Why We Must Listen to Employee Feedback (Even When We Don't Want To)
Company culture is a hot topic these days. Leaders everywhere are trying to create positive, supportive environments that make employees want to come to work each day. But many fail to realize that culture starts with understanding what employees need and want. Without listening to employee feedback, leaders risk fostering a disconnected or even toxic culture.
The data shows that employee feedback is critical for company health and performance. The Corporate Leadership Council studied the engagement level of 50,000 employees around the world to identify the impacts employee engagement has on profits and retention. There are two key findings from this research.
Engaged companies grow profits as much as 3X faster than their competitors.
Highly engaged employees are 87 percent less likely to leave the organization.
Clearly, employee perspectives directly impact a company’s bottom line through retention and performance. But all too often, management discounts or ignores the employee voice. Why is that?
In some cases, leaders simply don’t want to hear negative feedback. Constructive criticism, even if delivered respectfully, can be difficult to hear. Some become defensive rather than listening openly. But employee perspectives can provide early warning signs of cultural weakness that require improvement. Shutting out this feedback allows issues to fester and performance to suffer over the long-term.
Additionally, management often assumes they already know what employees want and need. After all, they once held these roles. But times change. The pandemic alone has rapidly shifted workplace expectations and attitudes. Management biases and assumptions get in the way of seeing present realities. Only by asking, listening and implementing suggestion based changes can leaders stay aligned with the modern workforce.
Finally, engagement surveys are frequently administered annually, and the results are presented weeks to months after the survey has been completed. The engagement report is generally out of date by the time it is received and measuring any changes made as a result of the report is nearly impossible. These timing factors can also make it easy for management to dismiss a report as not relevant.
At the end of the day, company culture drives performance. Employees who feel unsupported, disconnected or distressed cannot sustain peak performance over time. Employee feedback provides the insights leaders need to shape a high-performing, supportive culture. But leadership has to be willing to hear hard truths and make changes, rather than ignoring the employee voice. With radical listening and responsive leadership, companies can build cultures that attract talent, ignite passion and fuel growth for the future.