According to our employer brand stats, 83% of job seekers research a company’s online reviews before applying. Further, companies with strong employer reputations see twice as many applications as those with negative ones.
Want to improve your employer brand? You’ll need to collect and act on employee feedback. Doing so can help you shape a positive workplace, attract top talent, and retain your best team members.
So let’s look at why listening to what your employees say matters, how you can actively listen to them, and the different methods you can use to collect their feedback.
Why Listening to Employee Feedback Matters
Employee feedback isn’t just chatter. It’s the secret sauce to driving real change in your business, and ignoring it is like driving with your eyes closed. Here’s why it matters:
Builds Trust and Fosters a Positive Work Environment
When you actually take the time to listen and act on constructive feedback, it’s like saying, “Hey, we care about what you think.” That little acknowledgment goes a long way in building trust. Employees feel like their voices matter, and that kind of culture? It’s a game-changer.
Suddenly, your team’s more engaged, motivated, and eager to bring their best performance because they know they’re not just another cog in the machine. They’re an integral part of the company’s success.
Helps Identify Areas for Improvement in Workplace Policies and Culture
Employee feedback provides valuable insights into your company’s inner workings, revealing issues like outdated policies or ineffective management.
By listening, you can pinpoint areas for improvement—whether it’s refining processes, updating policies, or fostering a more inclusive culture. Acting on this feedback strengthens the workplace, helping everyone thrive.
Employee Satisfaction Correlates with Customer Satisfaction
Here’s a no-brainer—happy employees lead to happy customers. When your team feels valued, motivated, and engaged, they’re more likely to go the extra mile for customers. And that directly translates into better service, stronger relationships, and more satisfied clients.
That’s where your employee experience (EX) programs come into play. By assessing employee engagement and connecting the dots to customer experience (CX), you get a clear picture of how your team’s satisfaction impacts the customer journey.
Focus on improving EX, and you’ll see the ripple effect in CX. When your team members thrive, your customers will feel it, and they’ll keep coming back for more.
Strengthens Employer Branding and Enhances Public Reputation
Beyond creating a positive work environment, a company that listens to and supports its employees builds a strong employer brand and becomes a magnet for top talent.
Why? Because people want to work for a place where their voices are heard, their ideas are valued, and their well-being is a priority.
According to 2024 research by Universum Global, 75% of young professionals consider an employer’s reputation before applying for a job.
The same study also found that a strong employer brand:
- Lowers hiring costs by up to 50%, as it attracts candidates organically, eliminating the need for third-party recruiters and expensive ads
- Accelerates hiring times, helping companies fill positions 1–2 weeks faster
- Increases employee advocacy, helping bring in valuable referrals
Plus, companies that value their employees are seen as ethical and trustworthy, which enhances their public image.
How to Actively Listen to Employee Feedback
Alright, so you know why listening to your team members is crucial. But how can you create an action plan that helps you do it successfully? Let’s dive in.
Create a Safe and Open Environment
Creating a safe and open environment is essential for gathering feedback. When your team feels that their opinions are genuinely welcomed and valued and won’t lead to negative consequences (punishment or retaliation), they’re more likely to speak up.
Encouraging this type of transparency builds trust and leads to a workplace culture where everyone feels comfortable sharing ideas, raising concerns, and helping drive improvement.
Assess Employee Development and Advancement Processes
Once you’ve established a safe space for feedback, assess your employee development and advancement processes next. Identifying gaps here is key to retaining top talent.
If employees feel there’s no clear path for advancement, it may highlight weaknesses in promotion or mentorship policies. You can fix this by providing development opportunities and growth pathways that help employees envision a future within the company and motivate them to stay and grow.
Practice Active Listening
Most of the time (and perhaps you’ve noticed this too), employees share their feedback but aren’t sure if it’s actually being heard. To change that, you have to practice active, continuous listening. This means:
- Engaging in conversations
- Summarizing key points
- Following up on any concerns or suggestions
Equally important is communicating across the enterprise about the changes made directly as a result of employee feedback.
For example, if a team member suggests improving internal communication, implement the change and then send a company-wide email acknowledging the employee’s contribution. This fosters open communication and emphasizes the value of everyone’s input.
Ask the Right Questions
Asking the right questions is key to gaining valuable insights. Avoid yes-or-no and surface-level questions. Instead, focus on open-ended, thought-provoking ones that encourage detailed responses. This helps uncover deeper issues that might go unnoticed.
