Employee Misalignment: 7 Things to Look Out For and How to Fix Them
Are you and your employees aligned over how to improve your workplace? Employees want to work in an organization where they feel safe to grow and thrive in their careers; meanwhile, HR leaders want to ensure employees have the tools and resources they need to do just that.
Everyone is aligned on the what and the why. But I’ve noticed a big disconnect between HR teams and employees on exactly how to improve the workplace. HR wants to help employees by resolving workplace issues, and HR departments believe they’re being thorough by asking for feedback through channels that employees want to use.
Unfortunately, while HR leaders may think they’re on the right path, our research shows otherwise. Employees aren’t giving honest feedback and many aren’t comfortable reporting through the feedback channels HR provides. Many also believe that even if they share concerns with HR, nothing will be done about it anyway.
My goal is to ensure that both employees and HR are working together to create a happy and healthy work environment, free from unhealthy assumptions and distrust. What follows are seven misconceptions I frequently see HR leaders have about their feedback process, and how to make improvements to achieve better outcomes.
HR Leaders’ Top 7 Misconceptions
Are your employees and HR team fully aligned on how to build a better workplace? Here are some of the top misconceptions we uncovered by talking to both HR leaders and employees about the reporting and feedback process.
Misconception #1: Employees will be transparent and direct.
HR leaders tend to believe that their employees are open and honest. But we’ve found that employees are holding back. In our recent report, “Impact of HR on Employee Feedback: Trust, Communication, and Power Dynamics,” less than half (47%) of the employees surveyed said that they are completely honest with HR when giving feedback. Additionally, a recent study by Zenefits found that more than a third (35%) won’t go to HR with concerns because of trust issues. The one thing HR leaders think they’re getting — honest feedback — could be a major area of improvement.
Misconception #2: Most feedback will be complaints.
If they ask for feedback or implement a feedback program, many HR leaders are concerned that they’ll only hear complaints. While HR leaders should also be receptive to hearing about negatives at the organization — which still need to be addressed — employees want to share positives as well. In fact, employees say that of the various types of feedback they’ve given, they’ve shared most about ways to improve employee morale, followed by positive feedback about a coworker.
Misconception #3: The best employees won’t need a feedback tool.
The most loyal employees will always report the issues they see around them, right? Wrong. Too often, when issues arise, the most dedicated employees are torn about how to act on their loyalty to the company: reporting helps the company get better; but they’re afraid of being seen as disloyal or don’t want to rock the boat. This is likely why we found that in the past year, 84% of employees had at least one concern to share with HR, but didn’t share it. Also, 44% of employees say they don’t feel free to speak their minds to their managers. That’s why HR teams need a variety of channels for employees to make their voices heard, depending on their style and level of comfort.
Misconception #4: Employees know where to go with feedback or concerns.
If you build it, they will come, right? The data says otherwise. Some HR leaders think that if they’ve made resources available, employees will know what they are and how to find them. But 1 in four employees said their employer doesn’t make resources about reporting feedback available to them. An additional 20% didn’t know if resources were available or not. Further, 36% of employees either don’t have a feedback program or aren’t aware of one at their company. It’s not enough to simply make employee feedback tools available. You need to make them known–and how, when, and why to use reporting tools–within your organization as well.
Misconception #5: In-person or non-anonymous feedback is more valuable than anonymous feedback.
Some HR leaders worry that anonymous feedback won’t be as helpful or actionable. However, our research shows that employees are willing to be more honest if given anonymous channels… which means HR will actually get more helpful and actionable feedback than they will through non-anonymous methods. Ok, great! But how do you track anonymous feedback? With a robust employee feedback management platform like AllVoices, HR leaders can communicate with employees anonymously and take the right actions.
Misconception #6: If I implement a real-time feedback platform, the deluge of reports will overwhelm an already strapped HR team.
In our “State of HR Departments and Employee Feedback” report, we found that being overwhelmed is a real concern. Considering that nearly a third of HR professionals say they want less feedback suggests they have too much already. In these cases, the problem isn’t the level of feedback but the process to handle it. Work smarter, not harder. A streamlined, efficient approach will help you easily handle any increase in feedback without overwhelming your team.
Misconception #7: Employees believe their feedback goes right to company leaders.
Finally, HR leaders need to understand that many employees think their feedback goes directly and immediately to company leaders. For employees, that can cause some hesitation in providing feedback as well. It’s especially scary to share open, honest feedback with the CEO or HR leadership, even when employees know something isn’t working, or have insights into major ways to improve the company.
Debunking Misconceptions
The best workplaces happen from having both HR and employees aligned on the importance of creating a safe, thriving work environment. That can only happen when we put aside misconceptions about reporting, and take an honest look at the true state of employee feedback in our organizations. That’s where the important work of positive impact and increased alignment begins.
Authored by Claire Schmidt
Claire is CEO and Founder of AllVoices, an employee feedback management platform that helps company leaders ask for, and act on, employee feedback of all kinds through a secure, truly anonymous communication channel. The platform provides real-time insights that help company leadership build and sustain healthy cultures.