To say we live in unprecedented times would be an understatement. Our entire world, both personal and professional, was taken by storm when the pandemic has started and we’re still trying to find ways to adapt to the constant changes coming our way. With an economic crisis also looming, business owners, entrepreneurs, and HR professionals need to reconsider their plans for the current year, trying to optimize resources.

There are so many things managers need to do now, reviewing budgets, estimating future demand, creating new business plans – and people are an important part of all these activities. Your employees play a key role in your organization, and you may be prepared to communicate the changes to them. But are you also ready to listen to them?

What is an employee feedback and how to collect it?

Employee feedback opens a new communication channel, to ensure that you not only speak with your employees but also listen to them. Feedback can be collected regarding employee engagement, their feelings towards a recent change (pulse surveys), about how they work with other colleagues (up, down or 360 feedback) or even through exit surveys, which can help you understand how to reduce churn rates.

What sort of feedback you are asking for will depend on the level and department each employee is in. Whilst a line worker can give you input about operations and processes, more senior team members can offer feedback about team spirit, motivations, and buy-in for different decisions.

Employee feedback can be collected in many ways: designing and implementing surveys, doing one-on-one interviews, team meetings, suggestion boxes, or working with companies that will help facilitate the process. What type of information you collect will be dependent on the goals you’re trying to achieve, the resources you have available and the time frame in which you need the results.

The importance of gathering feedback during times of change

As mentioned previously, in times of change, the organization shifts its focus and becomes more agile to adapt to uncertainty. Communication is key in ensuring that people in your company are engaged and aligned with the new strategy, in a way that puts their mind at ease about their future and how their role will develop in the organization throughout the change.

Feedback should be at the heart of change management communication. By requesting input openly from your employees, you are showing that you care about them and that you want to include them in the process. Furthermore, this also gives you a chance to see how the communication is being perceived – are they hearing what you think you’ve told them or are they interpreting your messages in a different way?

Finally, collecting feedback from your employees helps you base your decisions on data and facts, taking into account the impact your decisions will have on your teams. It shows leadership and puts you clearly at the steering wheel, whilst ensuring that your most valuable asset, the people, are behind you throughout the process.

To help CEOs, business owners and HR professionals to better understand the HOWs and WHYs behind employee feedback, Romania Insider and Stein & Partner are organizing the webinar “The importance of gathering feedback during times of change”. Wednesday, 24th of June, Charlotte Burt – Senior People Scientist, Culture Amp UK and Friederike Rissing – HR Director, Reckitt Benckiser DACH & NORDICS will discuss about the importance of always listening to your team members and how they have implemented feedback loops in their companies.

The discussion will be moderated by David Sebastian Stein, Managing Partner Romania of Stein & Partner and will be resumed in a networking session to discuss current challenges and exchange ideas. Participation is free, with pre-registration here.

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