As an employer, Baltimore Consulting celebrate differences and value the opinions of all staff. We are proud to say that we make decisions based on a unified voice through our internal People & Community Forum, engagement surveys and multiple opportunities for employee feedback. Being inclusive and providing equity for all employees sits firmly at the core of our business.
Over the years we have made waves across our business based on the outcomes of our employee feedback; enhancing our benefits packages, improving our family policies – we work with our employees at the heart of the business; CEO, Charmaine Vincent has instilled a caring ethos into the company culture and has continued to put others and their development first.
In this Q&A series, our Director of People, Louise Foster, talks about the benefits of feedback and engagement surveys, and the impact on employee retention.
How can businesses use employee feedback and engagement surveys to identify and address retention issues before they lead to significant turnover?
“We implement employee feedback and engagement surveys here at Baltimore Consulting on a quarterly basis, and this allows us not only to celebrate the good stuff we’re doing, but to address any development areas as they arise.
I think it’s about getting the balance right again, ensuring you’re asking the right questions, but not too many of them in order to maintain staff engagement, and provide a platform for them to feel safe and heard.
Questions need to be framed around the business or department’s strategic objectives; allowing you to determine where you are from a starting point, and how you need to develop in order to achieve your goals. It shouldn’t be a tick box exercise to showcase all your strengths; you already know them and that isn’t why your talent is leaving you.
I’ve found that the secret is to make it as simple as possible; utilising the survey platform to enhance and improve the user experience, making it easy to access and use. Additionally, we listen. Our surveys are anonymous which gives employees a chance to answer honestly, and they trust us to implement change off the back of them.
Following the survey outcomes, we provide the business with our plan of action moving forward, in terms of how we’ve listened to their opinions, our intentions and how we’ve developed or improved.
Our staff know that it’s worth contributing to incite change; from providing alternative milk options to enhancing our mental health and wellbeing offering, we run our business with our employees at the heart, and our employees know that they can be honest.
Employee engagement surveys also give employers a barometer of satisfaction; if there isn’t the engagement, it will ultimately boil down to fear of ramifications if they provide honest feedback. Good business leaders should want to know their development areas prior to exit interview stage. Ensuring clear lines of communication and providing a space where employees feel heard and safe without judgement is key, as is the provision of multiple opportunities for feedback; regular touch points where employees can have access to management to discuss any issues that may arise or training and development areas.
I think it’s also important in terms of that nurturing piece, is actually making sure that you have conversations with people that aren’t just about work, that you can provide an opportunity or a safety net for people to just talk, creating a culture where you encourage staff to be able to communicate openly. The impact of employees feeling like they don’t have space or safety to talk to their managers is colossal, especially if what’s going on at home might impact while they’re not performing or why they can’t work on site at the moment and why they need to be working from home. You might lose a great person because they didn’t feel like they could talk to you about those things or it wouldn’t be openly received.”
