7 common frontline employee feedback mistakes
There鈥檚 a right way to collect employee feedback, and there鈥檚 a wrong way. We鈥檝e all been on the wrong end of that exchange at least once (30-minute employee surveys, anyone?).
And that鈥檚 when we鈥檙e already deskbound鈥攕upposedly an ideal arrangement for surveys. How much more difficult will this task be for frontline and deskless workforces that don鈥檛 sit in front of a computer all day?
The frontline workforce presents a unique set of challenges to any managers or organizations when collecting feedback, which makes it even easier to make mistakes. And mistakes result in the opposite of what you鈥檙e trying to do. Instead of boosting engagement and positivity, you are at risk for disengagement and negativity.
We get it: collecting and acting on feedback at scale isn鈥檛 easy for any frontline organization. But identifying the common missteps is a critical part of improving the process.
1. Only asking for employee feedback once a year
12 months. 52 weeks. 365 days.
There鈥檚 a lot that can happen in that amount of time. An employee can have a brilliant idea, or they can have a personal crisis. There could be a serious team challenge, or a big company opportunity.
All of them can pass you by if you only ask for feedback once a year.
And it鈥檚 not like employees are avoiding you; they want to talk. wish their company conducted employee engagement surveys more frequently. But only say that they鈥檝e had conversations with their manager in the last 6 months.
Frontline employees especially need this attention due to the nature of their work arrangement. It鈥檚 generally faster-paced and more eventful than in other areas of the company, which leads to less time for administrative concerns, and so management needs to make more of an effort to engage them instead of waiting for the employee to raise their hand.
You鈥檙e not going to be agile enough to react to timely ideas or mission-critical problems if you hear about them a year after the fact.
2. Being unclear on what employee feedback you want
Frontline employees have lots of ideas. They鈥檙e in the thick of things, seeing customers at their best and worst, or they鈥檙e toiling at the core of your production and distribution. They see things that you can鈥檛. They have a great sense of what will work and what won鈥檛.
But you have to ask the right questions in order to draw that information out.
Vague and broad questions can confuse employees. They end up asking more questions in response: What exactly are they asking for? When鈥檚 the right time to share my ideas? Will I get in trouble for volunteering this information?
Wondering if you鈥檙e guilty of being unclear with your feedback? Well, have you sent any of these questions to your workforce鈥?
- How can the company improve?
- Do you have anything you want to say?
- I鈥檓 looking for ideas鈥 (and end there)
These aren鈥檛 going to get you valuable feedback. Instead, be very specific. Are you asking for employee feedback about the hiring process? Thoughts on shift schedules? Do you need ideas on how to boost summer sales? Or how to address employee burnout? These are the questions that are going to tap into your employees鈥 experience and expertise.
3. Not having the right employee feedback channels in place
There鈥檚 a time and a place for everything鈥攊ncluding employee feedback.
Sometimes employee feedback is sensitive or private, like if it involves a manager or another employee. These cases are best handled in anonymous or private channels. Other times, an employee鈥檚 idea is too good to keep private, and would be better off on an online forum where the rest of the organization can brainstorm and contribute.
If you don鈥檛 have either of these options, you鈥檙e limiting the avenues through which employees can communicate with you. Employees would normally not air private griefs in a public company forum. (Or, if they do, then that means your workforce is seriously past the breaking point, and you need to take action now.)
Feedback can also get stifled by access to proper feedback channels. Depending on the communication tools you use with your employees, there鈥檚 a chance they don鈥檛 have regular access to the channels to share real-time feedback. And what good is valuable consumer insight if you can鈥檛 get it right away? Plus, it鈥檚 unlikely an employee will even remember to share the information if they have to wait until they鈥檙e home post-shift.
A digital platform is a great way to provide always-on feedback channels to frontline workers鈥攖hat way, they can log insights and ideas as soon as they come up, right from their phone.
4. Making your employee feedback channels time-consuming to use鈥
Some companies love to make extensive employee survey forms in the hopes of 鈥渂eing thorough.鈥 And while your intent is good, the actual effect is not. According to , survey abandonment rates increase for any survey longer than 7 or 8 minutes. Completion rates can drop anywhere from 5% to 20%.
And while the study notes that employers may 鈥減ush鈥 respondents to complete the survey (and thus increase completion rates), people tend to rush through long surveys and are less likely to give genuine or thoughtful responses.
In fact, the study found that employees give higher-quality responses when taking a shorter survey, because they take more time on each question.
5. 鈥r impossible to find
Employees can鈥檛 provide feedback if they don鈥檛 know where to go. If your employee feedback channels are difficult to find or access, then your employees might assume that you don鈥檛 actually want feedback at all.
Don鈥檛 just assume that your employees know how, or where, to give feedback. Find ways to share your channels often and consistently. Just remember: being clear and direct about the types of feedback you want will also help to keep your channels front-and-center for your workforce.
6. Not building up psychological safety with your staff
If you worked in an environment where head office ruled with an iron fist and had a closed perspective, would you feel safe volunteering an opinion?
Of course not!
But even in some supportive and enabled frontline environments, there can still be a lack of the psychological safety that fosters true feedback-sharing. In other words, employees get the message (from managers, from corporate, from each other) that speaking up is not a wise career move.
And sometimes that lack of psychological safety flows in both directions. One survey found that , and 37% said they鈥檙e uncomfortable having to give direct feedback about their employees鈥 performance if they think the employee might respond negatively to the feedback. If employees know that managers don鈥檛 want to talk to them, even if they don鈥檛 know the reason why, it kills any motivation they have to talk open up.
7. Not following up
So you鈥檝e gone through the effort of sprucing up your feedback collection channels, communicated it to all your frontline workers and assured your employees that their opinions are valuable and will be heard.聽Responses flow in and you have a hefty chunk of employee suggestions and feedback to peruse, which you do.聽
But then when it comes time to take action, the feedback loop comes to a standstill.聽No change. Not even thanking people for their opinions. What was it all for, then?
Not only are you tanking morale when you ignore feedback, you鈥檙e missing out on an opportunity to boost morale.聽 said that they鈥檙e more likely to stay at a company that takes and acts on feedback. And why wouldn鈥檛 they? They鈥檝e found an environment where management cares about their opinion enough to actually make positive changes. That鈥檚 a real rarity!
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Even the best companies in the world commit some of these employee feedback blunders. But the more aware you are of the potential pitfalls, the better chance you have at getting it right. After all, the goal isn鈥檛 just a smooth collection of data. It鈥檚 about ensuring that every single employee in your organization has a voice鈥攁nd a role in helping your company to thrive.