How to build and implement a robust employee feedback system

Experience management is the secret to the success of your business. It is a purposeful set of activities used to measure and enhance the experiences of your customers, employees and other stakeholders essential to your operations.

While 45.9% of businesses are making customer experience (CX) their top priority in the next few years, you should not brush employee experience (EX) aside. Experts confirm that happy employees are the key to happy customers.

Studies show that companies providing excellent CX have 1.5 times as many engaged employees compared to those that don’t prioritize CX. Also, businesses that actively engage their staff show 233% higher customer loyalty rates than other companies. Another study emphasizes the link between CX and EX, with the latter helping companies achieve 20% higher sales.

The purpose of employee experience management is to foster meaningful exchanges between people at work, in order to create moments that matter. It is a cycle of implementing, measuring and improving EX. A strong employee feedback system plays an important role in this cycle.

Key takeaways:

• An effective feedback system shows employees that they are important partners in your company.
• Developing an attentive, supportive company culture is essential to the success of a business.
• Turn insights from feedback into actions that benefit employees and customers.

What an employee feedback system is and why it’s important to experience management

An employee feedback system is essential to employee experience management. It is the way you show your team that they are vital partners in achieving the growth of your brand. Employee feedback involves an exchange of information about teamwork, skills and performance in order to drive improvement. 

According to a survey, 39% of workers feel that they are not appreciated at work, and 65% of employees want more feedback. Moreover, 98% of employees may fail to engage when their managers don’t give them feedback. 

Conversely, workers are 30 times more likely to be engaged when leaders focus on their strengths. A good 69% say that they will work harder when they feel their efforts are recognized.

Here’s why employee feedback is important:

Provides a comprehensive view of current office dynamics

Left unaddressed, small complaints can turn into big ones. When an issue is brought up by a leader, team member, or employee, it is best to act and flag it promptly. 

Also, instead of a once-a-year employee satisfaction survey, your company will benefit from a continuous dialogue system that shows staff their opinions are valued. About 64% of human resource leaders believe that an always-on feedback system can help encourage employees to contribute to your company’s listening culture.

Creates a supportive culture to boost job satisfaction

One of the most important themes of EX is creating an organizational culture that supports the growth of every team member. In such an environment where everyone knows the clear philosophy that serves as the compass of the company, employees thrive, which results in positive outcomes for your business.

An effective feedback loop with employees does more than simply promote a culture of transparency. Taking time to listen and acting on employee feedback also opens doors to advancement opportunities. In addition, employee satisfaction converts to high productivity at the workplace and better employee retention. 

Contributes to overall growth of the company

Employee feedback can be the catalyst for a series of events that can help you springboard your brand to greater heights – from understanding office dynamics to creating a healthy culture where team members thrive. This results in the overall growth of your business.

With higher employee engagement, businesses can achieve heightened productivity, better customer loyalty, and increased sales and profitability.

The benefits of employee feedback systems are clear. Take advantage of it to unlock the potential of your team.

5 tips to implementing an effective employee feedback system

If you’re thinking of implementing an employee feedback system at your company, these tips will help you get it right and reap the benefits of an engaged workforce.

1. Ask for feedback at the right time and in the right way

Insights from employees are important so you can hire the best ones for the job, get the best performance out of them, and improve retention with employees who want to work for your company. A feedback system can help you measure employees’ meaningful moments. 

You can ask employees for feedback throughout their lifecycles in the company, such as recruitment, onboarding, development, retention and during exit interviews.

Likewise, you can explore different methods to solicit feedback from them, from standard or 360 surveys to an always-on feedback system. This information can be gathered via an online feedback platform, mobile tools, emails, suggestion boxes, productivity apps or 1:1 sessions.

2. Turn insights into action

When your employees see that you act on even the smallest ideas, they will appreciate it. Use the information you collect to help improve their workload, boost efficiencies or find ways that your team can serve your customers better.

Part of this step is to give credit where credit is due. Devising a reward system as part of your feedback loop will encourage employees to engage constantly and deliver the best possible performance.

3. Remember, it’s a two-way street

If you want to develop a feedback-rich environment at the office, you need to walk the walk. Recognizing the gaps between the values your company believes in and the actual practices you live by is a journey you should take with your team. 

Leaders and supervisors can show how things are done, but it does not mean they will get it right all the time. They can explicitly ask for feedback from people they work with, so that the culture of feedback grows roots at all levels.

Accountability is key, which means that failures can be learning experiences – and through constant input from everyone, the company can move forward as one. 

The following video shares useful tips on how to give great feedback:

4. Make decisions based on data

In order to optimize your business strategy, do not be afraid to experiment and innovate. Understand the data you collect from your employees and customers. Ask yourself why those things matter to you. Focus on the most important data that can help you achieve goals, and learn how you can get the most out of feedback or suggestions.

Invest in technologies that make experience management easier and more effective. Take note that the path to success is not always crystal-clear, so tools such as artificial intelligence can help you make sense of all the data you have and make well-informed business decisions. 

5. Look at the bigger picture

Beyond receiving and giving feedback, businesses need to have a balanced approach when it comes to designing customer experience and employee experience. The results might not be immediate, but focus on making your EX as enriching as possible, and you’ll soon see positive outcomes. Keep in mind that those who invest in employee experience earn four times the average profit of those who do not.

A strong employee feedback system will help you attain a deeper understanding of your workforce and their expectations.

Optimizely can help you with experience management

If you want to build an effective employee feedback system, our team at Optimizely can help you create a better EX for your team. 

Let Optimizely help transform your brand from within into a customer-centric organization. Contact us today to learn more about our products and services.