Posted November 12th, 2024

Receiving feedback is never easy, but when that feedback is anonymous, it can feel especially challenging. As a leader or manager, it’s natural to feel defensive when you’re confronted with criticism that you can’t immediately address or clarify. Anonymous employee feedback often feels impersonal, and it can trigger feelings of doubt, frustration, or even self-protection. After all, there’s no face to attach to the comments, and it’s hard not to wonder whether the feedback is fair, accurate, or just a reflection of personal bias. But while anonymous feedback can be tough to digest, it’s essential to recognize that it presents a unique opportunity for growth, both personally and for your organization.

Why is employee feedback hard to hear?

Anonymous employee feedback can be difficult to hear is because it often highlights blind spots. As a manager, you might be deeply invested in your leadership style or the decisions you’ve made, and hearing that some employees are dissatisfied can feel like an attack on your capabilities. Since the feedback isn’t tied to a specific individual, it can be challenging to understand the context or get more information. You might even feel that it’s not entirely fair, especially if it touches on something that you feel is out of your control or doesn’t align with your perception of the situation. However, this is where you must remind yourself that anonymous feedback can give employees the courage to voice concerns that they might otherwise keep to themselves. It’s an important signal that there are areas for improvement — areas that you might not have seen on your own.

Next, anonymous feedback can be vague, which leaves room for misinterpretation. You might receive comments like “The communication here is bad” or “Management doesn’t listen,” which can feel frustrating because you don’t know exactly what the underlying issues are. Without knowing who’s providing the feedback or the specific scenarios they’re referencing, you can struggle to pinpoint what needs to change. It’s tempting to dismiss such feedback as unhelpful, but the key is to look at patterns over time. If you notice similar comments emerging from multiple anonymous sources, it’s a clear indication that something is off, and ignoring it could perpetuate problems within the team. Even if the feedback is not entirely specific, it’s still worth investigating further.

So, why should you listen to anonymous feedback, even when it feels hard to accept?

First, because it provides an unfiltered view of the organization. Employees often feel more comfortable sharing their true thoughts when they know they won’t face direct repercussions. This honesty can offer invaluable insights into the state of your workplace culture, employee satisfaction, and areas where improvements are needed. Second, addressing anonymous feedback shows that you value transparency and are committed to improvement. When employees see that you take their concerns seriously, even when they are difficult to hear, it can foster trust and a sense of accountability. Finally, tackling anonymous feedback head-on can help build a more open, supportive environment in which employees feel empowered to share their thoughts — both positive and negative — in a constructive manner.

The most important step after receiving anonymous feedback is to take action. Rather than getting bogged down in defensiveness, take time to assess the feedback with an open mind. If needed, follow up anonymous with team members to gain clarity on the concerns being raised. Involve your leadership team to brainstorm solutions or make necessary adjustments. And importantly, communicate to your employees that you’ve heard them and are working to make positive changes. Acknowledging that feedback is a gift — even when it’s difficult — sets the stage for a healthier, more communicative workplace culture, where feedback is not feared, but embraced as a powerful tool for growth.

Let’s talk about Incogneato!

Incogneato is an ideal tool for anonymous employee feedback because it offers a unique blend of privacy, ease of use, and actionable insights, all while maintaining a strong focus on building trust within organizations. In today’s workplace, employees often hesitate to share honest feedback due to concerns about retaliation, judgment, or not being taken seriously. Incogneato addresses these challenges by ensuring complete anonymity, which encourages employees to speak freely about their experiences, concerns, and suggestions without fear of repercussions.

Posted February 8th, 2024

We’re excited to share Incogneato’s latest feature aimed at helping you collect even more feedback: Conversation Codes.

What are Conversation Codes?

These are codes are provided to respondents as an alternative to providing email address—allowing them to hold an anonymous conversation with you simply by providing their unique code.

Why are we offering Conversation Codes?

Some respondents may still be wary of including their email address, despite the fact that it’s never shared and their anonymity is guaranteed. Conversation Codes will allow you to hold more conversations with your respondents, even if they choose not to include an email address.

How do I enable Conversation Codes?

Just head over to your dashboard and toggle the Provide Conversation Code option (Professional or above plan required). All future respondents will be given a response code.

Not yet an Incogneato customer?

Posted June 8th, 2022

When you ask yourself, “What are common remote employee challenges?” some obvious answers are communication issues, working across different time zones, and technical woes.

