With the end of the year closing in, it is the perfect time to reflect and begin planning for the next year. While it’s important to look back at sales, marketing and (of course) finances, don’t overlook the value of employee feedback.
Listening to employees can give you so much useful information about their engagement and job satisfaction as well as good tips for helping the customer and bottom line. They are an often underutilized wealth of data that can help your company.
It's no secret that supporting employees, challenging them to grow, and encouraging them in their work is central to a positive work environment. As a result, your company may already have employee engagement programs in place. But do you know if they are working? No matter how well-intentioned or how hard you’re working, it’s only worthwhile if you're getting the desired results.
The best way to find that out is to ask them. Sometimes you will get feedback without asking, but it tends to be negative and too late to resolve. Employees will come forward when they are having a problem with their manager or a coworker. They will also talk quite openly in an exit interview, when their dissatisfaction has already translated into a career move. That’s a situation you want to avoid. So, what do you do to begin collecting feedback on a regular basis?
If you’re just asking for feedback because you’re supposed to, your employees are going to pick up on that eventually. Half-hearted efforts to explore critical topics such as employee engagement without any resulting action run the risk of having the reverse effect and your employees won’t bother talking to you a second time.
Work all year at having the kind of culture that invites candid communication. Show interest in what your employees are working on, what their roadblocks are and how you or the rest of management may be able to help.
Then, once you get some feedback, do something about it. Make a plan, discuss it with the employees you talked to and see if you’re on the right track. Let them know that you are working to address any of their concerns or heed their suggestions.
Ask them questions, not just at review time, but throughout the year. This could be informal meetings or simply passing them in the hallway. If your employees are comfortable with you, they will be much more likely to discuss their concerns and ideas. If talking to you about what’s going on at work becomes a normal experience, they won’t be as afraid to approach you when something comes up.
The best environment is the one where employees know that their opinions are valued.
Talking individually at reviews and sometimes in groups is certainly useful. But sometimes employees will feel more comfortable with an anonymous means of communication. Take advantage of the many forms of online surveys to email specific questions to your employees.
Collecting employee feedback online is easy and efficient. Make sure to protect their privacy when needed, reassure them this is not about finding who said what, but figuring out what needs changed in the company. Make sure to set up a computer station for any employees that may not have access to email.
Aspirant's AI-powered survey tool, Digital Discovery®, is the ideal solution for leaders looking for more actionable insight. It utilizes natural language process to automate the analysis of open text responses. This empowers employees to offer their perspective in their own words rather than limiting them to pre-selected options or a 1-5 rating. Dashboards help visualize results and track trends over time.
Use the form below to speak to our Organizational Effectiveness experts about how Aspirant can help your company leverage employee feedback into results.