Rather than asking, “Are you satisfied with the project management tool?” ask, “What challenges do you face with the tool, and how can it be improved?” This opens the door for employees to share their experiences, frustrations, and suggestions, providing a clearer view of areas that need improvement.
Acknowledge and Validate Concerns
Receiving feedback is just the first step—acknowledging and validating employees’ concerns is crucial. Show empathy and appreciation by recognizing their input and explaining how it will be used to improve the workplace.
Instead of just nodding when an employee raises a work-life balance concern, say, “I hear you, and I appreciate you bringing this up. We’re exploring ways to improve flexibility.” Then follow up with updates on any actions taken based on their feedback, reinforcing that their voices matter.
Methods for Collecting Employee Feedback
So, what methods can you use to collect employee input? Here are the most effective ones.
Utilize NPS Surveys
One of the most effective ways to gather employee feedback is through net promoter score (NPS) surveys. These surveys allow you to ask specific questions about certain company culture changes or new processes that you’re implementing. They’re quick to complete and provide a clear understanding of employee sentiment.
One easy way to send out NPS surveys is ReviewTrackers’ Ask Tool. This tool enables you to send surveys to multiple employees simultaneously, saving you resources and ensuring that you reach the right people. In addition, using the Ask Tool allows your team to see survey results next to current employee feedback on Glassdoor for faster, more accurate analysis.
One-on-One Manager Meetings
Regular one-on-one meetings between you and your employees create a safe space for open dialogue. These meetings help build trust, allowing your team to share honest feedback in a supportive environment. Consistent, private conversations help you to understand their concerns better and provide meaningful support for their growth and development.
Exit Interviews
Exit interviews are a valuable tool for uncovering strengths and weaknesses within your workplace. When an employee leaves, their feedback can highlight areas where the organization may be lacking.
By asking the right questions, you can identify underlying issues related to management, culture, or career growth. These insights help you address concerns and make improvements that can boost employee retention and enhance the overall work environment.
Ask for Glassdoor Reviews
Potential candidates often check Glassdoor before applying, making it important to maintain a positive employer reputation on the platform. To improve your Glassdoor rating, actively seek feedback from current employees. (But first, set up a Glassdoor for Employers account if you don’t have one already.)
Research shows that a one-star increase in your rating can reduce the likelihood of employee turnover by 6%. But simply asking for reviews isn’t enough. You’ll also need to explain to employees why their feedback matters and how you’ll use it to improve the workplace. This transparency encourages quality reviews, strengthens your employer brand, and helps you retain top talent.
Use An Employee Feedback Platform
An employee feedback platform can be a game-changer when analyzing large volumes of feedback. These dedicated platforms streamline the process, allowing you to gather, organize, and evaluate input efficiently.
Features like natural language processing (NLP) technology can help you quickly and accurately analyze the data, extracting key insights in just minutes. You can spot trends, identify potential issues, and take action faster, ultimately improving employee engagement and workplace satisfaction.
Turning Employee Feedback Into Action
Collecting employee feedback is just the beginning—turning it into actionable insights is where the real value lies. It’s by analyzing the feedback that you can identify key areas for improvement and make data-driven decisions.
Here’s how to turn feedback into action:
- Analyze trends and patterns: Look for recurring themes like management issues, company culture, or work-life balance challenges. Identifying these patterns helps address systemic problems.
- Prioritize key issues: Focus on concerns that impact employee satisfaction the most, such as compensation, career development, or workload. Addressing these will significantly improve retention.
- Communicate changes transparently: Inform employees about how their feedback has led to changes. For example, if flexible hours were requested, explain the steps you’re taking to implement this.
- Continuously improve: Make feedback an ongoing part of your company culture. Regularly collect and act on feedback to show your commitment to continuous improvement and a responsive workplace.
Capture Employee Feedback With ReviewTrackers
Collecting, analyzing, and acting on employee feedback is essential to building a strong employer brand and ensuring the long-term success of your business.
When you actively seek constructive feedback, prioritize employee engagement, and make data-driven decisions based on actual employee experiences, you create a workplace that not only attracts top talent but also improves overall employee satisfaction.
Leveraging tools like ReviewTrackers allows you to seamlessly integrate EX programs that assess employee engagement while aligning with your CX initiatives. Together, EX and CX insights enable you to create a more cohesive, thriving workplace.
Ready to take the next step? Start collecting and analyzing feedback with ReviewTrackers today—request a demo here.
