Creating a Culture of Feedback | Ask, Listen, Act

Are you a company that encourages feedback from your employees?

If you aren’t then maybe you should be. As difficult as giving and receiving feedback can be, a strong feedback culture is vital for the growth of your employees and your organization. When a company has a feedback driven culture they are giving their employees a voice that is valued.

Building a feedback driven work environment is not always the easiest, but it is certainly worth the effort. The feedback you get from your employees is invaluable when it comes to making important business decisions. Feedback comes in all forms - some feedback can be a tough pill to swallow, however, whether the feedback is good or bad it is the only way a business can figure out what they are doing wrong, what could use improvement, and what is currently being done right.

A strong feedback driven culture welcomes feedback openly and uses it to extend the growth of individual employees, teams, and the overall bottom line.  \

There are several benefits for all involved when a feedback culture is established. A strong foundation can be built by using three pillars: ask, listen, and act. When these three pillars are successfully implemented into the workforce it shows your employees that their voice is both heard and valued. When a professional organization makes feedback a religious routine, it motivates employees to do the same.

ASK

Ask and you shall receive... If you do not ask for the feedback, well, you will never get it. This doesn’t mean asking for feedback sporadically and calling it a day. In order to establish a trusted feedback culture, it is important to establish a consistent feedback routine. Just like routine employee engagement surveys, a regular feedback routine can be established by requesting regular feedback about company events, decisions, and communications. You can do this by using sites like Google Forms or SurveyMonkey.

LISTEN

It is one thing to ask and receive feedback but it is another to ACTUALLY listen to the feedback you are getting.  

A simple way to ensure that employees know that you value their needs and hear their voice is to create a worksheet on how exactly they themselves like to receive feedback. This worksheet is intended to open up a dialogue between upper management and employees to create a safe space for feedback to be given and received.

Examples:

• The best way to give me feedback is…
• The best feedback I’ve received was…
• My worst experience with feedback was…
• I like to hear positive feedback this often…
• When I receive constructive feedback, my first instinct is to…

ACT

Probably the most important step of all is to take the feedback you have received, absorb it, and actually act on it. Sustaining a positive feedback-driven culture happens when your employees see action within the organization based on the information they have shared with you. Although all feedback won’t be something you agree with, it is a good idea to openly share feedback/ suggestions so employees know that it was something that was still heard and considered.

A feedback-driven culture builds morale within the workplace and the individual growth of your team members. Once the proper foundation has been set, maintaining it will come with ease when a new feedback dialogue is opened. An organization with a positive feedback culture is an organization that has the opportunity to continually grow.