{"id":562,"date":"2016-02-01T17:24:54","date_gmt":"2016-02-01T17:24:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/danielvlopes238992071.wordpress.com\/2016\/02\/01\/the-evils-of-anonymous-employee-feedback\/"},"modified":"2024-10-11T09:50:15","modified_gmt":"2024-10-11T16:50:15","slug":"the-evils-of-anonymous-employee-feedback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canopy.is\/blog\/2016\/02\/01\/the-evils-of-anonymous-employee-feedback\/","title":{"rendered":"The evils of anonymous employee feedback"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Why anonymous employee feedback is counterproductive and should be avoided in the workplace.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I recently realized that I\u2019m in the minority of this opinion, so I wanted to write about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why don\u2019t I believe in anonymous feedback?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s because the whole point of feedback is to do something<\/strong><\/a> about it. If you don\u2019t know who gave the feedback, then how can you act on it? How can you change anything you were doing previously if you don\u2019t know the specifics of what you should be changing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anonymity also breeds mistrust<\/a>. When you get anonymous feedback, all you end up thinking is, \u201cWho said it?\u201d On the other end, the person who wrote it is slightly petrified, probably just wondering, \u201cI wonder if they\u2019ll find me out?\u201d The feedback becomes all about the messenger, instead of the message.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Either way, anonymous feedback doesn\u2019t perpetuate a healthy company culture. It furthers the disease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of these reasons, the majority of business owners I talk to insist on the importance of anonymous feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHow else do you get people to tell you the truth?\u201d they\u2019ll say to me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To me, that\u2019s the wrong question to even being asking. If you feel you need anonymous feedback in order to get the truth, it\u2019s an indicator of a deeper issue. It means you don\u2019t have an environment where people trust each other enough to speak their minds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is true of most companies. Few companies (if any) have environments where people feel completely comfortable speaking up. It\u2019s really, really difficult to create that kind of work environment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean you shouldn\u2019t try.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you feel like people aren\u2019t telling you the truth, instead of reacting by saying you need anonymous feedback, why not tackle the underlying source of the problem itself? Why not dig into why they don\u2019t feel comfortable giving honest feedback? Is it because you don\u2019t ask for feedback regularly? Or that you\u2019ve been sitting on a bunch of feedback, so people have become reluctant to bring things up to you? Or how have you been coming off a bit defensively in your one-on-ones? Or when was the last one-on-one you had?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Resorting to collecting anonymous feedback is a knee-jerk reaction. You might feel you need to do it to appease the \u201cgrumblers.\u201d But if you want to actually solve<\/strong> the larger issue of lack of trust in your company, the LAST thing you want to do is ask for anonymous feedback.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAppease\u201d versus \u201csolve.\u201d Which do you prefer?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So instead of spending your time and energy rolling out an anonymous feedback survey, spend the same time and energy creating a work environment where people feel they can speak up openly and honestly. Focus on creating real trust in your company.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then, you won\u2019t even need anonymous feedback. And you\u2019ll avoid all the ways that it\u2019s evil.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a deeper dive, be sure to check out our \u201cFeedback Loop<\/a>\u201d module in Canopy. The first few lessons are free \u2013 as are hundreds of daily tips. Try\u00a0Canopy<\/a><\/em>\u00a0for free, yourself, today.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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