‘Feedback culture’ has been a buzz phrase in the organization nowadays. Not only, feedback is becoming a two-way street but it is also driving a positive change in the organization.
And by two-way street, we mean that organizations are becoming more employee-centric and acting on their feedback. You may wonder how come it contributes to the success of the organization! But it does.
When managers act and understand their employees’ perspectives, they tend to know their downsides and work on them. And this leads to happy and productive employees who want to stay in the organization for the long run.
So, interested in knowing more about ‘Employee feedback for managers? Read below:
Employee feedback for managers
Let’s take a look at two situations:
- ABC LTD. is a renowned organization that has been in business for around 8 years. But, the employees and interns tend to leave the organization within a few months only. Although the clients handled by this organization are well-known, employees are neither happy nor satisfied with it.
- XYZ LTD. is a startup that was established in 2021. The clients aren’t on a larger scale but employees love working there. And since its establishment, neither of the employees has left the organization. They are engaged and happy about their work and managers.
What do you think could be a reason? Considering that the pay scale, perks, benefits, structure, and hierarchy are the same in both organizations.
You may (or may not) have guessed it right! The difference is the ‘Feedback culture’ in the above organizations. In the first situation, ABC LTD. focuses only on the ‘work done’ without considering the challenges faced by the employees. This may not affect the outcome but the internal process doesn’t work smoothly. Hence, making employees leave the organization.
The second situation is different as the feedback culture prevails in their organization. Even though the company has just started but they do care for its employees. The recognition, respect, and appreciation, everything is taken care of by the organization. This result not only smoothens the internal process but also leads to a good outcome.
And you got it right, for any thriving organization, two-way feedback is important. It helps review your past work, both positive and negative, and lets you know your performance.
Let’s dive in deeper and know why it is important for managers to ask for feedback from employees:
- A reliable way to encourage two-way communication: In two-way communication, both managers and employees give feedback to each other. This allows them to understand each other and speak more often without hesitating. Employees get feedback from managers frequently and now the same is being applied to vice versa as well. This also helps in building necessary trust and respect for each other and know them on a deeper level.
- A continued learning tool: Do you know that practical learning comes usually from feedback? It is a continued learning tool for the managers that help them to understand things that they haven’t noticed before.
Also, learning never stops, even for managers. When employees give necessary feedback about their work, it helps them to improve and look at things from new perspectives.
- Gives insights into their weak point: Employee feedback lets managers focus on their areas of improvement. As a result, let them know what they can do to improve, and what alternatives they can implement.
For the smooth functioning of the organization, managers should consider this process seriously. Because if they don’t, there would be a decrease in team productivity and performance.
- Job satisfaction: When employees are free to share their opinions, suggestions, grievances, and complaints as well as when managers act upon it, it results in open and honest culture in the workplace. As it makes employees feel valued and important, they are more likely to be satisfied with their jobs.
In a long run, it reduces employee turnover. Moreover, they tend to grow both on a personal and professional level.
- Improve team performance: The most important aspect of feedback culture is that it promotes honest communication. Hence, keeping everyone aligned with the mission and vision of the organization. When things are openly discussed, it reduces the chances of miscommunications. Thus, helps to reach better outcomes that lead to improving the team performance.
Important feedback Mechanisms
Feedback is continuous. No matter at what level you are, feedback will help you to reflect, analyze and improve your performance. We have discussed the benefits in the above section. let’s now move further to the tools that can assist you in giving and receiving feedback from employees:
- 360-degree feedback: Also known as multi-rater feedback. This tool allows everyone in a team to be involved in the feedback process.
Advantages of 360-degree feedback are:
- It keeps the names anonymous.
- It covers pre-designed questions.
- It offers insights into specific skills.
- It helps to better understand each other.
- It increases productivity and improves work relationships.
- 1:1 meeting: These types of meetings are check-ins between a manager and their team member. Here, they discuss projects, check performance, and the challenges faced by them.
Advantages of 1:1 meetings are:
- It promotes better communication between employees and managers.
- It gives uninterrupted time to discuss important issues and tasks.
- It takes the guesswork out of the management.
- It lets you align with the goals as well as the company’s mission.
- It lets you exchange feedback with each other.
Read: 30 Questions Managers must ask in One-on-One Meetings
- Custom survey feedback: The custom survey lets you customize feedback according to your needs. It is known to be the foundation of a good feedback platform.
Advantages of Custom Survey feedback are:
- The names are kept anonymous.
- It gives you real insights without any complexities.
- It is less expensive and time-consuming.
- It encourages a feedback culture.
