Anonymous feedback is exactly what it sounds like: anonymous feedback cannot be traced back. This is especially important for HR and People functions at work because it allows employees to give feedback without being held responsible.
Anonymous feedback can build trust and emotional safety within your organization. These results will help you create action plans that are relevant to your employees’ needs and wants. These elements will result in happier employees and better business results.
DIFFERENT TYPES OFF ANONYMOUS FOEEDBACK
There are two types anonymous feedback. The anonymous feedback is not linked to individuals , but includes context information. You might ask about the respondent’s job title, tenure, team, or geographic location. This information will allow you to respond in a timely manner and help you create targeted programs to address any issues. People may be concerned that their feedback could be traced back at them.
This is where our platform can help. All data processing is handled by us, so employees can be sure that their feedback will not be shared with anyone else in their organization. The data can only be released if there is a certain minimum threshold. If there are less than five responses, you won’t be able to drill down into the data. It is almost impossible to identify individuals due to this.
The second type is anonymous and does not contain any identifying data. People will feel comfortable expressing their opinions on sensitive or personal topics. Most likely, you will receive very candid feedback. Nevertheless, you won’t get any specific context and it is impossible to tie it back with particular departments, groups or job functions.
This feedback is captured in our Employee voice survey. Each organization has only one employee voice link. This makes it impossible to trace feedback back to its source. This ensures anonymity for everyone within your organization.
Your feedback program should combine both of these approaches. Each has its strengths and advantages, so a blended approach can maximize the impact of your feedback programme.
HOW CAN ANONYMOUS FEEDBACK BE GAINED AND NOT LOSE CONTEXT
It is much easier to provide context for feedback if you have collected supporting information. It will help you spot common themes and trends between employees, life stages, and locations. This will allow you to create a solid strategy that supports your team.
The platform offers easy-to-understand dashboards as well as downloadable reports. This allows you to quickly gather, analyze and share results with key stakeholders. This will enable you to quickly get to targeted action planning.
It can be difficult to keep context when anonymous feedback is provided. You may find that you receive more comments than you need.
Our platform supports you in two ways. First, our platform uses cutting-edge AI and sentiment analysis tools that allow you to analyze your comments by theme or intent. This allows you to save time and helps you identify the strengths and weaknesses in your organization’s culture. We can also help you to benchmark and track your data over time. This allows you to spot patterns in your feedback that could be related to macro world events or seasonal pressures.
WHY WOULD ANONYMOUS FEEDBACK INTEREST YOU? What are the benefits?
It is important to respond anonymously to feedback. This will build trust in your organization. Your team will cease responding to your program if they don’t believe there is any action based on the feedback they give. This will cause trust to be eroded and leave you without any useful data.
Our neuroscience modeling demonstrates that acknowledgment is an integral part of our need for feedback. People who were initially hesitant about the program or its impact can build trust by responding to feedback. Sometimes it is a long journey. Although initial response rates may not be high, don’t let that stop you from trying. This is an opportunity to improve. You’ll notice an improvement in your response rates as you continue to provide feedback.
You should also remember that feedback from employees often comes in cycles. You may initially find that you are receiving negative or unconstructive feedback. You will see positive and constructive comments increase if you keep your cool and reply to your people with questions, ideas and support language. While it’s tempting to quit while your team is still learning the new program, you could end up losing out in the long-term.
All feedback is not negative. The Happiness Index encourages people to use our platform to praise individuals, programs and initiatives and celebrate their successes. You can encourage others to share your wins!
HOW CAN YOU REPLY TO ANONYMOUS FEEDBACK IN WHAT WAYS? WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP YOU WITH THIS?
You might think it is difficult to respond anonymously without losing anonymity. This is where our platform truly shines.
First, the Employee Voice program gives you the opportunity to turn on a function. This is called Closing the Feedback Loop. People can leave their email address along with their comments. Our platform allows them to receive responses to their feedback directly to their email addresses. Your organisation won’t be able see your email address so anonymity will be maintained. Your team will however be able respond to any concerns.
You can also group feedback according to a theme. You can also group feedback by theme, such as if there are a lot of people getting frustrated during a long meeting or your appreciation for the speedy resolution of an invoicing problem.
You may not have sufficient detail to reply to the feedback because it was anonymous. If this is the situation, you should raise the feedback in a group setting, meeting, or email to the entire team. You can explain that you want to offer a solution but need more information. You should also assure that there won’t be any negative consequences.
You may have to dig deeper into the issue if you notice a pattern in feedback. If you notice that your team is having trouble with their well-being, you might want to continue the investigation with another survey. There are many surveys that can be used to support this activity.
Sometimes feedback does not need to be immediate. People may just want to feel heard or have something to say. This fosters a transparent and connected workforce. If you suspect that this is true, it is important to acknowledge the feedback publicly. This will create a feedback culture that encourages people to give feedback in person.
Action is the best way to reply to feedback, anonymous or otherwise. You may just need to state that you have identified a problem with X and will be working on addressing it using Y. While you may not be capable of solving the problem immediately, it is important to communicate with your team about possible timelines. This is how trust and buy-in can be built for feedback programs.