As a manager, business owner or employer, it is so much easier to action change when you have the support of your team and the information to make the right decisions.
Utilising employee feedback means that your decisions are based on fact, rather than how you think your staff are feeling.
There are, however, a number of barriers that can get in the way of gathering effective feedback. These obstacles come in all shapes and sizes, but they don’t have to be inevitable. The right feedback solutions make it easier than ever to understand your team, to build a culture where your employees feel valued and can thrive.
Feedback is more than simply a ‘nice to have’ – the reality is that missing out on this crucial feedback could have a negative impact on your company in both the long and short term. Research from Work Human shows that 89% of HR leaders agree that ongoing peer feedback and check-ins are key for successful outcomes.
It doesn’t stop there. Research shows that employee engagement can have a much wider impact on your company than you might first imagine. This is because when your team feels heard, they feel more engaged and relate more to the overall goal of the business. According to Fond, companies that regularly incorporate employee feedback see staff turnover decrease by an average of 14.9%.
This is just another reason why looking after your staff is key to your business success. This is especially relevant in the age of the ‘great resignation’ where lockdowns and the pandemic have resulted in more and more employees seeking roles elsewhere if they are not fully satisfied with their current work situation.
With the importance of feedback in mind, we have identified three key barriers which can prevent you gathering effective feedback from your team.
1) Lack of opportunities to give feedback
It’s fair to say that a lot can happen in a year, from staffing changes to fluctuations in profit and loss. The sheer number of issues that can occur in a 12-month period means that collecting feedback once a year simply isn’t enough.
The key to avoiding this is to offer regular opportunities for your team to give feedback, ideally once every three to six months. Our short pulse surveys provide the ideal solution to find out how your staff is feeling at regular intervals.
2) Negativity around giving feedback
When your team has a to-do list that is a mile long or is under additional pressure based on current business requirements, it’s easy for feedback to feel like another task that needs to be completed.
When feedback feels like a chore, you won’t be getting the insightful answers that enable you to make effective changes within the workplace. In order to gain maximum benefit from the data, your team needs to feel that giving up their time to respond to a request for feedback is a positive action. Internal communication is key here – make it clear to your staff that their views are important and will enable future business decisions to be made with them in mind.
3) Surveys that are generic or too lengthy
We’ve all been there, you’ve finally sat down to offer feedback that you’ve been asked to give, only to realise that you have been given the wrong form and the questions don’t apply to you.
The questions you ask your team need to be relevant to them and their position in the company. For example, if the survey goes out to all employees, don’t ask questions that only long-term employees can answer.
Did you know that, according to Office Vibe, 20% of those surveyed abandon surveys that take over 7-8 minutes to complete? Ensuring that all questions are carefully considered (and that you can act upon the responses) will result in a tailored survey that is not overly long.
The feedback solutions that We Love Surveys create always focus on your company’s specific requirements. We work with you to ensure that every question is relevant, to give the best possible outcome in terms of the final data you receive.
Top tips for survey success:
Regularly give your teams opportunities to feed back
Encourage your team to get involved and support them in doing so
Keep the questions relevant
Communicate to your team that their feedback matters and can lead to change
Call in the experts at We Love Surveys
Final thoughts
No matter what kind of business you run, feedback is essential in order to improve employee engagement and facilitate positive change.
Employee feedback doesn’t have to feel like a burden. With surveys designed precisely to the needs of your business and our user-friendly reporting, We Love Surveys are here to ensure that you reap the rewards.
What to do now
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