- Real-time insights are available.
- Employee suggestion box: This is an age-old method to get feedback from employees without them leaving any digital footprint. The suggestion box is kept in a place where it is accessible to employees.
Advantages of the Employee suggestion box are:
- It creates a safe space for employees to share their ideas and perspectives.
- It gives voice to those who feel worthless.
- It keeps the name of the employees confidential.
- It is easily accessible in the organization.
- This method is cheap and less time-consuming.
How to ask for feedback from employees?
No matter how experienced you’re at your work, there is always room for improvement. And who better than employees who can point out your mistakes and help you improve them?
This is why feedback from your employees is a valuable tool for your performance. But, asking for feedback could be confusing at times.
We have jotted down the points that can help you to ask for feedback from your team members. Read below:
- Request feedback for a specific goal: Avoid asking generic questions in your feedback form. It is because they could be vague and may result in misleading responses.
Have a particular goal kept in mind while creating feedback forms for the employees. This will help in getting better feedback from them and would be more attentive while filling the responses.
Example: Instead of asking ‘What are the three best qualities of your manager’.
You can ask –
‘What three qualities did your manager have that lead to the successful completion of the project?’
- Respond appropriately: Never defend yourself when your employees are giving you feedback. Understand what they are saying and reflect and analyze the same before replying. In case of any confusion, ask open-ended questions to know their perspective.
Also, never judge your employees even when they are speaking against your opinion. Try listening more than you talk and respond appropriately.
Example: If any project went wrong, know employee feedback on the same. Ask them what went wrong from your side and how it can be improved in the future.
- Show interest in their feedback: Apart from project-related feedback, Ask them about other things as well. This can include work culture, communication channels, co-workers and managers, etc. When you show genuine curiosity about their work, they would be more honest with you. As a result, encourages an open and positive workplace for all.
For example, You notice that one of your employees doesn’t talk much yet every individual task done by him was perfect. When asking the same about him from colleagues, you realize he has an introverted personality.
Now, when taking feedback from him, you should not only discuss projects but show genuine interest in his personality. Understand how he likes to work and how you can create an inclusive culture for him.
- Own your mistakes: If your employees let you know about any of your mistakes, accept them and apologize to them. Be honest about them and ensure that it won’t be repeated next time.
This will let your employees come to you with their problems rather than having grudges with you.
Example: If by any chance, you said something to your employee (even in a fun way) that they didn’t like. Apologize to them instead of defending yourself.
- Turn their words into actions: Feedback is only going to be useful when you implement them. Employees do care about business and want it to grow. However, for the same, you need to listen to them and act accordingly.
Take their feedback seriously as it will not let you thrive but also encourage more members to speak up.
For example, Your team members complain that you don’t give clear instructions which makes them directionless. Act upon it right away. Reflect, analyze and implement their suggestion and see how things change positively.
What questions to include in your feedback survey?
While creating a feedback survey is easy, what questions to include could be a bit tricky.
Let us make it easy for you by listing below a few important questions that you can have in your feedback survey:
- Employee satisfaction survey
- Does your manager value your opinions?
- Does your manager create an open and inclusive environment in the workplace?
- Does your manager clearly explain your roles and responsibilities before starting with any project?
- Employee onboarding survey
- Does your manager give you feedback about your work?
- Are you trained enough by your manager and co-workers to get accustomed to your job?
- Do you have a clear idea about what is expected from you at this job?
- Remote employees survey
- Is it easy to approach your manager when you need her/him?
- Are you clear about your daily goals regarding your work?
- Do you feel supported by your manager?
- Management effectiveness survey
- On a scale of 1-10, how engaged does your manager is with the team?
- Does your manager treat everyone equally and with respect?
- Are management decisions transparent and discussed with you?
Besides this, you can also include pulse surveys, open-ended questions (however, not many), ranking surveys, etc.
To add a cherry to the cake, we’ve also included the template that you can use to approach your employees for feedback. Here you go:
Hey (employee name),
Hope you’re doing well.
It would be great if you could take out few minutes of your time and give me feedback about (Any specific project or related task).
This would help me to know my weak spots and improve my performance in the future.
Here’s the feedback form: (Link)
Kind regards,
(manager name)
You can also ‘Book your demo’ at HuddleUp and get this in-built feature on the platform. It will smoothen the feedback process and also allow you to see real-time insights.
In a nutshell….
Two-way feedback is important for any thriving company culture. Feedbacks help employees to grow personally and professionally while it lets managers lead their team better.
To know about feedback culture and ways you can implement them at your workplace, you can check out our website – https://huddleup.ai/