In most workplaces, employees don’t receive nearly enough feedback on what they’re doing well and how they could improve. One-third of professionals surveyed for the 2022 Betterworks State of Performance Enablement report said that they have 2 or fewer check-ins with their boss annually. Workplaces that use continuous feedback benefit from stronger relationships between bosses and employees, real-time insights into challenges and opportunities, and faster employee development.
Alex Larralde, a senior director at Betterworks, says entire organizations can benefit from continuous feedback loops. In this ongoing process, employees provide feedback via surveys, emails or other methods, and leaders act accordingly on that feedback. Over time, Larralde says this becomes ingrained as continuous improvement of the employee experience.
In this issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we’re highlighting her top tips for using feedback loops at your company.
Look deeper at the data. Continuous feedback loops aim to improve employee engagement and outcomes, and they can generate large amounts of data to help you analyze progress, Larralde says. But not all data is equal. Think about what information you want to collect and what it means in a human context.
Host regular feedback sessions. Led by bosses, these meetings may cover achievements, challenges, special recognition or issues. Communication is a two-way street, so managers should offer constructive feedback at these sessions when appropriate, Larralde says. Everyone should have a chance to contribute at these sessions. Just be sure everyone follows the agreed-upon guidelines.
Develop a regular review process. A regular feedback review process helps your leadership team decide what feedback receives priority, Larralde says. This may be based on criteria like how often an issue gets brought up or how well an idea aligns with company goals.
Create a continuous improvement board. Whether your company uses a physical board like a bulletin board in the lunchroom or a digital channel like Slack or an intranet forum, leaders can encourage employees to contribute to these boards. These kinds of boards give employees a voice, are interactive, and can even be fun for some people, Larralde says.
Take action. It’s not enough to only listen to employee feedback — leaders must take appropriate action on what they learn. This doesn’t mean implementing every idea or responding to every comment. However, Larralde says bosses should be transparent about the process and explain what they will change, what they won’t change and the reason behind these decisions.
Continuous feedback loops can lead to continuous improvement. Instead of employees only hearing from bosses once or twice a year — and employees rarely sharing their thoughts or concerns — everyone communicates regularly, which leads to a healthier company culture overall.
Compiled by Audrey Sellers
Source: Alex Larralde is the senior director, corporate, content and customer marketing at Betterworks, a cloud-based human capital management software.