You Forgot to Ask

Can simply asking for feedback increase job engagement and productivity? Survey says, “Yes!”

In a recent Talentedly poll, we asked people about their overall happiness at work. We’ve spent the past two weeks slicing and dicing the data, and we wanted to share an insight (with more to come): employees that can give feedback about management more than once a year are happier with all aspects of their jobs.

What the data tells us is crystal clear: organizations willing to ask and listen have happier, more engaged employees. Full stop. 

Now, before you go running to your HR department – stop. This isn’t an HR project; it’s a ‘you’ project. Do you really want to build a vibrant, engaged, productive team? Then you need to get out of your comfort zone. By making yourself and your company the ‘product’ and your team the ‘users’, you can hack and innovate your way to success. This is not for the faint-hearted. You need to be willing to ask, listen and act on the feedback you receive. If you’re not ready on a personal level, focus on team or organizational functions first, then move toward aspects of your management or leadership skills. Here’s how.

1. Email us and we will send you a 10 question poll that will give you the right questions to ask. Just let us know if you want the personal or organizational version.
2. Sign up for SurveyMonkey or AdobeFormsCentral (or set up a Google doc) and set up the questions.
3. Send out the link to your team (suggested language is included in the 10 question poll template).
4. Make sure you emphasize that the poll is anonymous and totally optional (really, really emphasize the anonymous part – you can’t ask for a name or email or any personally identifiable information).
5. Give people five days to answer and potentially send a reminder or two if needed (you can expect a 5-25 percent response rate).
6. Collect the data and analyze the results. Where can improvements be made? Do the results make ‘sense’ at the team level? Within the culture overall? Share the results with both the team and management (Warning and disclaimer: this may piss off management, especially HR).
7. Do it again with regularity. 

At Talentedly, we’re proponents of the view that if you’re not part of the solution, you are a part of the problem. Everyone (even you) can be a catalyst for change in the workplace.

All you have to do is ask. 

Lydia Loizides is serial entrepreneur, technology provocateur and relentless challenger of the status quo. She spends her days as Founder & CEO of Talentedly, a technology company on a mission to help people grow from good to great at work (technology + people = amazing results). The rest of her waking moments are spent running, reading, learning, and trying to prove that the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe and everything is 42. You can follow Lydia @lydiaNYC @GetTalentedly, on LinkedIn and the Huffington Post.