{"id":525,"date":"2017-08-28T17:40:08","date_gmt":"2017-08-28T17:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2017\/08\/28\/the-9-questions-that-uncover-the-most-surprising-feedback-from-employees\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T12:18:43","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T19:18:43","slug":"the-9-questions-that-uncover-the-most-surprising-feedback-from-employees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2017\/08\/28\/the-9-questions-that-uncover-the-most-surprising-feedback-from-employees\/","title":{"rendered":"The 9 questions that uncover the most surprising feedback from employees"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I\u2019m sharing three years-worth of findings, based on data from 15,000+ employees in 25 countries through Canopy<\/a>, on the best questions to ask employees for feedback.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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When\u2019s the last time you had a one-on-one meeting<\/a> or performance review<\/a> with an employee\u2026 and you learned something completely new<\/em>?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t think too hard \ud83d\ude42 If you\u2019re like most CEOs and managers, getting new, surprising insights from employees doesn\u2019t happen very often. Oftentimes, when we\u2019re asking for honest feedback<\/a>, we simply receive a confirmation of what we want to hear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We learn, \u201cOh okay, it seems like everything is fine<\/em>\u201d or \u201cI already knew that was an issue, so it\u2019s all good there.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what about the stuff you don\u2019t<\/em> know? How do you discern if an employee has an idea to improve the company that she hasn\u2019t brought up yet? How do you figure out if an employee is frustrated with her manager? Or, how can you tell if she\u2019s thinking about leaving?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s where we at Canopy<\/a> comes in. We\u2019ve spent the past three years researching, writing and refining hundreds of questions across 15,000 managers and employees+ in 25 countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From our hundreds of Canopy Culture Questions<\/a>, below are the best nine that we\u2019ve found to yield the most interesting insights for companies\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#1: \u201cAre you afraid of anything at work?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 67% of employees said, \u201cYes, I\u2019m afraid of something at work\u201d<\/strong> (753 employees answered this across 89 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. This result caught me off guard (almost 70% of employees are afraid of something at work!) but it goes to show the importance of showing vulnerability as a leader and digging deep to uncover the areas of the company (or people in the company) that employees may feel intimidated by.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#2: \u201cHave you seen something recently and thought to yourself \u2018I wish we\u2019d done that\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 75% of employees said, \u201cYes, I\u2019ve seen something recently, and thought to myself, \u2018I wish we\u2019d done that\u2019<\/em>\u201d<\/strong> (1,338 employees answered this across 221 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. Clearly, employees are noticing what competitors are doing and may have ideas for you to improve the business. Asking this question helps bring to light what those ideas are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#3: \u201cIs there something we should measure in the company that we currently don\u2019t?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 78% of employees said, \u201cYes, there\u2019s something we should measure in the company that we currently don\u2019t\u201d <\/strong>(286 employees answered this across 78 companies) when asked through Canopy. This reveals a need to more closely examine the metrics we use to run our businesses, and ask employees if there\u2019s anything not being measured that should be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#4: \u201cIs there any part of the company you wish you were able to interact with more?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 81% of employees said, \u201cYes, there\u2019s a part of the company I wish I were able to interact with more\u201d<\/strong> (507 employees answered this across 72 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. An overwhelming majority of the employees we surveyed feel silo-ed. By asking this question, you\u2019ll learn exactly which parts of the company they\u2019d like more interaction with, be it a specific department or office.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#5: \u201cAre there any benefits we don\u2019t offer that you\u2019d like to see us offer?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 76% said, \u201cYes, there are benefits we don\u2019t offer that I\u2019d like to see us offer\u201d <\/strong>(1,807 employees answered this across 179 companies) when asked through Canopy. You may be thinking, \u201cUgh, of course, most of my employees want more benefits\u201d\u2026 However, what\u2019s most revealing with this question is which<\/em> benefits your employees are looking for. Many of the companies who asked this specific question have added key benefits that have helped retain employees or even gotten rid of benefits no one is using. You never know unless you ask.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#6: \u201cIs there an area outside your current role where you feel you could be contributing?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 76% of employees said, \u201cYes, there\u2019s an area outside my current role where I feel I could be contributing\u201d <\/strong>(814 employees answered this across 135 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. This result is surprising, considering that most managers feel their employees are slammed and are already at capacity. Thus, this question all the more important to ask: You\u2019ll learn very tactically where your employees want to contribute more to help push your business even further.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#7: \u201cIs there anyone at the company you wish you could apprentice under for a few weeks?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 92% of employees said, \u201cYes, there\u2019s someone at the company I wish I could apprentice under for a few weeks\u201d <\/strong>(2,217 employees answered across 190 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. This shows how much employees crave learning and developing their skills\u200a\u2014\u200aespecially from others within the company. Asking this question will expose to you if this is similarly the case within your own company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#8: \u201cHave you seen someone here do great work that\u2019s gone unnoticed?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 76% of employees said, \u201cYes, I\u2019ve seen someone here do great work that\u2019s gone unnoticed\u201d<\/strong> (1,485 employees answered across 209 companies) when asked through Canopy. Based on this data, it\u2019s highly likely that employees in your<\/em> company may feel under-appreciated. The answers to this question can help you discover which exact projects or areas of the company that employees would like more gratitude and recognition shown in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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#9: \u201cAre there things you don\u2019t know about the company that you feel you should know?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Our findings: 55% of employees said, \u201cYes, there are things I don\u2019t know about in my company that I feel like I should know\u201d <\/strong>(3,197 employees answered this across 702 companies) when asked through Know Your Team. Employees want to know more about the company\u200a\u2014\u200athe company\u2019s vision, people\u2019s roles, why certain policies exist, etc. When you ask this question, you quickly get to the core of what those things are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How many of these 9 questions are you asking in your own<\/em> company? <\/strong>The next time you go grab coffee with an employee or have a quarterly one-on-one, consider asking one (or all!) of these questions. I guarantee you\u2019ll learn at least one insight that is completely new and surprising.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udc40 Looking to ask these 9 questions (and more!) in your own team? <\/strong> Then look no further: Use our Culture Question Tool<\/a> in Canopy Perform. We give you hundreds of questions<\/strong>, just like these, to help you learn important insights about your team’s culture. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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