Seven Different Ways to Grab Employee Feedback

Companies love to say they capture and use employee feedback to make things better.

They use surveys. Or informal meeting feedback. Or 1:1s.

Is it used regularly? Does it work? Not from my experience and what I hear.

As an independent Recruiter, I hear very different stories from Candidates who feel very comfortable sharing that type of info with me. One of the reasons people want to leave their existing company is that they don’t feel heard – that it’s just lip service.

There are many opportunities to capture feedback and correlate this data so that you’re hopefully getting closer to the truth about how employees feel working at your company.

Sure, there are some people who will tell you the truth while there are others who will “BS” their answers. You have to separate the wheat from the chaff and see if there are consistent threads in your feedback.

So how can you do that?

• Onboarding
  New hires see everything with fresh eyes. Ask: “What did your last company do better?” You’ll get gold. I suggest waiting roughly 60-90 days so that new employees can get a sense of your company and be able to form an opinion that offers value.
• Team meetings
  You already have the room. Use it. Float an idea. Test a change. Get reactions.
• 1:1s
  This is the easiest one. Ask what matters to them, what’s working, what’s not. Add one simple stay question: “What do you like about working here?”
• Performance reviews
  Instead of a one-way discussion, ask: “What’s one thing I can do better to help you succeed?”
• Training sessions
  You’ve got a captive audience. Use 10 minutes to ask: “What would actually make this stick?”
• Pulse surveys
  Keep it short. One or two questions. Fast read. Just don’t overdo it or people will tune out.
• Exit conversations
  Don’t just let HR handle it. Ask why they’re leaving, and if they’d ever come back. If not, ask why.

The Bottom Line?

There’s no shortage of opportunities to capture feedback. It just takes consistent effort to operationalize it. Otherwise you’re guessing at the issues and how to solve them.

If you ask and do nothing, your employees will stop caring.

Communication is critical. If you can’t do something right away, tell your staff and give them an estimated date when you can. Silence kills trust faster than bad news ever will.

No excuses. You already have the opportunities, so why not use it?

I want to address a topic one of my readers recently asked me about the role of AI in recruiting – specifically how companies might use it during initial candidate screening and how candidates can increase their odds when applying. He felt like applying to a job was like sending a message in a bottle that doesn’t get delivered.

So, let’s talk about how you might be more successful getting interviews when applying to jobs.

First of all, what is an ATS?

ATS stands for Applicant Tracking System. It’s software that helps companies manage your application through each step of the hiring process. It also tracks every single time you apply and any notes made on your file. Think of it as a notebook for your career. Simple as that.

Since the invention of ATS, people have been talking about “beating the ATS”, which is just a fancy way of saying they want to get through the initial screening process and make it to an interview.

I use an ATS, so I’ll share what happens from my perspective and what I know about others, based on my conversations.

When you apply to a job, you start in the “applied” stage and then make your way through other stages like “call screen”, “first interview”, “second interview” … until you’re either “rejected” or extended an offer.

What Does AI Do?

Let’s talk about what AI does and doesn’t do. Not everyone uses AI during the recruiting process, and it’s also used for different purposes.

I use AI for note-taking. That’s it. Everything else is based on my judgement. While I mostly “headhunt”, I also sometimes post jobs and review every single person that applies.

Some companies (particularly large companies) use AI to help process high volume jobs. It is simply inefficient to sort through hundreds (or thousands) of resumes manually. AI will scan your resume for keywords and match against the Ideal Candidate Profile (ICP).

A score is spit out saying how well you match against the ICP. All things being equal, a higher score (e.g. 80/100) is better than a lower score (60/100), and the score is based on how well you match up vs. required job skills and education. So if you “tick all the boxes”, you’ll get a high score.

The Recruiter will pull a list of candidates who score higher and reach out to schedule an interview, usually a call screen. The list will be kept manageable, so (guessing here) probably the top 20 candidates get contacted. A few others (e.g. the next 10-20) will be “kept warm” in case the company needs to increase the candidate pool, and the rest likely get a “thanks but no thanks” rejection email.

“Beating the ATS”

On to the question – how do you “beat the ATS”? You don’t. Don’t think of it that way.

The ATS is there to manage the process. AI is there to make it more efficient.

A few things can help:

1. Include required keywords in your resume. If the company is asking for 5 years of QuickBooks Online experience, and you have that experience, make sure those words are in your resume. I don’t know why I have to write this, but don’t lie and say you have that experience if you don’t.
2. Apply early. The sooner you apply, the better. Recruiters are usually under pressure to fill a job quickly. When a job gets posted, there’s a tsunami of applicants that can quickly overwhelm the Recruiter, and s/he can shut off the job application form to manage the initial applicant wave. If you’re not in before that deadline, you’re out.
3. Reach out. You’re gambling when you apply. If 500 people apply, you have a 1/500 chance, all things being equal. If you know someone at the company, particularly the hiring manager, reach out for help if you feel comfortable doing so. Try and also connect with the recruiter, but don’t assume it will help. I’ve had people apply and then reach out to connect, thinking it’s going to improve their odds. News flash – it doesn’t.

Bottom Line

There is no magic in AI when it comes to the ATS. It’s processing applications faster and grading them, so that Recruiters can work more efficiently. If you want to “beat the ATS”, (1) include relevant keywords in your resume, (2) apply early, and (3) leverage your relationships. Companies want to hire the best person for the job. If that’s you, make every effort possible to get their attention.

Good luck!

Watch: RomCon – Who the F*ck is Jason Porter?

This is a 2-part documentary on Prime Video about dating scams that I think you’ll like.

We all hear about people getting scammed, and then wonder “how the hell does that happen?”.

Watch and you’ll find out.

Jason Porter is a Toronto-based convicted criminal and scam artist who bilked a few women out of MILLIONS OF DOLLARS.

RomCon is the story about 3 brave women who came forward to report and do something about it.

Read: Gavin De Becker – The Gift of Fear

We’ve all had that “creepy” feeling — the hair standing up on our necks or a sudden urge to leave a room without knowing why. Most of us ignore it because we don’t want to be “rude” or “paranoid.”

This book discusses that intuition is a survival superpower, not a hallucination.

In other words, this book goes deeply into why your gut is telling you something, and why you should listen to it … especially women.

It changes the way you look at every interaction, giving you the permission to be “un-nice” when your safety is on the line. It’s the rare book that could actually save your life.