Find THEIR voices
Success for most businesses is measured in profits, expanded growth, and more sales. Sometimes, there are success metrics around people. Retention, development, internal promotions – all these measures matter. And obviously, I tend to lean further into the people-focused measures over the profit increases. But it’s important to understand that I genuinely believe the former feeds the latter!
Most of the best companies measure both dollars and development – but they have something even more basic put to good use: feedback. Asking your people what they are thinking about – what they worry about – what they’d like to know more about – will go a long way to making your team feel like they matter to you as a leader. This is the focus of my interactions with companies.I long to perfect the feedback loop for every client (and potential client) I connect with.
Nearly all workers - 96% - believe that getting regular feedback is beneficial, demonstrating employees’ clear desire for ongoing input about their work.
Companies that consistently gather and act on employee feedback see reduced turnover, increased productivity, and improved workplace satisfaction, even without increasing salaries or adding perks.
Employee engagement rises four times more from meaningful feedback than from simply having the right number of in-office days, showing feedback’s powerful role in motivation.
Building meaningful feedback loops in an organization isn’t exactly difficult, but it does take a certain understanding – and if you want to avoid the common traps of gathering feedback and not being able to do anything with the data you collect, it’s important to build an action plan into your feedback loop!
There is more to feedback than surveys and follow-ups – make no mistake, these tools work, to a degree. But surveys only tell part of the story; it's a snapshot in time. Send your survey following the bonus distribution – results will reflect happy, contented, and satisfied employees. Send after you announce layoffs – fear and discontent will dominate.
The best leaders have a plan in place to not only capture the RIGHT feedback (don’t ask your team for their insights if you have no intention of acting on it) and then deliver a plan. When you work the plan – hopefully including employees – focus on improving things that need to be improved, while showcasing things that are already working well.
Bonus – plan to report back later, sharing the updates and changes that came from initial feedback to demonstrate actions taken based on what your people shared.
Organizations with high employee engagement - driven by regular feedback - report 24% lower turnover rates.
Companies that institute regular feedback check-ins observe an increase in retention, while failure to provide feedback results in higher attrition rates.
Daily input from managers makes employees 3.6 times more likely to feel motivated to excel, compared to those who only receive annual feedback.
Feedback is never one-and-done! Well, maybe it is, but that’s not the best approach.
I’ve been leading, crafting, and acting on employee feedback for decades. I’ve seen and heard it ALL – trust me – I could write a book. Leaders who care about their teams ask for feedback with openness and genuine interest. Those leaders address things that need fixing, with their team’s input along the way.
Only 16% of employees feel their most recent conversation with a manager was truly meaningful, indicating most organizations have substantial room for improvement in feedback quality.
64% of employees think the feedback they receive needs improvement, showing the importance of focusing not just on frequency, but also relevance and specificity. This isn't always clear from the answering of questions in a survey. Sometimes you need to read between the lines and have meaningful follow up conversations to get this result.
Less than half of employees (42%) report having a formal opportunity to provide feedback to their managers, and only one quarter have rated their manager’s performance in a structured way, illustrating why two-way and upward feedback should be prioritized.
Here are some simple best practices to keep in mind when you decide it's time to launch a more structured, purposeful feedback loop that will result in activities that your team will be able to see!
Feedback must be specific, timely, and balanced; vague comments and once-a-year surveys do little to drive change.
When delivering feedback to others, use the feedback sandwich method. Start with praise, offer constructive criticism, and conclude with encouragement to keep morale high.
Leaders should follow up on the feedback by communicating actions taken, thus enhancing trust and demonstrating that employee voices matter.
A culture that values feedback also incorporates peer, developmental, and coaching-based feedback, not just top-down reviews.
I’m here to help if you are looking to get started – I’m just a phone call, email, or DM away!
