How to Increase the Effectiveness of Employee Feedback
Effectiveness of Employee Feedback
Employees are the assets of any company. The company is made up of people and people drive business. The performance of a company is dependent on the contributions of the employees. The effectiveness of the employee feedback can be utilized in taking corrective steps to improve the overall efficiency of the organization.
Employee Feedback
The feedback of an employee is the reflection of the mental disposition of the employee with respect to the prevailing working conditions and environment in the organization and also his interaction with his superiors, colleagues and staff working below. In other words it is a method of capturing the voice of the employee.
The feedback results give insight to effectively execute the strategy with respect to goals and career development. In the present day world, employees are subjected to various types of mental tensions. This can be on domestic account or office account. As such, they must have a channel to vent their grievances. This can be accomplished by getting feedback from the employees at regular intervals. In the conventional manner, the assessment is made by the superiors. The boss’s phobia may perhaps jeopardize the overall review. Employee feedback is a continuous process to ensure improvement. It is a cornerstone of an organization’s progress.
Method of getting the feedback
The feedback as mentioned earlier should be got at regular intervals say quarterly, half yearly or annually. The performa for the feedback should be standardized. It should not be either too long or too short. The employee must be able to express the feedback both quantitatively and qualitatively.
While the conventional system of getting the feedback in writing on paper will suffice, modern tools like intranet can also be effectively used. The intranet ensures that the entire organization is wired and there is a meaningful exchange of information / views. Employees should be encouraged to participate and communicate through bulletin boards and chat rooms. The most important thing is the communication between the employee and other people, instead of one-way hierarchical communication.
Feedback Meetings
Regular employee feedback meetings should be organized where employees can tell their grievances and suggestions. Employees should be assured that they can be honest and they do not have to be afraid to voice their views and opinions. It is also a good idea to give the employees, the assessment of their superiors regarding their overall performance and suggest methods for improvement. It is better to get the details regarding their problems beforehand so as to prevent the issues by taking corrective steps.
Analysis of the feedback
The data collected through feedback should be analyzed scientifically so as to arrive at the correct conclusions. Care must be taken to see that the conclusions are not biased but are an objective assessment. Personal prejudices of superior officers should not come in the way of arriving at just conclusions. To save time, statistical tools should be used to analyze the data. Ready made software are available now and they can be used. However care must be taken to see that the logic and principles followed in the software are correct and have been validated.
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Action plan for effective implementation of feedback
Once the survey is over, analysis of data is completed and recommendations are made, it is important for the company to come up with an action plan based on the feedback received. In the absence of action plan for improvement, employees will lose their interest and may not participate to share their feedback in future studies. The effectiveness of the employee feedback can be judged by the active implementation of the conclusions/recommendations arrived from the results of the feedback.
References:
Construction Engineering and Management, S.Seetharaman, Umesh Publications, Delhi, 2003
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