It’s good to talk: How employee feedback could give your business a boost in FY24–25

Seeking opinions from your team has the potential to generate big benefits, writes Brendan Maree.

Wondering if your workforce is performing at its peak or whether there’s more you could do to boost productivity this financial year?

With economic conditions remaining uncertain and demand lacklustre across many sectors, it’s the $64 million question, at least for Australian business leaders who want to protect their margins, at a time when a growing number of enterprises are going to the wall.

Some 7,742 local companies failed in the nine-month period from 1 July 2023 to 31 March 2024 – a 36.2 per cent increase on the corresponding period the previous year, according to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s (ASIC) latest insolvency data.

Construction and accommodation and food services businesses have been particularly hard hit, accounting for 27.7 per cent and 15.2 per cent, respectively, of total insolvencies.

The power of good people

While a highly committed workforce may not necessarily be able to stave off collapse in all circumstances, having employees who are genuinely engaged with your organisation will almost invariably have a positive effect on productivity and profitability.

Research shows most businesses could do much better on this front. Just 15 per cent of employees globally feel engaged at work, according to a recent Gallup poll.

If your team currently sits with the less-than-enthused majority, the good news is, there’s lots you can do to turn that around.

What are you thinking?

One of the most important steps you can take is seeking their feedback regularly and in good faith. That’s because asking employees to share their experiences and ideas can give rise to a host of benefits.

For starters, simply feeling that their voices are heard tends to result in individuals becoming more invested in their work. Soliciting regular feedback demonstrates an employer’s commitment to understanding the experiences of their employees and can help to foster a sense of ownership and belonging.

Secondly, the constructive feedback you receive can serve as a roadmap for improvement. No one knows your organisation better than the people who spend all day at the coalface. Having them identify gaps and pain points is a golden opportunity for you to elevate your product and service offerings.

Thirdly, it may mean employees stick around for longer. Disengaged workers are more likely to be on the lookout for new opportunities and won’t think twice about moving on when something semi-appealing arises. A high staff churn rate is bad for business and expensive, too – latest research from the Australian Human Resources Institute suggests the average cost of hiring a new worker is now more than $23,000, when equipment, training, onboarding and induction costs are included in the tally. Organisations with strong feedback cultures incur these imposts less often, courtesy of the fact that their staff turnover rates are 14.2 per cent lower than the norm.

And lastly, asking your team for their thoughts may not only elicit a list of areas where your business could do better. Employee feedback can also be a treasure trove of great ideas for how the business could expand, innovate or diversify. Ignore them at your peril – you may very well be passing up on a golden opportunity for profitable growth!

Tools to make the task easy

Soliciting and collating feedback manually can be a laborious process, particularly if you’re looking for more than just tick-and-flick responses to generic questions.

That’s where employee feedback technology can help. Deploying an operations enablement and workforce platform will help you optimise your employee feedback process. You’ll be able to respond more quickly to issues that are troubling your team and ideas they’ve offered up that could benefit the business.

Implement a solution that allows you to perform in-depth data analysis, monitor your employee engagement initiatives in real time, and extract actionable insights easily, and you’ll have laid the foundations for a more respectful, responsive workplace culture.

Investing in your team in FY24–25

Rising costs and slowing demand may make the next 12 months tough ones for enterprises like yours. A more engaged workforce can help you combat the challenges and maintain your productivity and profitability. That’s why investing in technology that helps you build stronger ties with your biggest asset – the employees who stand behind your brand – is likely to prove an excellent move.

Brendan Maree is the vice president and country manager in Australia and New Zealand at ProHance.