Key takeaways:
- Embrace technology tools like surveys, chat forums, and virtual focus groups to gather broad-scale feedback, especially for organizations with remote and in-office employees.
- Collaborate with internal communications to personalize feedback requests and engage employees at a local level, strengthening participation and making feedback more relevant.
- Diversify feedback collection by combining surveys with interactive platforms like EX lounges, employee resource groups, and collaboration with DEI offices to gain deeper insights into employee experiences, perspectives, and journeys.
Creating a workplace environment that promotes open communication and values employee feedback is crucial for fostering a positive and thriving organizational culture.
In a recent Employee Experience Board panel discussion on enhancing employee experience (EX) strategies through employee listening, senior EX leaders explored the methods and strategies they have found successful in gathering employee feedback.
From utilizing technology to promoting local leadership involvement, our members provided insights on how you can enhance your employee listening practices.
1. Leverage Technology for Broad Scale Employee Feedback
Julie Flores, AVP of HR Communications and Employee Experience at Chubb, highlighted the importance of technology in leveling the playing field for remote and in-office employees.
She mentioned various options — such as surveys, chat forums, and virtual focus groups — and said she was a big advocate for the GE workout process, which is a multi-step method for gathering employee feedback to address organizational gaps.
Julie emphasized that these methods are effective in obtaining broad-scale feedback, enabling organizations to reach a larger audience and collect valuable insights. However, she said it’s important to ensure that the feedback is promptly addressed with subsequent action.
“Most notably, you should have the end-user customer there to weigh in and give candid feedback,” Julie said. “And, built into that process is the action after the fact. By tackling it all at once, you’re not going to have that long gap between getting the feedback and then putting it into action.”
“Most notably, you should have the end-user customer there to weigh in and give candid feedback.”
— Julie Flores, AVP of HR Communications and Employee Experience at Chubb
2. Partner with Internal Communications
Zoe Kasper, AVP of Employee Experience at Lincoln Financial Group, shared her organization’s success in partnering closely with their internal communications team.
By working together, she noted that they can effectively communicate survey information and ensure high participation. Rather than relying solely on enterprise-wide messages, they found that business unit leaders played a crucial role in driving participation.
“Having messages come from them and asking for people’s feedback, we found more success in driving participation than those generic all employee emails,” Zoe said.
This more personal approach resonated with employees and encouraged them to participate in providing their feedback.
“Having messages come from [business leaders] and asking for people’s feedback, we found more success in driving participation than those generic all employee emails.”
— Zoe Kasper, AVP of Employee Experience at Lincoln Financial Group
Tailoring the communication to specific groups and making it more relevant and personal enhances engagement and reinforces that their opinions matter.
3. Move Beyond Surveys to Gather More Employee Feedback
Dannielle Brown, Senior Vice President and Employee Experience Manager at M&T Bank, discussed their focus on moving beyond traditional surveys to gather more contextual feedback.
She explained that they introduced an EX Lounge, a virtual space where random groups of employees are invited to join discussions on various topics. This approach provides valuable insights and enables a deeper understanding of employees’ experiences.
Additionally, she noted how crucial it is to work with employee resource groups and collaborate with the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) office.
“We’ll do a lot of journey mapping and discussion of how their journey might feel different from someone else’s journey,” Dannielle said. “We will partner a lot with our DEI office, as we’re going along to take those perspectives and personas that have been built out and understand when we’re making decisions — how it doesn’t just impact the masses, but those smaller groups.”
“We’ll do a lot of journey mapping and discussion of how their journey might feel different from someone else’s journey.”
— Dannielle Brown, Senior Vice President and Employee Experience Manager at M&T Bank
4. Ensure Diverse Voices are Heard
To ensure all voices are considered, our Board Members all emphasized the importance of slicing and dicing data in multiple ways.
Dannielle said analyzing feedback based on age, tenure, gender, and other factors provides a more comprehensive view and helps address the needs of diverse employee groups.
Zoe added how collaboration with workforce planning teams ensures that non-exempt employees have the time and opportunity to participate in surveys, allowing for representation and insights from all levels of the organization.
5. Empower Local Leaders to Drive Participation in Employee Feedback
Julie highlighted the significance of vocal support from local leaders in ensuring that underrepresented voices are heard. She noted how regional managers play a vital role in gathering feedback from diverse groups of employees and increasing participation in EX initiatives.
She added that EX leaders should focus on smaller regional teams and their experiences in order to highlight how all employees play a part in your EX strategy.
“It really sends a message that this survey, or this method of listening, isn’t just about us,” Julie said. “It sends that message that our feedback does matter. Our voices are ones that the organization wants to hear from.”
Learn Which Strategies Are Most Effective with Your Peers Leading Employee Experience
Effectively gathering and acting upon employee feedback is a vital aspect of enhancing the workplace. Our members noted the importance of utilizing technology, partnering with internal communications, moving beyond traditional surveys, ensuring diverse voices are heard, and empowering local leaders.
But if you’re wondering which methods are best for your organization, you can get more insights from your peers leading EX at the world’s largest companies in the Employee Experience Board. Our members meet weekly to benchmark their strategies and emerging topics.
Learn how a membership can provide you with the actionable insights to enhance your EX strategy today.
