We have all been here… We get a request from management, from HR or from our managers to fill out a feedback form. Very often – that feedback link has 15 questions and it looks like it is gonna take an hour to fill up! And the link has been buried in an email that very often “gets lost” in the clutter. Let’s say we actually see the email and get through the questionnaire! Hurray for us! We are one of the very few who managed to get through it – but more on that in another post.

After we have invested the time in providing the feedback – we often forget about it. And most often this is cause we never hear back on the results or the course of action that resulted from the feedback – if any were taken even. Over time, we get more and more skeptical. And over time, we stop giving any feedback – cause we do not see a result or a benefit from it!

 

Close The Loop

It is critical for managers to make sure that they collect feedback from their employees. It is also critical that they collect on an on-going basis and not in a yearly performance review and feedback session!

Now, if all of this is “critical” – does the employee also not want something back? Yes, you guessed it – she wants you to tell her what happened with the feedback that she had given you! Welcome to “closing-the-loop” on feedback that you have solicited.

It is becoming increasingly important to provide responses and follow ups. In fact, this is not something that should be mandated. It should be something that happens naturally – and with today’s technology – you can easily provide quick feedback & communication.

 

The Ideal Loop

In a loop like the one shown in the diagram above – you can see that managers are happy cause they get a higher engagement rate from their teams and employees are happy cause they get a response to their feedback and most importantly see actions being taken as a direct result of the feedback.

This closed-loop, ‘everyone-is-happy’ process results in higher productivity and transparency within the organization.

 

In summary, one cannot over-estimate the need for managers and organizations to communicate after soliciting feedback and information. This encourages a healthy, sharing culture and builds an eco system of trust and shared passion.