What Do Your Employees (Really) Think About Your Org? Here’s How to Find Out
If you want to know how your employees feel about your organization, you can't (just) read their faces. Sure, there are simple ways to gauge happiness, but if you're looking for something more quantitative—and more reliable—than a smile, it's time to employ some different tactics. Here’s how you can guarantee that the feedback you’re getting is authentic.
Schedule Skip-Levels
A skip-level conversation is an opportunity for employees to give feedback and ask questions directly to their manager’s manager without that person being present. While that can sound underhanded or, let’s face it, a little bit terrifying, it’s a fantastic practice because it, A) creates a space for employees to bring up any concerns that go beyond the day-to-day and may impact the entire team or organization, B), ensures that employees know their voices are valued by people at all levels of the organization, and C) creates a culture of recurring feedback.
Of course, this only works if there is an established level of trust in the organization: trust that the employee sharing the feedback won’t be punished for doing so, and trust that the manager will receive any “must know” feedback and necessary coaching that comes out of the skip-level conversations.
Make it Work for You: Skip-levels are usually scheduled one or two times a year. It’s the responsibility of the Senior Manager to put them on employee calendars and explain their purpose so people can come prepared. Providing pre-thinking questions is a great way to make the most of the time.
Don’t Forget Your 1:1s
This is a simple tip to implement, but it’s often the first thing to get cut from a packed agenda. If you want your team to be honest and open with their feedback, make sure they know that it’s okay to give it. One way you can create this culture of openness is by ensuring that sharing feedback is part of your weekly 1:1s.
When requesting and sharing feedback during these meetings, make sure you model asking about and sharing what’s going well and what could be different (we like the terms “glow” and “grow,” but use what feels authentic to your org.)
Make it Work for You: “How’s it going?” is unlikely to elicit a super genuine or helpful feedback response from your employee. Instead, try asking them about what you’re doing as a manager that they want you to “keep doing,” as well as what you could “stop doing” or “start doing.”
Allow For Anonymity
Employees can be nervous about the repercussions of sharing criticism, especially when it’s directed at senior leadership. To combat this, you’re definitely going to need that culture of trust…and make sure you’re using at least one completely anonymous system of feedback to collect input from employees annually. This can be as simple as a Google survey or as intricate as focus interviews conducted by an external vendor. Whatever your system, ensure it truly gives space for unfiltered thoughts.
Make it Work for You: Anonymous feedback is meant to provide a safe structure for people to share input, however it can become a breeding ground for resentment without the proper guidelines in place. Share a simple framework for providing feedback with your employees, or give examples of actionable versus less impactful feedback before surveys are conducted.
Make it Matter
When asked if their managers care about their opinions in the workforce, only 21% of employees answer in the affirmative, according to Gallup’s 2022 State of the Global Workforce report. That’s why you absolutely must have systems in place to respond to given feedback, whether that’s informally after a 1:1, or company-wide post anonymous survey.
But wait! We’re not saying you need to change everything after every feedback conversation or survey - rather, explain what the results tell you and how you’re going to adjust course (or not) based on what you’re hearing.
Make it Work for You: Rationale is key here. Ensure you have a tight why behind things that aren’t shifting despite negative feedback, and explain how you’re grounding your rationale in something bigger, like company goals or values. Be prepared to have individual conversations with folks who you know may need additional support getting on board.
Feeling stuck?
Agile Talent Consulting counts employee listening tours and customizable trainings for providing feedback among our offerings designed to improve company culture and ensure employee satisfaction.