But what about problems that don’t get as much attention–like harassment increasing with remote work, or ‘selectively hearing’ the voice of the employee? 

Keep scrolling to learn about challenges your remote employees are experiencing that you may not have considered before.

1. Remote work has escalated harassment.

When you swap in-person meetings for Zoom conferences and desk chatter for Slack, there are fewer boundaries, more opportunities to disguise oneself, and greater susceptibility to harassment.

The EEOC defines harassment as: “Unwelcome conduct that is based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, or pregnancy), national origin, older age (age 40 plus), disability, or genetic information (including family medical history).” 

FastCompany reported some alarming statistics about the uptick in harassment since the pandemic alone:

• One in four employees says they’ve been the target of unwelcome sexual behavior online since COVID-19. Where? Videoconferencing, text messages, emails, and internal chat programs.
• 26% experienced more gender-based harassment. 
• 10% endured more bias related to their race or ethnicity
• 23% of those 50 years and older experienced more ageism

“Since the start of the pandemic, employees have felt as if online environments are the Wild Wild West, and the usual rules don’t apply,” said Jennifer Brown, DEI expert, to the New York Times. “…HR in most workplaces still has not caught up to what virtual forms of misconduct and harassment look and feel like, and there’s a lack of policies and procedures around what is acceptable.”

Organizations must develop standards for unacceptable remote communication on channels like instant messaging, video conferencing, email, etc. A critical part of curbing this behavior is to host discussions and training to show employees you’re holding them accountable and help those who’ve been the target of unwelcome virtual conduct.

2. Employee work-life balance—nice in theory but doesn’t always happen in practice.

According to SHRM, nearly 70 percent of professionals who transitioned to remote work in the pandemic say they now work on weekends. Forty-five percent say they work more hours during the week than they did pre-pandemic, and working parents were more likely to work on weekends than childless employees.

“While remote work affords employees more flexibility, it makes disconnecting extremely difficult,” said Paul McDonald, Senior Executive Director at Robert Half. “Many people feel pressure to keep up with rising workloads and are putting in long hours to support the business and customer needs.” 

Employees may also feel like their managers take advantage of the lack of commute and travel to assign more work. Being overworked may not only cause employees to seek greener pastures with other employers—it may lead to long-term health problems.

“The pandemic has pushed companies to prioritize employee experience,” said McDonald. “Savvy employers are making lasting changes to support their staff’s needs and well-being, such as providing greater autonomy and flexibility.”

3. Employees don’t always feel heard.

Remote work adds a new layer to company culture and employee engagement. Nearly half of employees say their company doesn’t have an established feedback loop, according to research from SpiralMethod, an executive coaching company. 

Transparency is also a common issue. Three-fourths of employees say that more transparency would boost their morale and improve their company’s success.

While employees value transparency and feedback, there is clearly a disconnect for most organizations to realize those principles. Leaders also must recognize that even though they may receive employee feedback, it may not be honest. 

“In many cases, management is hearing what they want to hear,” says Leslie Jones, SpiralMethod founder. “If you’re not listening to the growing voice of your employees, you’re missing an enormous opportunity to cement your company culture in trust —and they will know it. There’s so much you can learn from your teams if you really listen with an authentic concern to hearing them.”

Remote work means new, different challenges. 

The remote work era has transformed business culture. Workplace principles are constantly evolving. Leaders must be aware that just because their employees haven’t directly complained doesn’t mean they’re not struggling. 

Organizations need to provide ways for remote employees to give authentic feedback. Even though they’re not physically present in an office, you should still make sure they’re heard.

Do you want a way to capture candid, remote employee feedback? We’re here to help.

Posted May 27th, 2022

4 Ways to Encourage Constructive Feedback

In 2021, employee engagement rates were the lowest they’ve been in a decade. According to Gallup, 34% reported that they were engaged in their work and workplace. The factors that Gallup used to gauge employee engagement were how employees felt about their employer’s clarity of expectations, development opportunities, and opinions counting at work.

“If you are driving a racecar, you don’t wait until you blow a tire to realize it’s time to make a change; you have to be proactive and have measures in place to address problems before they become critical issues. Employee feedback, especially open-ended responses to survey questions, has been neglected for years. Still, it is the single best source for understanding not only your employees’ needs but their expectations. Listening to their feedback and acting on it is key to engaging and retaining them.”

Forbes

It’s common for employees to be on the receiving end of feedback, but they also need opportunities to give it. The problem is that it’s easy for feedback discussions to devolve into grousing sessions.

