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Get More From Group Feedback

Published on October 24, 2022

Feedback is tough on the ego, and it can be particularly challenging when it comes from several people. In working with leaders and their Employee Engagement Survey data or other group feedback, Talent Strategy finds three common roadblocks to making the most of group feedback.

Issue: Focusing on the backstory.

Dismissing feedback because you assume you know who provided it can lead to defensiveness: “they don’t understand,” “they’re difficult and always complain,” etc. Or, if you are a new supervisor who is looking at engagement survey results for the previous leader, it may be tempting to be skeptical about the value of the feedback to you.
Solution: focus on the ways to address the feedback and improve rather than dismissing it entirely. The feedback is intended to help you grow as a leader and improve the employee experience. Even results from a previous leader can identify cultural or workplace process issues that still need to be addressed.

Issue: Failing to acknowledge and act on the feedback.

Surveys and feedback tools are only useful if they are shared, discussed, and acted on by leaders. Failing to do so can undermine trust and confidence in leaders.
Solution: People want to be heard and seen, and you should at least acknowledge the feedback offered. As a leader, you may be asked directly about why feedback wasn’t shared with the team or discussed, which is your responsibility. Ideally, discussing the feedback will lead to taking steps to address issues raised. Remember, your team doesn’t expect you to be perfect, but you do need to take ownership and respect their perspective about their workplace.

Issue: Putting the burden of a solution on your direct reports.

Taking action on group feedback should involve a group discussion of the results and then prioritizing and creating a plan to address some of the feedback. This input will help uncover more nuance, come up with better ideas and improve employee engagement overall.
Solution: Leaders are responsible for leading discussions, architecting the plan, and executing it with input from your group. Focus the plan on one to three goals and start taking steps. As with the above issues, the first steps to cultivating engagement is to address feedback openly and in a respectful way by listening without judgment and helping to make change with your team. Consult the action library for resources and ideas for taking action.

Leadership Insights Archive

Resources

To get the most from your Employee Engagement Follow Up Survey results or other group feedback, check out these resources:

You don’t need survey data to gather feedback from your employees about their work experience. Take a look at this employee engagement video and quick guide to employee engagement input to learn other ways to collect input from your faculty and staff.
If you received an Employee Engagement Survey report, you can find guides and resources for accessing and using the employee engagement dashboard.
Check out the "Leading Discussions" page on the Employee Engagement Website for supervisors to find out more about holding effective discussions and the resources to help you do it.
Receiving one-on-one feedback has its own challenges. The September newsletter offers tips on how to navigate the discomfort that can come with feedback in order to grow professionally and as a leader.

Employee Engagement (Self-paced Course)

The self-paced Employee Engagement course is a great place to start to understand the cycle and fundamentals of employee engagement. The course counts toward the Supervisory Development Foundations Certificate.