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A university study found that 85% of U.S. workers describe themselves as being afraid to share their ideas with their supervisors. “The most frequently mentioned reason for remaining silent was the fear of being viewed or labeled negatively, and as a consequence, damaging valued relationships,” the study from New York University stated.
David Hassell, CEO of employee engagement software 15Five, believes scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with direct reports as well as recurring in-depth performance reviews has to be a company goal.
“Find quick and painless ways to check in with employees on a regular basis and ask questions that spark valuable conversation,” Hassell told Business News Daily. “Like any habit, implementing an employee feedback system may take a bit of time to get used to. But the payoff is big — empowered employees, increased productivity and extraordinary innovation.”
In a Harvard Business Review article, Jeff Wetzler, co-founder of Transcend Education, said that typical measures to overcome the reluctance by employees to share information, including seeing things from another person's perspective and reading their body language, aren’t sufficient.
“Research shows that if you want to learn what those around you really think, feel, and know, there’s only one reliable strategy: asking them,” said Wetzler. “Unfortunately, few leaders are taught how to do this well.”
Wetzler’s advice for supervisors includes actively probing issues that may be holding back their employees’ efforts, creating a “psychologically safe” environment for sharing potential criticism of the company, listening for the “emotion” behind their employee’s issues, and following up. He said, “Once you reflect, don’t just keep your ah-ha’s to yourself. Reconnect with the person who shared with you to let them know what you took away.”
Claire Schmidt, CEO at AllVoices, the employee relations platform, concurred that demonstrating that an employee’s feedback is valued “might encourage them to share feedback directly next time.”
In a column in Fast Company, Schmidt also stressed the benefits of creating ways for employees to communicate anonymously with HR or company leaders. An AllVoices survey found that only 47% of employees were completely honest with HR when giving feedback. Of those who weren’t fully honest, 56% indicated that they were more likely to share honestly if they were able to do so anonymously.
Schmidt wrote, “Anonymous channels can not only increase the comfort level of employees — making them more inclined to report — but staying anonymous can also help alleviate their fear of repercussions from reporting as well.”