Ken Blanchard, chief spiritual officer and co-founder of The Ken Blanchard Companies, said that feedback is everyday breakfast of champions, meaning feedback is an essential part of our lives. It helps us stay focused and grow in today’s demanding world. No wonder, studies have been encouraging leaders to give feedback to their employees. In fact, nearly 60 percent of employees want to receive feedback on a daily or weekly basis.
Whilst giving feedback for employees is essential, managers and leaders are also encouraged to listen to the feedback given by employees as well. Dan Bobinski cited that millions of dollars are lost every day in an organisation because of poor listening as leaders and managers are too afraid to receive feedback from employees.
If you want to be a better leader, here are other reasons why listening to employees feedback is essential for your business success.
See also: Leaders! Avoid These Common Feedback Errors
Employees value culture and career growth almost twice as much as they value compensation and benefits. Therefore, focusing on building a workplace culture that matters will help retain your best talents. And you can start by listening to your employees’ feedback.
Gallup research revealed that good leaders listen before they act, and the best leaders prioritise listening to their best people. As a matter of fact, employees are actually saying that they want to be heard. There are good reasons why leaders should listen to feedback, including boost employee performance, produce highly engaged people, thus give extensive experience in an organisation. Acting on employees feedback will likely improve the overall workplace satisfaction which creates highly engaged workplace culture.
An analysis published in HBR stated that taking feedback and translating it into direct action can help develop you as a leader. Cristine Riordan, a leadership coach and president-elect of Adelphi University, told HBR that to be able to motivate and inspire others, you need to learn how to listen in both individual meetings and at group level. That being said, to become an effective leader, feedback should be on your top priorities. This is not about “Can I give you feedback?” question, this is more about “Can you tell me your opinion and feedback?” question.
Brian Tracy, a leadership expert, stated that every time you fail to listen and withhold your close attention from another person when they are talking, you make them feel valueless and unimportant. Then, you start to create a negative downward spiral that can lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction in a workplace. As a result, employees could be prone to suffering in their day-to-day business which will cost both employer and employees professional life.
In conclusion, feedback is crucial for both employees and employers. As stated, employees value companies that note ideal work cultures in an environment of listening. When employees feel engaged, encouraged, and comfortable with the workplace culture you created, they will likely deliver the best productivity and performance they have. Thus, your business can compete, grow, and thrive better in today’s business.
Read also: More than Just a Feedback: Better Employee Engagement Strategy
