Definition and benefits: What is an employee feedback loop?

It’s human nature for all of us to want to be heard and understood – it’s what creates a sense of belonging and happiness in all our environments, including work.

And while rewards and perks can be enticing incentives for your team, research has shown us time and time again that bonuses and benefits alone are not enough to truly motivate teams and make individuals happy. To create a genuine engagement – you must prioritise meaningful communication and feedback systems so people are valued and heard at every level of the organisation.

In this article we explain how feedback loops are the instrument you need to empower your employees and give them a sense of purpose to bring their best selves to work – rather than those quarterly staff pizza parties!

• What is an employee feedback loop?
• Why are employee feedback systems important?
• Benefits of an effective feedback loop
• How to implement feedback loops

What is an employee feedback loop? 

An employee feedback loop is the simple process of gathering information from employees using two-way communication and responding to that feedback with action.

The meaning of “closing the loop” is ensuring you’ve acknowledged feedback and acted upon the insights with tangible solutions to resolve the issues that have been brought to your attention.

Feedback loops can of course be implemented the other way too – by giving employees feedback on performance-related matters, allowing them to grow and develop – but in today’s article we’re focusing on the former, so you learn to unlock employee voice for positive change.

Why are employee feedback systems important?  

The simple answer is that today business is incredibly competitive – and one of your unique advantages are your people. To gain an edge over your competitors, it’s vital to have a happy and healthy workplace with thriving ideas, motivated employees, and a culture of ongoing improvement.

To get there you need to be listening to your employees and how they are experiencing their roles – you need to get into the nitty gritty and look at the bigger picture – feedback loops implemented in the right way are an invaluable tool that allow you to do this. 

Benefits of an effective feedback loop

An effective feedback loop with your employees is instrumental in driving individual growth, collaboration, and enabling organisations to adapt to changes in today’s competitive business environment. 

• Agility: Feedback loops allow your people to be agile. They give you the ability to stay nimble and tackle issues head-on. By keeping a close eye on feedback, you can catch issues early on and keep your organisation running like a well-oiled machine. More so, when you have a quick and effective problem-solving feedback approach in place, your employees will feel supported and empowered.
• Optimisation: Employee feedback helps identify areas where processes, products, or services can be improved or optimised. The feedback-driven approach allows you as a leader to make informed decisions, iterate quickly, and stay responsive to changes.
• Learning: An effective feedback loop encourages a growth mindset and a culture of continuous learning for everyone in the workplace – including leaders, executives, and juniors. It encourages individuals to seek feedback, reflect on their performance, challenges and surroundings, and actively pursue opportunities for improvement. Regular feedback, combined with targeted development initiatives, empowers people to gain new skills and progress in their careers.
• Engagement: Engagement and motivation increase when feedback from employers and feedback loops are implemented for your employees. Research shows 69% of employees say they would work harder if they felt their efforts were being recognised through feedback. What we also know from working with dozens of teams, is that when your employees know they will have regular opportunities to engage in feedback loops, they will feel safe in knowing their thoughts and challenges in the workplace will be addressed – which really builds a strong foundation of trust and rapport.

How to implement feedback loops

Step-by-by, there are four important components to an effective employee feedback loop.

• Collecting information: The first step is to encourage your employees to voice their thoughts, feelings and ideas. The best way to do this is launch an employee survey that combines structure questions and open-ended questions so you can give your team the opportunity to speak freely. Remember, the purpose of a feedback loop is to get to the heart of issues and uncover valuable insights in the workplace so you can work to make your organisation stronger.
• Analysing the feedback: This step is as straightforward as it sounds – however for your survey to make an impact you’ll want to be sure you’ve set yourself up with a the right tools and strategies to support you when you’re analysing your team’s feedback and looking for trends. We recommend using an employee engagement software tool that harnesses the power of pulse surveys – like ours at Stribe. With tools like ours, breaking down the data and insights is made super easy and visual – so you won’t need to spend hours in spreadsheets!
• Making an action plan: An effective feedback loop with uncover changes that need to be made to make your workplace stronger and a happier place for your people to be. Once you’ve identified what needs to be done – recognise this and address it head-on with an action plan. Don’t just talk about what you’re going to do, plan, commit, and act! Nothing makes employees trust their leaders more than when they see them creating positive change and really listening.
• Communicating the changes: Trust us when we say your team want to know that you’re addressing their thoughts and feelings at work! Communicating to your team about the changes that have been made (and futures actions) will ensure they know you take them seriously and value their input. More so, it will build their trust in the feedback loop process, and they will be more likely to engage again in future.

At Stribe we’re passionate about making teams the happiest they can be. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your employee engagement and feedback strategies. 

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