Feedback it’s a powerful tool that, if used well, can transform companies. It serves, among other things, to guide team members towards the achievement of goals. But also to create a work environment that meets the needs of employees so that they can be more effective in their work.
Continuous feedback between managers and collaborators means making the difference between results that meet expectations, and others that are better forgotten.
Did you know that you can improve employee productivity by 25% with fluid communication?
Or that companies that offer effective feedback have 50% less turnover?
And that constant communication between company and employee encourages commitment, helping to increase annual profits by up to 19.2%?
These, and other equally interesting data, were published by the company Blue Source in their article 20 astonishing stats about business communications.
What is feedback?
Feedback, understood within the workplace, is the process by which a person provides information about something. Whether about a comment, an opinion or the result of a job.
It is a procedure in which we offer important data to the people who receive it with the aim that they can improve their performance, their behavior, their strategy, etc.
When we think of feedback, we usually imagine the moment in which managers share their impressions about work with their team members. Comments, advice, tips and ideas that serve to help employees in their daily tasks and improve their performance and productivity.
However, employee feedback should not be left out. This is extremely important to improve people management strategies.
In Human Resources, the feedback offered by the workforce is a valuable source of information.
Among other things, it serves to identify problems that may be holding back the company’s growth, improve people management strategy, and create a work environment for a better employee experience.
Types of feedback
Broadly speaking, we can distinguish two types of feedback:
- Positive. Positive feedback is the one that is given to recognize the effort and a job well done by employees. These are comments that reward, for example, a good idea or good behavior.
- Negative. It is the one that is to cover areas for improvement. Do not confuse negative feedback with criticism. While criticism has no constructive basis, negative feedback is intended to help people improve their work day by day. This, through comments that give the person receiving the feedback new approaches to see.
Although negative feedback can be useful on some occasions, it is advisable to focus more on the positive aspects than on the errors. In addition, positive feedback is better received by employees, which will make it easier to modify behaviors towards what we expect of them.
Why is it necessary to collect employee feedback?
As we have already mentioned, the opinions of employees help managers to improve their management processes.
The contributions of the workforce help improve the work environment and meet the expectations that team members have of the company. Also, it encourages their satisfaction, their commitment and their loyalty.
On the other hand, organizations that are interested in improving the employee experience see how their teams are much more competitive, innovative and effective. This is because by hearing their voices, employees feel valued.
When they know that they are an important asset to the organization, their accountability increases, making the time they spend performing tasks much more productive.
How to enhance feedback and communication with employees
When asking employees about relevant issues that affect the development of the organization, it is important to follow a series of guidelines.
These will help you make the feedback meaningful, allowing you to identify areas for improvement that really have an impact on the organization’s results:
1. Be clear about the purpose of the feedback. It is recommended to tackle the topics one at a time. Think about what you want to improve and focus your questions on it.
2. Use a specific tool . Team Insights is software that allows you to automatically collect feedback from employees and analyze their responses.
You can create your own surveys, create segments, and monitor the data. All this will give you a much more accurate view of the reality of your company, and proactively take the appropriate measures for a constant improvement of the organization.
In addition, to further promote communication, we have an anonymous chat section where employees can contact their managers directly and at any time. They will be able to share all their doubts, concerns or suggestions at the moment.
3. Provides anonymity. For feedback to be honest and transparent, it is essential that responses are anonymous. This gives employees the freedom to express themselves freely without fear of reprisal.
4. Analyze the answers. Once the feedback of all the employees has been obtained, it will be necessary to carry out an exhaustive analysis of the information. This will provide us with answers about what we need to improve or enhance, and will help you determine what the next steps are.
5. Design an action plan. The way employees know they are heard is by showing that their voices have a direct impact on management decisions. This phase is essential to improve communication with employees. If they don’t see action on the part of the organization, next time they won’t bother to provide feedback.
6. Track improvements. Finally, see how the new measures affect the work environment and your employees. Monitoring will help you refine your management process until you achieve the best version of your organization.
If you want to boost communication with your employees, don’t hesitate to use our Team Insights employee survey software right now. It’s free!
