Collecting employee feedback: 4 tried-and-true methods
We鈥檝e talked about why to track feedback. We鈥檝e talked about what types of feedback to collect. But what about how you should be collecting employee feedback?聽
When it comes to collecting employee feedback, your frontline workforce needs a specialized approach. After all, your teams aren鈥檛 in front of a computer all day. They鈥檙e not all working 9 to 5. They鈥檙e spread across the country鈥攐r further. That means you can鈥檛 collect these valuable insights in one-on-one meetings or other other standard deskbound channels.
In a more distributed workplace, it鈥檚 important to have the right channels in place when collecting upward feedback from employees, whether it鈥檚 an idea, complaint about a coworker, customer insight or health or safety concern, you name it.
Not sure what channel is best for your organization when collecting employee feedback? Here are 4 tried-and-true options to consider:
1. Surveys
We know what you鈥檙e thinking鈥攜ou hear surveys and instantly roll your eyes. There鈥檚 no shortage of articles talking about the 鈥攂ut the truth of the matter is that it is a tried and tested method, . If you fail to take the time to ask the right questions, or try to share surveys in the wrong places, you won鈥檛 get the kind of answers you鈥檙e looking for.
One of the biggest criticisms of employee surveys is that they only collect employee feedback once or twice a year. You don鈥檛 want to let a brilliant employee idea or a potentially concerning customer complaint pass you by, especially when you consider that wish their company conducted employee engagement surveys more frequently.聽
That鈥檚 why pulse surveys are a great option. That way, you can foster a feedback culture鈥攁nd your employees get used to the regular cadence of being asked for their feedback, ideas and concerns. With pulse surveys, you鈥檙e asking a shorter list of questions (sometimes, only one!) on a more regular basis. As , 鈥淢aking surveys quick and easy for employees to complete leads to greater participation and stronger, more reliable results. Pulse surveys also allow for streamlined data collection and timely analysis of results, so organizations can respond to feedback quickly.鈥
2. Forums
When it comes to collecting employee feedback and sharing best practices and ideas at scale, forums are a great option. Employee feedback forums are an online communication channel where employees aren鈥檛 just sending ideas up to head office, they鈥檙e engaging with each other鈥檚 comments and insights as well. This is more of an open channel where workers can build on other peoples鈥 ideas, especially around a specific topic or question.
The best forums are easy to use and accessible at all times. After all, inspiration can strike at any time鈥攜ou want to make sure your workforce can log their ideas or customer insights before they鈥檙e forgotten.
This method of collecting employee feedback has its challenges too鈥攊f you鈥檙e bringing thousands of employees into a forum, you need to ensure you have the right tools in place to capture common sentiments and great ideas. The worst you can make is not following up on the great ideas your employees share.
3. Ask me anythings (AMAs)
Ask me anythings (a.k.a. AMAs) aren鈥檛 just for celebs on Reddit. These Q&A sessions are a great way to collect questions and concerns that senior leadership needs to address pronto. Usually questions are submitted ahead of time (often anonymously) and they鈥檙e answered in a forum, virtual town hall or any number of other digital communication channels.
AMAs can take place at any time, but they鈥檙e particularly useful around major product launches or after leadership has made a significant announcement. Providing a space for every employee to ask questions sends the message that they are safe, supported and heard鈥攁nd they鈥檙e an integral part of the organization.
In a Forbes article on his AMAs, , 鈥淲hen I get up to field questions, I鈥檓 showing my team that I鈥檓 really willing to listen to them: that their feedback is valuable and their experience matters just as much as mine. It鈥檚 truly one of the most important things I do in my job.鈥
4. Face-to-face conversations
This one is tricky. If a frontline worker has something directly to say to their manager or supervisor, then there鈥檚 always the option of providing feedback through a face-to-face conversation. While this can be a valuable option for more personal concerns, it鈥檚 hard to level up. First, feedback can go through the broken telephone game as it makes its way back up to head office from the floor manager. If a worker gives a critical insight, idea or suggestion to their manager, they have to pass it along. When the feedback gets to the right person, is the original idea still there, or has it become convoluted?
Second, this channel is highly dependent on the availability of an individual鈥檚 manager and how urgent the feedback is. There鈥檚 also a concern that this approach can be inconsistent across locations and regions, which can drive a lack of psychological safety at an organizational level.
If face-to-face feedback is crucial to your frontline organization (research suggests that ), consider running focus groups or structured group feedback sessions as a way to gather those insights in a more standardized way. Or, work with floor managers to bring collected feedback directly into your digital communication platform or feedback channel to ensure no idea gets lost. Or better yet, walk a mile in your workforces鈥 shoes: join them on the floor to hear from them directly while working a shift with them.
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Collecting employee feedback can seem like a major challenge for larger frontline organizations. But with the right feedback channels in place, it can be simple and easy to foster a feedback culture and collect those insights seamlessly, no matter what the scale.