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Decades ago, most organizations had a suggestion box mounted on a wall or in a breakroom. This was the primary source of employee feedback. Today most companies rely on some form of feedback, whether it’s cards passed around at the end of an office meeting to seek input about a complex issue or a survey about satisfaction. Others circulate questionnaires seeking feedback about the workplace environment. Regardless of the methodology, organizations desperately seek feedback and insight from their employees.

There are two basic types of internal feedback:

  • Employee Satisfaction
    One important thing to learn from employees’ feedback is their opinion of you as their employer. Their happiness and well-being are critical for your business to succeed. If you foster positive company culture and ensure everyone’s taken care of, you inspire trust, loyalty, and productivity from your employees.
  • Workflow Improvement
    No one knows your company’s workflows better than your employees. You may have a good grasp of what happens, but your employees are the ones who are living through the processes each day. Even the best of plans often have gaps. Sometimes processes have additional but unnecessary steps. In other cases, there may be steps that are forgotten but essential for safety, accuracy, or accountability.

Employees aren’t generally eager to give feedback, especially when there’s a high probability that change won’t occur, the message won’t be heard, or there will be negative consequences for providing uncomfortable feedback. Therefore, if you’re going to motivate your employees to provide what your organization desperately needs, making it easy, keeping employees updated, and rewarding valuable feedback is an absolute must!

There are new and fresh ways organizations can use their suggestion channel to improve corporate culture and increase employee morale. Here are a few ideas:

  1. Make it Digital
    Handwritten feedback of any kind is challenging. Employees are busy and less likely to engage if they must take pen to paper. Make the process easy, plus generate data that can be cross-referenced and turned into action items using digital formats.PRO TIP: Services such as TinyPulse, for example, not only serve as recruitment and onboarding aids but also allow for feedback, strategy, and action plans, venture into employee engagement and verify that employee strategies are effective as well as productive.
  2. Get Everyone at All Levels Involved
    It is difficult to collect accurate data when only a few participate. Much like polling or gamification, you need to get everyone involved in providing feedback for the most value. When you’re looking to make changes, solve complex problems, need fresh ideas, or desire to tap new markets, you need fresh input.Some employees will not provide any feedback unless they are sure they can do so anonymously. Provide that option.PRO TIP: Besides offering creative incentive options to maximize participation, extend a policy that no suggestion or idea is too silly, big, or expensive. Allow free creative reign to lead to fresh input. While not all options may be viable, there may be some excellent foundations to build upon.
  3. Consider Factors Beyond Just Suggestions
    A valuable, productive, and content workplace isn’t just about the habits and behaviors influencing organization growth. In fact, some of the most critical factors involve stakeholders, their interactions, needs, and attitudes.

PRO TIP: Consider targeting specific issues instead of a one-size-fits-all option for suggestions and feedback. For example:

