Employee feedback is essential for any internal communications team that wants to improve engagement, alignment, and performance. But how do you collect, analyze, and act on feedback effectively and efficiently? You need a software tool that suits your needs and goals. Here are some tips on how to choose the best one for your team.
Before you start browsing for software options, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve with employee feedback. Do you want to measure satisfaction, motivation, or loyalty? Do you want to identify strengths and weaknesses in your communication strategy? Do you want to gather ideas and suggestions for improvement? Your objectives will determine the type of feedback you need, the frequency of collection, the format of delivery, and the metrics of success.
It is best to do a survey and layout budgets before identifying the objectives and key components the software needs to have to address and enhance your organization’s communications.
Defining your goals for employee feedback is essential before exploring software options. Clarify whether you aim to measure satisfaction, motivation, loyalty, assess communication strategy strengths and weaknesses, or gather improvement suggestions. Your objectives guide feedback type, collection frequency, delivery format, and success metrics, ensuring alignment with your specific organizational needs and priorities.
It's worth engaging your IT team early on so they can support you with scoping the technical requirements of the platform. Also speak with HR and any other teams who may already run engagement or other surveys.
When selecting software, you should keep your objectives in mind and assess the features and benefits that match them. User-friendliness, customization, automation, analytics, integration, and support are all important criteria to consider. The software should be intuitive and compatible with your existing platforms and devices. You should be able to create and modify surveys, questions, and reports according to your preferences. Automation capabilities should enable you to schedule, send, and follow up on feedback requests without manual intervention. Insightful analytics and actionable data such as trends, patterns, benchmarks, and recommendations should be provided. Additionally, the software should connect with other tools and systems you use such as email, CRM, or HR software. Lastly, reliable customer service, training, and technical assistance should be offered.
Once you establish your key objectives and set desired goals, you must determine which features/functions you look for in an employee feedback software. User experience is the most important key to consider as you too will engage with the chosen feedback software as much as your fellow employees. Automation will be a great ally to consolidate all employee feedback and prepare your raw data for rich analytics. When selecting the best software, prepare a cost-benefit chart that will guide your key decision makers to choose the one that best aligns with your objectives and desired results.
?? Take a moment to review your current software- there's a chance you already have something in place that can support you. You'll get better engagement if you bake feedback into the tools your frontline staff are already using every day. ?? Another webpage, app, reminder email, or login to remember means it'll be forgotten.
Another way to evaluate software options is to read reviews and testimonials from other users. You can find them on websites, blogs, forums, or social media platforms that specialize in internal communications or employee feedback. Look for honest and detailed feedback that covers the pros and cons of each software, the customer experience, and the results achieved. You can also ask for referrals or recommendations from your network of peers or industry experts.
Reviews and testimonials are a goldmine for research when evaluating any product or service that you are investing in. The sales page and marketing material will highlight features that will solve certain pain points and make the product desirable. Within reviews you will find issues, shortcomings that existing users have come across. While reading reviews one can also find relevant use-cases. This information will be useful while deciding whether the product or service is worth the cost, manpower and time investment.
Reading reviews and testimonials help establish expectations you should have prior to reaching out to the software provider for a demo or trial run. They can be powerful tools and garnering feedback from similar customers via case studies, blogs or social media posts bring the decision-making process one step closer.
Before you make a final decision, you should request a demo or a trial of the software that you are interested in. This will allow you to test the software in action, see how it works for your team and your feedback objectives, and identify any potential issues or challenges. You can also use this opportunity to ask questions, clarify doubts, and negotiate terms and prices with the software provider.
When you request a demo or trial from your possible software supplier/provider, select a sample of users from your key stakeholders including those people who will be your super users (team members who will know the ins-and-outs of the software) who will be actively implementing in their day-to-day, propose examples of burning questions (regarding the software usability and key features) and ask the supplier/provider to offer a few sessions with those key stakeholders. This way, people in your team who will be active users will not only understand the software but will be able to train and mentor others within your teams who may find the software valuable.
The last step is to evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of the software that you choose. You need to consider the costs and benefits of the software in relation to your feedback objectives and your overall internal communications strategy. Ask yourself: how much does the software cost and how does it fit your budget? How much time and resources does it save or require from your team? How much value does it add to your communication quality and effectiveness? What kind of impact does it have on your employee engagement, alignment, and performance? By following these tips, you can select the optimum employee feedback software for your internal communications team and reach your feedback goals.
Evaluating the return on investment of implementing an employee feedback software requires a clear alignment with your internal communication strategy and measuring the cost-benefit of software implementation against your budget. Your key decision makers must consider what benefits will be gained and what will be the costs that will come with implementing this software.
Remember you too are an employee so consider your own perspective when selecting the best employee feedback software to contribute to your internal communications.