Up Your Culture Blog

Why Aren’t Employees Receiving More Meaningful Feedback? With Kelly George

Written by Brent Tripp | Jun 6, 2024 2:30:00 PM

In this episode, we’re continuing our focus on ENGAGE 2024, our latest company culture and employee engagement report, by asking: “Why aren’t employees receiving more meaningful feedback?”

It’s here that we’ll discuss how essential it is for every organization to provide the development opportunities that their employees clearly crave. Discussing the latest findings on People Development is the wonderful Kelly George, Talent Analyst/Engagement Specialist here at Up Your Culture.

 

 

Too Many Companies Aren’t Focused on Employee Development

Employee development is quite simply a must,” Kelly says. “It is non-negotiable.

“If you want a skilled, engaged, and adaptable workforce that is successful and competitive, you have to invest in employee development. And when you get it right, there's so many benefits that you experience:

  • You have improved performance and productivity because you have engaged employees.
  • You also reduce your turnover costs because you're allowing people to really grow in their careers.
  • And then, I think, probably most important right now, you establish a reputation as an employer of choice so that you can recruit the top talent that you need.

“Talking about consequences without strong employee development though, your organization isn't going to realize those benefits.

“For example, without a strong employee development program, you're not going to have standards for training in place to ensure that your employees have access to and can follow best practices. That's going to have a negative impact on your organization's ability to have consistent and high-quality products or services.

“One of the things we saw in Engage 2024, the data said clearly we have a development deficit. Only 37% of those surveyed reported that their company is extremely focused on their development and that is down 51% from last year, which is so disheartening.

“Even worse, 15% believe that their company isn't focused on employee development at all.”

Why Newer Hires are Feeling the Development Deficit

“Why are new hires feeling as though their companies are not investing in them?” Beth asks.

Kelly says, “Two things really come to mind here, and I'm glad we're looking at this specifically.

“One is the onboarding process. If you have an onboarding process that's rushed or it doesn't have structure, new hires will feel really overwhelmed and unsupported from the very beginning.

“And then, without that proper guidance, that orientation, they struggle to integrate into the organization and understand their role.

“In a broader context, I think there are often mismatched expectations. If there's a mismatch between a new hire's expectations and the reality of how the role is unfolding, or the organization's culture, the employees that are new often feel disillusioned or overlooked.

“So, it's really important to have clear communication in the hiring process to manage expectations, make sure there's alignment between the organization and new hires.”

Hear Kelly’s Full Thoughts in the Episode

Listen to the episode to hear Kelly’s full thoughts on the following takeaways:

  • How developing your people not only results in a team that’s invested and competitive but also leads to your workplace being an employer of choice
  • Why it’s just as important to provide continuous feedback and development for company veterans as it is for fresher faces
  • And, finally, why it’s critical to not only celebrate and recognize top performance but also the successes and improvements of the entire team