How to address and implement employee feedback

When it comes to the world of business, innovation and scaling are important, but how well you listen to the people who help your organization be successful — your employees — matters even more. Tapping into how employees think and feel can revolutionize your business and usher in a new era of collaboration and productivity.

The whole world has likely heard about the Great Resignation by now. Ever since the pandemic, people have been leaving behind unfulfilling jobs and saying goodbye to leaders who don’t respect or hear them. If you’re a business leader who wants to retain talented workers, learning how to efficiently collect and implement employee feedback should be your secret weapon against the effects of the Great Resignation.

Collecting employee feedback

Collecting employee feedback doesn’t have to be a drawn-out and painful experience. In fact, it can be a great way to team build and foster relationships with those you work with day in and day out.

The first step is to create a culture where people feel safe divulging their true opinions. By creating a culture within your organization that feels as comfortable as your favorite pair of sweatpants, employees will feel they can be real with their managers and give meaningful feedback instead of fluff-filled answers without applicable use.

A company culture like this can be built by making it clear that feedback perceived as negative will never be met with any sort of punishment, first and foremost. A comfortable feedback culture can also depend on how feedback is collected.

Leaders may want to ditch long, intimidating surveys that make employees feel like they’re taking the SAT. Short and sweet pulse surveys can be a great way to tap into the thoughts and opinions of your employee base without taking up too much of their time. Keeping feedback anonymous is a good way to make people feel comfortable sharing without fear of repercussions.

Face-to-face discussions can also be quite powerful. Quick chats to touch base once a month, longer discussions during employee reviews, or round-table discussions during team meetings can all garner meaningful feedback results. The key is to keep it relaxed, comfortable, and easy for employees to participate.

Implementing feedback

Once you’ve gathered all of this stellar feedback — what then? If employees continue to give feedback but see no improvements or action, they will eventually stop sharing, by which point you’ll have lost access to one of the most powerful tools for your business.

The first step to implementing employee feedback is sharing the wins with the team. There are bound to be some golden nuggets within the feedback you receive, and sharing those with everyone else can shine a spotlight on the positives and make employees feel seen and appreciated. Feedback should be considered more than just a way to collect complaints or suggestions for improvement. Sometimes, it’s a great way to shout out unsung winners on the team.

If feedback is received that is less positive, leaders should implement a plan to tackle the improvements that need to be made. Easily addressed issues should be immediately attended to, and while larger issues also need immediate recognition, they may require a more nuanced and in-depth approach to address. One approach could be allowing employees who submitted the feedback to serve on teams designed to fix issues. Not only will this allow the employees to have more agency and participation in workplace decisions and processes but it will make also them feel seen and heard.

But don’t think you’re finished after one survey and a few improvements. Leaders should periodically check in, adjust the sails if needed, and keep doors open for further feedback and suggestions for workplace improvement.

Remember that organizational “glow-ups” are a marathon, not a sprint. Addressing feedback is never a one-and-done situation.

Improving job satisfaction and retention

Most business owners and leaders want their workplace to be one where employees don’t feel like they’re just punching the proverbial time clock but instead feel they are part of something genuinely meaningful and impactful. By fostering an environment where employee feedback can flow freely and is acted on quickly, employers are building better job satisfaction and increasing employee loyalty.

When employees see that their thoughts matter, it’s as if they have been given a job perk they weren’t expecting that’s better than any ping-pong table or Friday pizza parties — it’s a company that cares about how they feel and what they think!

Related: Returning to core benefits to overcome employee dissatisfaction

These happier, more satisfied employees turn into loyal fans who are bound to stick around. Having their feedback heard gives them a sense of belonging and stake in the game. It can become a company’s best defense against the mass exodus of employees plaguing the work world in the last few years.

By collecting employee feedback, and then acting on it, you can unlock the mystery of how to retain top talent in your organization. Keeping the lines of communication open and turning those suggestions into growth-minded initiatives allows employees to be the architects of their workplace happiness.

When your team feels seen, heard, and part of something bigger, the result can be a workplace and team that exceeds expectations.

Logan Mallory is the Vice President of Marketing at the leading employee engagement and recognition software, Motivosity. Mallory is a public speaker, professor, and thought leader on culture and leadership in the workplace to achieve employee retention.