Working with Allegiance clients, I have discovered that the decision to implement a feedback management solution usually stems from the desire to show the company as caring and interested in the feelings of employees and customers. This is a good thing, altruistic in a way, and it always looks good when a company can say that they care… and mean it.
However, if you want customers and employees to participate in your company’s efforts to listen and respond to feedback, here are a couple of important steps to take as you roll out a new feedback management solution:
Analyze your feedback history
Have you asked for feedback before? Was there a previous method of gathering feedback? Customers and employees may become a little wary if this comes out of the blue. Therefore, if you haven’t solicited feedback before, you may need to integrate this rollout as part of an overall company strategy or plan to ‘care more’ about their opinions, etc. Otherwise, it may just appear as the latest company albatross.
If you have used previous methods for gathering feedback, were they successful? Did you respond to concerns? Or do customers and employees have an apathetic attitude that nothing will be done, so why bother? Overcoming apathy may be difficult, so again, if this is incorporated within a corporate mission statement and overall company set of values, it will be much easier to gain acceptance.
Prepare your staff
A funny thing tends to happen when you solicit feedback…. people actually give it! That makes the early stages of a feedback management launch the most critical. For example, one of my clients recently implemented a new “Voice of the Customer” product, and after the first month complained that, “there was no way we can keep up with the feedback!” The point here is that you are opening up a channel for people to voice their opinion, so get ready!
You should have already prepared your staff for the potential deluge of feedback that may be coming their way. Allow adequate resources and be ready to follow up! A catastrophic thing can happen if you implement your feedback solution and then do not follow through on responding to feedback—people will stop using it. For instance, when reviewing some survey responses from a company interested in garnering employee feedback, one employee left the survey blank except for an open-ended comment that simply said, “Why fill this out? I know nothing will happen.” Be prepared to respond to all so that they will believe in your commitment to caring.
Analyze, prepare and be committed to follow through. It may not guarantee success, but it will go a long way to ensuring a positive outcome!
