotating representatives within 60 days. Why? Because alignment starts with listening. When your team feels heard, they show up stronger. This is how you build culture, accountability and momentum—bottom-up buy-in that drives top-line growth. – Nick Leighton, Exactly Where You Want To Be
9. Complete An Employee-Driven Idea
A smart first goal for an employee council is not simply to collect feedback, but to prove that feedback has power. Within the first 90 days, choose one employee-driven idea and see it through to completion. This creates a visible win, showing employees that the council is a driver of change. Once people experience their voices shaping real outcomes, the council evolves into a true culture shaper. – Rahul Karan Sharma, RahulKaranSharma.com
10. Embed Council Feedback Into Policies
Set a goal to embed employee council feedback into at least two policies that boost engagement and performance in the first year. It shows employee voices drive change and build a culture of trust and value while delivering measurable business impact. – Shikha Bajaj, Own Your Color
11. Establish A Profitability Task Force
Create a profitability task force within the council. Too many companies believe profitability is the responsibility of leadership and accounting or finance. Engaging team members from all levels and areas of the company will spark ideas, savings, solutions and opportunities that would never have been imagined otherwise. Link this with the incentive of profit-sharing and watch ingenuity explode. – Sherre DeMao, BizGrowth Inc.
12. Hold An Off-Site Retreat
A smart goal for launching an employee council is to hold an offsite retreat within the first 60 days to build relationships, establish trust and align on shared values. This creates a strong foundation for healthy conflict, accountability and unity—ensuring the council functions as a cohesive team with a clear, purpose-driven focus from the start. – Laurie Sudbrink, Lead With GRIT
13. Focus On Developing AI Literacy
Embedding AI literacy as a goal of an employee council is one of the smartest moves a company can make. It future-proofs the workforce, reduces fear and builds trust by giving every employee the skills to engage confidently with AI. Instead of widening the gap between tech and non-tech staff, it ensures everyone can contribute to smarter, safer and more innovative decisions. – Viv Babber, MD, Lean Six Intelligence Group
14. Codify Company Culture
Ensure that there is a codified culture. Without established standards of behavior and a clear organizational ethos, the council may become a vehicle for dissent rather than a platform for problem-solving. Employees should have an outlet to discuss opportunities for innovation and systemic improvement, but it should be through the lens of purpose, values and mission. – Edward Doherty, One Degree Coaching, LLC
15. Launch An ‘Own The Problem’ Challenge
A smart goal is to launch an “Own the Problem” challenge where the employee council identifies, pitches and prototypes a solution to a persistent workplace issue within 12 weeks. This approach transforms the council from a passive feedback group into an active innovation engine, building trust, ownership and a culture of problem-solving from day one. It swiftly galvanizes action—and results. – Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
16. Identify A Cultural Blind Spot
A smart first goal is to identify one cultural blind spot leadership doesn’t see but employees live daily—and fix it within 90 days. Why? Because councils earn legitimacy not through posters or surveys, but by proving they can surface hidden truths and drive visible change fast. Credibility built early becomes the engine for lasting impact. – Carlos Hoyos, Elite Leader Institute
17. Seek Input From A Majority Of Employees
An employee council exists to represent employees from all across the company. A recommended goal is that whatever topics are to be addressed by the council should have input from at least 70% of the employees. This will prevent a small group from only working their agenda and keep the council focused on strategic initiatives related to the majority, with feedback loops of communication. – Jason Ballard, Soar Higher Coaching & Training
18. Empower The Council To Act As Leaders
Empower the council to play the part of the senior management team for two quarters. Provide them with the organization’s strategic vision and ask them to make planned financial, talent and culture decisions for the next year. Engage the real senior leadership team in a debriefing dialogue about the council’s suggestions. This is a listening and understanding exercise that can benefit all. – David Yudis, DavidYudis.com
19. Map Invisible Friction Points
Start by uncovering invisible friction points. Let the council’s first mission be mapping where policies or workflows waste time, confuse people or quietly kill morale. Those choke points are often obvious to employees but hidden from leadership until damage becomes apparent. Fixing them early builds the council’s credibility while proving it can deliver real ROI in the areas of trust and productivity. – Alla Adam, Adam Impact Institute
20. Make Sure Leadership Actually Responds
Don’t overcomplicate it. A smart first goal is simple: Get people talking and make sure leadership actually responds. Track how many employees share and how fast leaders act. When employees see their ideas turn into action, they’ll buy in. That’s the jab that builds trust. Skip this, and the council becomes another empty box to tick—wasted time, wasted energy. Start with speed, action and proof it’s not just talk. – Julien Fortuit, Julien Fortuit Agency