    • To learn about capacity versus capability. Ask:
      • How do you feel your workload compares to that of your co-workers?
      • Are specific co-workers doing more work (you need not mention names) than others?
      • Why do you think some workers are doing more work? (e.g., some have more skills, some are difficult to work with, some are juggling multiple roles, etc.)
      • Are some co-workers hesitant to take on more responsibilities or learn new skills? (you need not mention names)
      • Why do you think some workers take on more than others? (e.g., need for training, better-qualified hires, etc.)
    • To identify gaps in training or potential for risk. Ask:
      • When it comes to work processes and procedures, do most of your co-workers follow them? Why or why not?
      • Are there reasons why they do or don’t?
      • Does not following processes/procedures pose a potential risk (e.g., safety issues, costly mistakes, etc.)?
    • To discover culture clashes. Ask:
      • On a weekly basis, how often do you hear/read/see gossip about the company, leadership, co-workers, or other stakeholders?
      • How much do you believe that what you hear/read/see influences your attitude, behavior, and habits?
      • Do you believe gossip impacts the culture in this organization? Why or why not?
      • What have you seen others do when hearing rumors, gossip, or negative information about co-workers, leadership, etc.?
      • Do you believe your department or team may have issues with trust because of rumors, gossip, etc.?
      • Do you notice a pattern, such as the same group of people at the center of passing on information (you need not use names)?
      • Or are specific people generally the targets of gossip, rumor, and negative information (you need to use names)? If yes, why do you think that may be happening?
      • If you’ve seen/heard/read rumors, gossip, and negative information, is there anything the organization can do to resolve this problem? If yes, what?
    • To clarify needs or specific problems. Ask:
      • Why is this need essential?
      • What problem (or set of issues) would be resolved if this need were met?
      • How would fixing this need impact you (or your team/department) in terms of improved productivity, happier customers, etc.?
      • How often is this specific problem occurring?
      • Is this problem something new or something that has just started recently?
      • Could there be a common link to a new process, supplier, new hire, etc.?
      • How long has this need gone unaddressed?
  1. Find What’s Hidden
    Everyone knows that “the tip of the iceberg” means that there’s a lot more ice below the water’s surface. Whether it’s hidden skills, employees struggling in some manner, workplace harassment or bullying, or mismatched goals, patterns can emerge with a close examination.PRO TIP:  Finding employees that excel at their job is easy. These employees will always stand out in a crowd. Those who aren’t meeting performance objectives can also be easy to spot. Issues can often be resolved with training, mentoring, and coaching. However, hidden talent, which is to identify workers with specialty skills, raw and unnurtured but natural gifts, is often more complex. It’s also the same when an employee may be struggling with issues that aren’t skills or talent-related. Their struggles may include personal or family matters, financial stresses, job burnout, workplace harassment, goals that aren’t exciting or motivating, or even the wrong kind of mentorship and training, leading to employee problems. Ask questions such as:
    • Who helped you the most this last week? What did they do that was special? What’s something new that you learned from them or about them that you didn’t know?
    • Have you noticed that a co-worker is exceptionally good at something? Who are they, and what was it? If you talked to them, did they mention if they were interested in additional training, education, etc.? Do you think they would like to do more of that kind of work?
    • Is there someone you’ve noticed (you don’t have to name names) that may be struggling with personal, financial, family, or other issues? Without getting into specifics, what would be something that the organization could do to offer to all employees that might be of assistance?
    • Has anyone mentioned or have you observed workplace harassment, bullying, gossip, etc.? Without naming names, do you believe this negatively impacts the person or people involved? Please explain. 
  1. Review Suggestions at Regular Intervals
    Don’t forget about it when you start a suggestion channel. Looking at the employees’ input shows them that their suggestions are valued. Review the submissions as part of a daily or weekly routine. Assign a team of people to process the reviews and put action plans in place. The best way to encourage your employees to leave feedback is to implement their suggestions. Pick an idea and implement it. If the suggestion can’t be implemented, feedback from the organization is equally critical.

PRO TIP: Give credit to the employee for their suggestion/idea. If it’s a really great idea, reward the employee (or entire team) with travel or another incentive! Implementing your employees’ ideas will let them know that their ideas and opinions are valued, increasing their sense of purpose in your organization.

  1. Close the Loop
    Suggestions, ideas, and feedback only have value when employees know they have been heard. This means that the organization and management must continuously keep a status update on where all things stand. Utilizing digital tools can help track not only when items are read but can identify if they are set for further discussion, added to an action plan, in the process of implementation, on hold, or rejected (and the reason why.)PRO TIP: Employees should always know that their input matters to the organization. Changes, especially larger rollouts, will go far more smoothly and with less resistance if those impacted are involved before the change happens. Sometimes there can be two departments that conflict based on goals. If one rolls out a change, it can have a negative impact on the other. For example: If finance rolls out a new accounting system that integrates with the website, this can impact sales, marketing, and even IT. Before a decision like this is made, all departments with potential touchpoints should be involved to understand what is involved, the changes they should be prepared to introduce, adjustments that may be needed, etc.

Without feedback from employees, every decision that management makes is guesswork. Organizations that find worth in safety, comfort, and productivity know that an organized and well-administered suggestion box is a worthy investment that will positively affect the bottom line.

Discover more inspiring ideas for exciting experiences that boost morale and engage your people. Contact Gavel International for details.

Jim Bozzelli
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