Listen to Employee Feedback
Why it is important to listen to your employees & understand their feedback
Employees are the backbone of any company. They’re the ones who will be carrying out your company’s vision and so it is important to listen to their feedback and understand what they need for them to do their best work.
As an innovator in the property sector we wanted to take some time to explore the largest driver of innovation, people.
So, here are some reasons why businesses should take time every day to get an understanding of what your employees want, both individually and as a group.
This article will cover
How to Find Out What Your Employees Think
One way of finding out more about your employees’ perspectives on the company is to host an online anonymous feedback form. This will give everyone the chance to share their feelings without any fear of repercussion. Other ways include in-depth one-on-one employee interviews and online employee surveys as seen at https://www.zenefits.com/hr/employee-engagement-surveys/. These kinds of surveys allow employees to answer questions about the company’s performance in a more casual setting, rather than an official conference room. Employees will also be able to offer their honest opinions without fear of repercussion.
On The Front Lines Everyday
For example, you could reach out to one employee who uses Microsoft Office every day at work and ask her for her input. You might be surprised at how many suggestions she has to improve the software that your company uses, and you just might find an easy fix that would work wonders for everyone. Also, your employees are on the front lines of your business every day, executing your company’s vision with every customer interaction. So ask them how that vision could be improved for everyone!
Asking Employees About Their Work
There’s no better way to know about the problems your employees are facing than to get first-hand feedback from them. The more involved you are, the better you can understand everyone’s point of view. You could start by asking your supervisors to ask the employees under them about any problems that come up daily. Or if you’re an employee yourself, talk to your supervisor about letting you know what other employees think after work hours.
And don’t forget-the feedback doesn’t have to be positive or negative! You might get interesting new suggestions for your company’s growth.
Supporting with technology
One thing your employees can offer is their insight into the technological aids that you could use to boost productivity. In this day and age, it’s important to be up-to-date with modern technologies so that you’re not lagging behind other companies. Your employees are always on the front lines of new technologies, whether they realize it or not. They use the latest gadgets and apps, so they know what’s out there. Why not ask them to recommend a piece of software or technology that would benefit your company?
At SlothMove, we endeavour to use the best technologies available to help our team get the most out of their work.
The Employees You Don't Hear From
Certain employees may not offer their insights daily. After all, they aren’t involved in customer interactions or the core vision of your company every day, but they are worth talking to. For example, an employee who is in charge of online marketing may not be involved with customer interactions daily. Even if the two departments don’t work closely together, you should still get input from employees like this, after all, they are critical to the success of your company.
You should also consider talking to employees who are currently on maternity or paternity leave. If your business is growing, you may even need to seek out job candidates who are working at other companies so that you can get their perspective before they work for you!
Company vision
Your employees are an integral part of creating your company’s vision. For example, if you want to create a more positive experience for customers, ask your employees what they think would make the customer experience more pleasurable. After all, they are talking to customers daily – they know how the customers are feeling and what additional factors influence their moods.
Also, if you plan to expand your business shortly, ask your employees for their input. The more they feel like they are part of the company’s vision, the more hard work they will put into making that vision a reality.
Making Company Goals More Realistic
An employee’s perspective can also offer invaluable insight into how feasible certain goals are. For example, if you ask your employees to participate in a company initiative and they share their concerns with you about the strategy’s practicality, you might need to make some adjustments. But these feedbacks are important to everyone, actually, as they can result in a more cohesive work environment.
Most importantly, if you find that your employees don’t have the tools and resources to complete a task or reach a particular goal, you might need to reassess your business strategy. If this happens repeatedly, it could be indicative of another issue within your company’s structure as well as its vision.
Explore colleague feedback
Once you’ve gotten all the feedback you can, it’s time to sit down and discuss what you know. Which of the problems are urgent? Are there any trends that show up in multiple feedback forms? Do you see the same recurring solutions to certain problems?
After processing all this information, you should have a good idea of which problems need to be resolved right away and which ones can wait. Having an open discussion about it with your employees will help them feel like they are part of the team. After all, correcting major issues early on can help your business run more smoothly.
Make It a Company Philosophy
Finally, make employee feedback a company-wide philosophy. If you set the example yourself when it comes to sharing feedback, your employees are much more likely to follow suit. In your and their interest, you might even consider setting up a system for employees to submit feedback anonymously.
Once you’ve worked out the kinks, you can use your company’s new philosophy to attract job applicants as well as retain current employees. Happy workers are productive ones!
If you want to have a good company, it’s important to take the time and understand what employees think. Employees are part of creating a vision for your company so their input is invaluable in shaping that dream. Make sure to listen closely when they share feedback with you-you never know if one idea can create huge growth opportunities!