At a time when information is all around us and available to us at lightning-fast speeds, it’s hard to believe that so many companies are in the dark about what is going on with their employees.
People are afraid to speak up and tell the truth about how they are feeling, what they are struggling with at work, and how they are being overworked and underpaid.
All of these issues come to a head for employers at one point or another, and it’s the HR department that is left dealing with the complaints and concerns.
If you want to stay ahead of the game and keep your employees from banging their heads on their desks, implementing regular and routine feedback systems is the best way to do that. It’ll help you keep the wheels turning in your HR department and company. Here’s why.
Performance Reviews
In many cases, a lot of employees don’t have a chance to talk about the issues they face until they are in front of a supervisor or manager who is telling them all the things they did wrong this year. With one performance a year, or even a quarter, it’s hard for managers and employees to stay connected.
If this sounds ludicrous to you, welcome to the new world. But so many people are still living under the thumb of performance reviews. Companies need the information employees have and they need it now.
While performance reviews can help formalize issues or concerns - on both sides - as well as highlight successes and wins, they can also cramp the style of someone who wants to speak up about a problem. When faced with the prospect of getting a bad review, people hold their tongue.
Feedback loops provide an opportunity for your organization to stay in the know and ensure that employees are feeling heard. Some are anonymous, which come with their own set of benefits and problems.
Regardless of the type of feedback system you use, the point is to use it on an ongoing basis. Don’t allow your employees to be disconnected for long periods of time from the people and processes that can help them make their jobs better.
Feedback Loops
When it comes to creating the kind of environment where your employees feel safe and confident in sharing their concerns, as well as their wins with you, it comes down to one thing: consistency.
If your employees know that at any time they can provide insight or advice about a situation, they are more likely to share it while it’s hot and relevant to them. If they have to wait for a specific period of time to make a claim or put in a complaint, they are less likely to follow through.
Most people feel shame about wanting to complain about something, but if they let it stew long enough, they can talk themselves out of making a big deal about it, which leaves your employee terribly unhappy, even resentful, and it leaves your company and HR department without vital information that could keep your company running well.
Feedback loops ensure that your employees have constant contact with the HR department so that they can flag any issues that might be slowing down security, productivity or employee safety.
As an employer, it’s important that you provide those feedback loops so that your employees remain connected to the heart of your company, the HR department.
Bringing it Together
Collecting feedback and making employees feel secure enough in their jobs to provide vital feedback is just part of the equation. Companies also have the job of ensuring that they act responsibly with the information they obtain.
If nothing is done about issues that are brought up, employees will stop using the systems. They may fill them out because of obligation to their job, but they have no obligation to tell the truth. That comes when trust is built amongst the staff and the company itself.
Ensuring that the system works is the first step to ensure that the wheels keep turning in the HR department. Training your staff on how to read the data, interpret it, and then ensuring that they know what to do with it all helps to keep the moving pieces moving at a pace and frequency that allows information to travel, problems to solved, and the bottom line to grow.
Latest posts by John Packham (see all)
- Regular Feedback Helps Keep The Wheels Turning In Your HR Department - December 1, 2019
