What is the role of employee feedback in measuring culture change?

Feedback helps organization understand the gaps between the intention they wish to have with employees, and the impact they are actually having. Without feedback, any organizational initiative designed to support staff can actually have a negative, rather than a positive impact. Organizations can end up working on the wrong things, in the wrong ways. Feedback helps organizations to better understand where they need to focus, and what some of the most effective approaches to supporting a positive, healthy, and vibrant organizational culture.

Employee feedback can help organizations identify areas of their culture that are working well and areas where there is room for improvement. By collecting and analyzing employee feedback, organizations can gain a deeper understanding of their culture and make informed decisions about how to change it for the better.

Gathering insights from your employees - especially the ones you want to stay - is the single most important thing in culture change. It can be a big reality check for senior management. Beware of involveming them in the beginning and not following through though, as this can have the opposite effect: You create expectations that you don't meet. Have a rough plan for actual implementation and involve the employees in the change process as well.

Culture can be defined as the behaviors that leaders exhibit, tolerate and reward. Behaviors can reliably assessed using employee feedback processes such as 360 Feedback. With this logic, we can define culture (desired behaviors), how leaders perform, and then hold them accountable through integration into HR processes (Hi-Po, succession plans, access to development, appraisals.)

Employee feedback is very important because it represents a specific form of measuring success. Not everything that can be measured is important. Not everything that is important can be clearly measured. But you should at least try. Because the signal is clear and invaluable: your opinions, needs, thoughts, feelings, and ideas matter. In other words, you actively shape this organization! This is how sustainable employee engagement is created. Those who feel that their opinions don't count much and that everything is decided only from the top down are less motivated and identify less with their employer. Both are detrimental to creativity and innovation capability!

In my experience, a mixture is key in collecting employee feedback on culture. But: a yearly employee engagement survey is definitely not enough. Try recurring pulse surveys - it also has the benefit that it becomes a habit to reflect on culture and collaboration. And I'd never skip qualitative research if you really mean it with your culture change, because the real pains will only become obvious then. It doesn't have to be an extremely long and expensive research process, this can be designed iteratively - some is always better than nothing.

For me it’s about more than sharing the results, use those results as the starting point for a shared conversation. Data will likely give you more questions than answers, but it does tell you where to start the conversation and gives basis for figuring out where you need to work in partnership with colleagues to make changes

I think we're all used to surveys; they can be helpful, but you can't have them too often, you can't make them too long, and you can't expect them to provide you all the information you need. They're useful, but they're one tool; they should also be followed up with focus groups and action planning. Town halls/all-hands meetings, leadership meetings, regular staff or department meetings. These should all be used to collect feedback, answer questions, or debate solutions. Employees should also be provided with a mechanism to ask questions anonymously. Perhaps most importantly, employers should have, or work toward, a culture where feedback is encouraged any time, any place, at any level. It shouldn't have to be formal or scheduled.

For me, it would be an ideal way to create the form of feedback together with the team – for example, through a Design Thinking process. This can ensure that the needs and the applied methods are optimally aligned. I have also experienced that in one company, extensive feedback was collected every Friday, and within a short time, hardly anyone participated because most found it too time-consuming and unnecessary. Therefore, I consider participation to be a good approach. Additionally, it should be regularly assessed whether the methods being used are still appropriate and delivering the desired results.

Culture can be defined as the behavior that leaders exhibit, tolerate and reward. If you agree, then 360 Feedback can define those behaviors, measure the extent to which a leader is exhibiting them, and hold them accountable for change. Integration into HR processes is key.

From my perspective, the worst-case scenario is that nothing happens. At least when the feedback should actually highlight specific starting points and areas for action. This quickly leads to dissatisfaction and demotivation. Here again, my approach would be to work together with the employees on solutions. This underscores how much each individual is valued and needed and that a continuous improvement process is pursued, with employee feedback as its foundation.

To be honest I think you should start with a Cocreation process to define ideal culture then you can use insights from employee voice activities to assess you progress towards your ideal culture. Data without a relevant and clear benchmark is meaningless and pointless comparing yourself to others. Set the standard for where your culture needs to get to you to ensure your people are thriving and supporting your business to prosper, then use that as the standard to evaluate against.

Every report is an outcome of an employees behavior, attitude and mindset. Need to dig deeper then a surface level survey report. If a report says we need to give better benefits that doesn't mean we start setting up a strategy for benefits plans. Need to go deeper, why they feel this way, what do they want to see, its the coverage limit or the experience with the medical representation which they feel should be better. We should not draft or act on initiatives just based on reports - we must talk to employees and lead with that, may be even ask them for the priority - what do they want to see change first.

Some ways to get started 1. Don't ask too many questions 2. Share the information instantly 3. Share how you plan to address the challenges 4. Seek their insight on how it can be implemented 5. Frequently share " You Did - We Did" reports

Employee feedback can measure the extent to which leaders are behaving consistent with the vision and values. HR systems such as succession planning, hi potential processes, and performance management should use employee feedback on leadership behaviors to inform talent management decisions.

For employee feedback of this nature to be meaningful you must first create the psychological safety that allows employees to speak openly. Feedback without this foundation will just be a series of ‘safe’ inputs. This will likely lead to mis-diagnosis of the issues impacting your culture.

One element that resonates with me is the absolute importance of closing the feedback loop when it comes to culture change. For true cultural transformation to occur, it's essential that organizations effectively communicate back to their employees, letting them know how their insights were processed and what actions are being taken. This isn't just about fostering transparency; it's about cultivating a culture of trust, where employees believe their voices are genuinely valued. When employees see their feedback leading to tangible change and when they are kept in the loop about its journey, they are more likely to remain engaged, trust the process, and continue providing invaluable insights.

Creating a culture advisory committee led by non-management employees can be a game-changer. They offer a different level of authenticity and relatability. Managers are often seen as representatives of the company's hierarchy, and their messages about culture change may be viewed with suspicion by employees. Peer ambassadors, on the other hand, are seen as equals and colleagues. They are more likely to be trusted and respected by their peers, and their messages about culture change may be more likely to be heard and taken seriously. VERY IMPORTANT: Management should not pick this group. Identify these influencers as part of your survey process. Let the employees choose their peer ambassadors to ensure acceptance and success.

When working with culture change, consider collecting information from the organisation by the means of experience sharing. Why? Because asking people what they think about the culture does not usually align to what is actually done and what people take into account and decide in everyday interactions. Avoid: 1. Using surveys that ask for opinions and quantitative representations that are abstract, like: from 1 to 5, how transparent you think your culture is? Think: what are you going to do if you get a 1.5? Or a 4.5? 2. Having a group, internal or consultancy, making interviews. Interviews about complex matters will come out full of biased interpretation. Check: consultancy reports for different clients all look alike for a reason.

Collecting employee feedback: It gives employees a voice, making them feel valued and part of the process, like asking family members what they'd like for dinner. It helps you understand what's working and what's not, like asking for opinions on a new recipe you're trying out.