How to Get Honest Feedback from Your Employees
Try to create a comfortable environment., Keep feedback anonymous., Pick a medium that works well for your particular company., Consider using employee surveys., Check in with employees over lunch or coffee., Have routine conversations with trusted...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Try to create a comfortable environment.
As an employer, one of your primary jobs is to create a comfortable environment for your employees.
When you do that, you set the stage to break through their fear of giving honest feedback.
An authoritative or autocratic manager will most likely get more falsified feedback.
When making your workplace friendly, consider:
Are there any pressure topics that may be making your employees nervous? Maybe you fired an employee for disagreeing with you on one too many topics.
To rectify this, make sure you make clear why that employee was fired; perhaps you and he did not agree on certain office policies.
Is there any favouritism in your office? You may not even realize its happening, but other employees might.
Try to keep everyone in the loop, and seek advice from everyone, rather than a select few. -
Step 2: Keep feedback anonymous.
Start taking feedback by keeping it anonymous.
Employees may be hesitant to open up because they are aware they might have to face negative consequences if their name is attached to a negative comment.
As an employer, you can assign a coach or specific employee to gather feedback anonymously.
If you keep criticism anonymous, you give employees opportunity to openly speak up without the fear of getting fired.
This will help you to easily find problematic areas of business, which must be dealt with at the earliest possible time. , When you offer your employees an appropriate platform or system to initiate unprompted criticism, you are more likely to get frequent and direct feedback. , You can employ independent, yet confidential surveys that offer employees a space for written comments.
Some comments may be off base, but when you read between the lines, you might find that you are able to understand many factors pertaining to behavior, communication or work arrangements that require attention.
A group of trusted people, such as people specifically hired for this purpose, can also conduct the surveys, which may include interviews to explore problematic areas.
Such surveys might be helpful to an extent, but they cannot deliver the same breadth of honest opinion that you should be able to obtain through an independent survey. , Informal occasions can offer a great opportunity to ask employees about how they feel the company is doing.
Ask them about improvements that think could be made.
As you are not directly reviewing anyone’s performance during these small time-slots, employees may feel better about speaking their mind. “Tell me more” is a very powerful phrase you can use to deeply listen and learn more from your employees. , Like every business, yours also has informal leaders that take the initiative.
Other employees will be more likely to express their thoughts on the company with the person.
You should identify these people because they are the ones to whom employees go for advice or to vent frustrations.
Tell them openly that your objective is to bring to surface the hidden employee concerns, not to affect anyone’s career. , Using all of the mediums listed above could give you a more rounded view of what the people at your office think about the policies and how the office is managed.
Relying on only one source of feedback will never uncover the entire picture for you, therefore, avoid it at your best , If an employee says that meetings tend to run long, it is helpful to have an example of a time when this occurred so that you can know the specific duration of time the employee is referring to.
Encourage your employees to give solid examples on their surveys.
Encourage your employees to be as specific as possible. -
Step 3: Pick a medium that works well for your particular company.
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Step 4: Consider using employee surveys.
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Step 5: Check in with employees over lunch or coffee.
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Step 6: Have routine conversations with trusted and candid people.
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Step 7: Consider employing several different mediums to get feedback.
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Step 8: Request examples when receiving feedback.
Detailed Guide
As an employer, one of your primary jobs is to create a comfortable environment for your employees.
When you do that, you set the stage to break through their fear of giving honest feedback.
An authoritative or autocratic manager will most likely get more falsified feedback.
When making your workplace friendly, consider:
Are there any pressure topics that may be making your employees nervous? Maybe you fired an employee for disagreeing with you on one too many topics.
To rectify this, make sure you make clear why that employee was fired; perhaps you and he did not agree on certain office policies.
Is there any favouritism in your office? You may not even realize its happening, but other employees might.
Try to keep everyone in the loop, and seek advice from everyone, rather than a select few.
Start taking feedback by keeping it anonymous.
Employees may be hesitant to open up because they are aware they might have to face negative consequences if their name is attached to a negative comment.
As an employer, you can assign a coach or specific employee to gather feedback anonymously.
If you keep criticism anonymous, you give employees opportunity to openly speak up without the fear of getting fired.
This will help you to easily find problematic areas of business, which must be dealt with at the earliest possible time. , When you offer your employees an appropriate platform or system to initiate unprompted criticism, you are more likely to get frequent and direct feedback. , You can employ independent, yet confidential surveys that offer employees a space for written comments.
Some comments may be off base, but when you read between the lines, you might find that you are able to understand many factors pertaining to behavior, communication or work arrangements that require attention.
A group of trusted people, such as people specifically hired for this purpose, can also conduct the surveys, which may include interviews to explore problematic areas.
Such surveys might be helpful to an extent, but they cannot deliver the same breadth of honest opinion that you should be able to obtain through an independent survey. , Informal occasions can offer a great opportunity to ask employees about how they feel the company is doing.
Ask them about improvements that think could be made.
As you are not directly reviewing anyone’s performance during these small time-slots, employees may feel better about speaking their mind. “Tell me more” is a very powerful phrase you can use to deeply listen and learn more from your employees. , Like every business, yours also has informal leaders that take the initiative.
Other employees will be more likely to express their thoughts on the company with the person.
You should identify these people because they are the ones to whom employees go for advice or to vent frustrations.
Tell them openly that your objective is to bring to surface the hidden employee concerns, not to affect anyone’s career. , Using all of the mediums listed above could give you a more rounded view of what the people at your office think about the policies and how the office is managed.
Relying on only one source of feedback will never uncover the entire picture for you, therefore, avoid it at your best , If an employee says that meetings tend to run long, it is helpful to have an example of a time when this occurred so that you can know the specific duration of time the employee is referring to.
Encourage your employees to give solid examples on their surveys.
Encourage your employees to be as specific as possible.
About the Author
Jessica Turner
A passionate writer with expertise in hobbies topics. Loves sharing practical knowledge.
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