Broadcasts: How to Respond to Employee Feedback

WorkHound helps companies keep tabs on remote employees’ most pressing concerns, but it’s important that managers are able to respond to workers about actions that are being taken because of feedback.

That’s why we work with clients to create weekly broadcast messages to send to their workforce about issues that have been raised and the steps that are being taken to address them, improving communications between managers in a central office and employees in the field.

Broadcasts are a mass communication tool sent via text message, and this effort closes the communication gap to confirm that worker feedback is read.

“The most dangerous thing we can do with feedback,” says Max Farrell, WorkHound Co-Founder and CEO, “is act on it and not acknowledge that the change happened or that workers are responsible for this change.”

In the trucking industry, for instance, the average driver tenure is around 90 days. That’s a short window for management to learn about a problem, figure out the best way to address it, and then enact a lasting change to company policy. It’s ever more important that these companies acknowledge the changes drivers are helping them make.

WorkHound helps companies craft these communications weekly so they can prove feedback is being listened to and acted upon.

How a Broadcast Is Developed

Our customer success managers start the process by reviewing the range of issues raised by employee feedback with a particular eye on new challenges. These WorkHound representatives meet with company officials weekly to discuss worker feedback and make recommendations based on the most actionable feedback and industry insights. They also make sure that our reading of the data aligns with management goals and priorities.

These communications help companies quickly address a range of issues that arise during the workweek.

Broadcasts can take many forms. They can be an opportunity to debunk rumors, they can be used to announce new initiatives, or they can give a company an opportunity to clarify misconceptions around a policy. Most importantly, broadcasts help reinforce the importance of worker feedback in company decision-making.

The Importance of Acting on Feedback

Broadcast messages are a value-add for WorkHound customers. Other employee survey technologies tend to be one-sided. Employee feedback goes in, but too little information comes back.

When you’re ready for feedback, you should also be ready to announce how you’re using feedback, as mentioned in this blog.

One of WorkHound’s values borrows from the words of Aaron Sorkin, “Information breeds confidence; silence breeds fear.”

Asking employees for honest, sometimes intimate, feedback on work conditions is a big ask. But if that feedback is met only with silence, employees will naturally worry that their employers are talking about them, rather than to them.

Broadcasts are a core part of WorkHound and sidestep this worry before it even begins. The weekly schedule gives customers an automatic reporting mechanism back to their employees and provides a dedicated forum for employees to learn what management is doing on their behalf.

Our feedback prompt — “Tell WorkHound how you feel about work, right this minute!” — is the beginning of a conversation for the workweek. As responses roll in from employees, managers can identify what steps should be taken to address a particular issue.

A good way to think about broadcasts is that they help bookend that weekly conversation. In other words, they give companies a chance to reflect on the pulse of the company and discuss their findings, observations, next action steps, and then respond to all workers with their weekly WorkHound-crafted broadcast.

If you’re interested in learning more about how WorkHound broadcasts can enhance employee satisfaction at your business, let us know by requesting a demo.