Here are some tips to guide your employees to give honest and effective anonymous feedback.

1. Avoid—or at least minimize—meanspiritedness.

By asking about your perspective and experiences, your employer wants to use your suggestions to improve the company—and keep what’s working for you.

Imagine that an HR executive is reading your suggestions, hoping they’d be helpful in enhancing a new program or boosting your company culture. It won’t be helpful if you use feedback opportunities to vent. Think about how you receive feedback at work, whether it’s from a manager or another department. You’d likely want the feedback to be objective and practical, not a barrage of criticism or complaints. 

Calling your manager hateful names or criticizing your coworkers when you submit the feedback will probably mean readers won’t take your suggestion as seriously as they should. If you’re enduring a personal complication like a coworker disagreement, bullying, or a violation of your employee rights, it’s best to go directly to HR.

2. Get to the point. While we don’t encourage griping for the sake of it, there’s no need to couch anonymous feedback or give a “compliment sandwich.”

Concisely state your issue. For example, “I believe I can be much more productive with a work-from-home day” or “we’d benefit from more marketing resources, like a designer.” 

The reader shouldn’t have to wade through your words to extract the takeaway. Consider adding bullets or data points to consolidate your thoughts or back up any points.

3. Propose a solution. Suggesting a solution helps the company take it seriously. Feedback is the most useful when it’s constructive or actionable.

The readers may act on your solution or use it to springboard new ideas. For example, “I’d like to get to know people in other departments more. One idea is to have quarterly social events.” 

Organizations appreciate resourceful employees. “[Resourcefulness is] a rare quality to find,” says Tarek Pertew, Co-Founder of Uncubed, to The Muse. “Folks who can work through obstacles creatively are my favorite…I look to assign someone who is capable of digging his or her heels in and independently creating solutions.” 

4. Trust that the feedback is anonymous—with the right channel.

Seventy-four percent of employees say they’d feel more comfortable giving feedback about their company and culture if the feedback was truly anonymous, says a Forbes report.

Keeping feedback anonymous will: 

• Boost employee participation
• Make employees feel safe
• Reduce the reader’s bias

Yet employees often fear that their anonymous feedback will be read and used against them, potentially leading to job loss.

   “I’m always disappointed to hear employees feel their job could be on the line for completing a survey. Why should a company ask for feedback if they don’t want honest feedback? Leaders who are reading the results need to keep an open mind and see the feedback as areas to improve, and to not get frustrated by.”

Emma Bindbeutel, Head of People Ops at Choozle, via Lattice

As an employee, you may want to verify that the feedback mechanism you’re using is truly anonymous. Leaders should explain how their suggestions are anonymized to protect the integrity of employee participation. Then submit your honest, constructive feedback. 

Feedback fuels your organization 

Leaders need to thoughtfully consider the feedback they receive, view it objectively, and then act on it. After all, feedback is ineffective if it remains unused. Employees should realize their voice is powerful. Two minutes taken to offer insight could lead to a new initiative launching or drawing attention to an overlooked issue. Whether you’re a leader or an individual contributor, your perspectives and contributions are instrumental to advancing a company and shaping its culture.

Are you looking for a way to collect and analyze anonymous feedback?

Posted May 18th, 2022

Leaders might assume that because their employees aren’t complaining, they must be content. They may actually be struggling or want to suggest something but are too afraid to speak up. 

Why are employees keeping quiet? Fear of job loss, reputational damage, and organizational ineffectualness are just some explanations.

This post discusses issues employees keep mum on, from taking mental health days to voicing new ideas. We also include recent data points on what’s concerning employees and why they don’t verbalize them.   

1. Taking time off for mental health.

Sixty-two percent of employees worry their boss will judge them for taking mental health days, according to Forbes. The pandemic shined a spotlight on nurturing mental health, both in and out of the workplace. Yet:

• Over half of survey respondents felt that their employer would think they were unable to perform their job if they requested time off for mental health.
•  Seven in 10 said they’d rather take a whole day off than just a few hours to avoid telling their supervisor why they’re taking the time.
• Sixty percent worried about their privacy while seeking mental health care virtually.

Multiple organizations are gradually instituting time-off periods for mental health—from Cisco to Starbucks to Google. As a whole, though, there’s still a long way to go for companies to provide relevant resources and adequate time off for employees to take care of themselves.

