5 reasons why soliciting frontline employee feedback — and acting on it — is key to a thriving business
In the retail and hospitality industries, customers are at the heart of employees’ daily duties and their feedback is often solicited through forms and surveys. But did you know that soliciting frontline employee feedback was just as important to the health of your business?
Neil Williamson is Chief Operating Officer at Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, an industry-leading chain of chicken restaurants from New Orleans. For Neil, frontline employees aren’t a commodity – the business should work around their needs just as much as they work towards its success. An advocate of Social Leadership – the practice of using digital tools to influence people at work – Neil has created an inspiring initiative for his employees, the ‘Make My Day Difficult Form’. Through their Yapster apps tab, Popeyes’ employees are able to access an intuitive form allowing them to let their leaders know what they could remove or refine to make their work day easier.
Soliciting frontline employee feedback allows Neil to ensure that his workers’ needs are being met, but also that processes are optimised. Listening to your teams truly is the key to smooth operations! If you’d like to find out more about Neil’s leadership style and his secrets to operational excellence, check out our webinar!
Because Neil’s success story inspired us, we've decided to share our top 5 reasons why soliciting frontline employee feedback is key to a thriving business. Let’s dive in!
“We’re asking people to give us as little or as much time as they’d like on the shop floor, talking to colleagues, asking the real questions. If there’s something that they want to get more involved with in another section, we’ll spend time with them on it.” - Neil Williamson, Popeyes COO
Access your integrated apps tab easily on the Yapster app.
employees can easily submit feedback through the ‘Make My Day Difficult’ app.
Here’s why soliciting frontline employee feedback is key to a thriving business:
1: Soliciting frontline employee feedback – and acting on it – boosts employee engagement
Checking in with frontline employees is the easiest way for you to ensure that they feel listened to and cared for. They are at the heart of your daily operations and providing them with all the necessary tools to perform to the best of their abilities is key to keeping them engaged.
By sending out regular surveys and forms to your frontline employees and being open to change, you’ll make them feel like they truly are part of the organisation – and it’ll greatly impact the quality of their work!
2: Employee feedback ensures workers’ needs are being met
Have you ever heard the saying: ‘Happy employees, happy customers’? Frontline employees make or break customer experience – and it is your responsibility as a leader to keep them happy and motivated.
For Neil Williamson, frontline workers shouldn’t be expected to be available at all times. He chooses to employ more part-time workers who can flex than full-time employees. Work hours should work for teams, not only for the business. By checking in with frontline employees regularly through forms and surveys, you can keep up to date with their availability and satisfaction. Workers who give their all on their shifts part-time will always be more productive than disengaged full-time employees.
3: Soliciting frontline employee feedback triggers process optimisation and revenue generation
Is the ice cream machine broken? Does your ordering system need an upgrade? Frontline employees handle operational mess-ups on a daily basis. If you seek useful intel, soliciting frontline employee feedback is the way to go!
In that sense, feedback can open up new funnels for revenue generation – daily inconveniences can quickly become costly. Listening to your employees will allow you to swiftly prevent, handle, and respond to operational failures and improve your processes.
4: Frontline employee feedback can help improve your retention rates
According to a 2016 Deloitte study, culture and career growth are twice as important to employees as compensation and benefits. By enforcing a positive work environment where employees feel valued and listened to, you can entice your employees to stay with you and greatly lower your turnover rate.
We all know that employee retention is a success factor for any business – and leaders have the power to boost their numbers by showing care for their frontline employees. Keeping your employees and allowing them to grow within your company is a testament to its health.
5: Soliciting employee feedback makes you a better leader
At Yapster, we believe that Social Leadership is the best way to guide your teams towards success in the digital age. By using digital tools such as Yapster to communicate with and lead your frontline employees, you can share frontline employee feedback forms to the entirety of your teams and in turn generate training ideas and positive operational changes.
Social Leaders welcome new ideas and hold themselves accountable for the success of their teams. And what better way to do that than to solicit honest feedback?
If you’re on a quest for your inner Social Leader, check out our exclusive quiz or book a demo to get started on your Yapster journey!