2. Their identity.

Four in ten LGBTQ employees say they aren’t fully out at work, says CBS News and Glassdoor. The fact that more than 50 percent of LGBTQ workers say that they’ve experienced or witnessed anti-LGBTQ comments from coworkers is likely a huge driving factor.

Half of those surveyed said their fears about expressing their identity were:  

• Hurting their career prospects
• Being passed over for a promotion
• Losing their jobs entirely.

However, if employers let their employees bring their full selves to work, employees would be much happier and more engaged. 

“Employers want to fuel their businesses for financial success, and you need quality talent to do that. If they don’t show the LGBTQ community support, their companies are missing out on great talent.”

Scott Dobrowski, Senior Director of Corporate Communications at Glassdoor

3. Unhappiness with their manager.

In 2022, more than 75 percent of employees report they’re frustrated with their manager, says a new study from Real Estate Witch. The biggest manager-related aggravations were:

• Unclear communication
• Micromanagement
• Favoritism of other employees

Additionally, one in five workers (20%) say their managers negatively affect their confidence and self-esteem during performance reviews. 

One strategy to improve your happiness with your manager is to bring up one constructive suggestion and solution at a time, de-personalizing it as much as possible. For example, if they’re reluctant to let you work from home or use a hybrid style, speak with them about how much more productive you are without a daily commute. Suggest a trial period and demonstrate your effectiveness during that time.

4. Workplace bullying and harassment.

Think more open discussions about mental health and discrimination have mitigated workplace bullying? Not exactly. Remote work may have made it easier for colleagues to harass their comments. 

“Harassment and hostility have moved from physical and in-person actions to online and technology-based forms. They range from public bullying attacks on group video calls to berating employees over email to racist and sexist link-sharing in chat and more.”

Ellen Pao, CEO of Project Interlude, to FastCompany

Now that remote and hybrid work is omnipresent, organizations need to develop policies and plans specifically for curtailing virtual bullying and harassment.  

5. New ideas.

While companies claim they encourage innovation, employees don’t feel like they can voice new ideas. Why? According to the UNC Social Research Lab: 

• 56 percent of employees withhold ideas out of concern they won’t get credit.
• 40 percent say they don’t feel confident enough to share ideas. 
• 50 percent say they won’t be taken seriously. 

Cognitive diversity is what will propel organizations. Everyone  That starts with creating a culture of feedback that encourages employees to bring new ideas to the table. 

Of course, it’s easy to tell employees to suggest new ideas and not as easy to make sure they’re set into motion. Devise a system or strategy to nurture ideas and make them actionable. Anonomyizing suggestions will assuage fears about confidentiality and make employees feel comfortable submitting new ideas.

Weave feedback into your company’s DNA

Your employees are the heartbeat of your organization. If they’re afraid or discouraged to speak up about their concerns, they’ll find another organization where they can. Organizations need to find ways to encourage employee feedback and engagement and use it to advance the organization.

Use technology to help you. The importance of collecting anonymous employee feedback is what drove us to create Incogneato, a secure, anonymous online suggestion box. 

Want more details? Reach out to one of us here.

Posted February 12th, 2020

We often hear from organizations who like the idea of collecting anonymous employee feedback, but want to see some research before launching a suggestion box of their own. Fortunately, there’s lots out there. To assist, we’ve compiled the following list:

• A 2006 study published in the Journal of Nursing Management looked at the effectiveness of using anonymous feedback as a component of nurse management evaluations at Tel-Aviv University. The authors found that anonymous feedback “is an effective tool by which real feedback is gathered on ‘things which are not talked about’.” They further found that anonymous feedback offered a unique opportunity for low-ranking employees to share their opinions without fear of retaliation.
• A study published in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology looked at the impact of anonymity vs. confidentiality in surveys that included sensitive questions involving cheating. The authors found that 47% of the respondents admitted to cheating when anonymity was guaranteed, while only 13% admitted to cheating when confidentiality was promised.
• Studies conducted by Professor Craig Scott at the University of Texas and Professor Stephen Rains at the University of Arizona suggest that there is an important place for anonymous communication within organizations. Additionally, he found that anonymity provides “less enfranchised organizational members with important communication opportunities.”
• According to the Harvard Business Review, respondents are more likely to participate in surveys if they are confident that personal anonymity is guaranteed.
• Professor Peter Cappelli of the Wharton Business School argues that anonymous feedback is an effective tool for improving company culture because it empowers conscientious employees to bring their full capabilities to bear on improving the company, without fear of reprisal.