How a Rethink of Our Feedback Policy Will Revolutionize censhare

When is the last time you heard from your managers and colleagues about your efforts at work? Do you want your efforts to be recognized? Wouldn’t you feel more motivated if you knew that your work was appreciated and you were given the guidance you need to succeed?

We think so too.

Employees should know how they are doing, and they should be told as often as possible. Feedback is meant to be a continuous process. However, the reality is that many companies do not offer this kind of service. Giving and receiving feedback only once a year is simply not an effective way to ensure that employees are given the right tools to succeed, which is why we decided to rethink our policy.

And rethink we did! censhare is moving away from the typical once-a-year employee engagement survey and feedback sessions and moving down the path of continuous feedback. Our new continuous feedback program lets employees ask for and give feedback to their colleagues, managers, and board members whenever and as often as they like.

There are countless reasons why choosing continuous feedback was an easy decision for us so we’d like to share a few of them with you…

What is affected: Company culture

Why it matters: It makes sense to implement a program when it fits so well in with censhare’s culture and values. censhare values its employees above all else. We want people who are committed, creative, and open minded. We want to make sure every employee is happy and clearly understands his/her role. Giving feedback once a year was not cutting it for us. How can we promote a certain culture if we do not provide our employees a way to understand the company’s direction? If we aren’t helping our employees discover their strengths, then we are hindering their abilities. Satisfied employees produce better quality work which benefits the company, provides a positive environment, and… well, you get the idea. The point is, we love our employees and we want them to know it!

What is affected: Transparency and perspective

Why it matters: It gets people talking – in a good way. We interact and collaborate with a lot of different colleagues and managers every day. So when it comes to giving feedback we feel that everyone can contribute. Sometimes your manager isn’t the one seeing your work on a daily basis, but your colleagues do. We encourage our employees to give feedback to anyone in the company, including colleagues, managers, and even to the board, eliminating all hierarchal thinking and leveling the playing field. This way you are truly getting a nonbiased 360° perspective of your performance. Our continuous feedback program also lets you ask for feedback yourself, so you don’t have to wait around to hear how you did on an assignment. Instant and transparent feedback is guaranteed.

What is affected: Agility and ability to problem solve

Why it matters: We can stop problems in their tracks. censhare is part of the ever so agile IT industry, so we have to adapt to a constantly changing environment and cope with new challenges all the time. It is difficult to identify and correct problems when feedback is only given once a year. Continuous feedback will help censhare to correct any issues that arise as soon as they happen, this way everyone will know if they are on the right track. No more confusion and lost time. Problem solved.

What is affected: Growth and development

Why it matters: Personal growth and development is a continuous process. We believe that continuous feedback will keep our employees focused and motivated. censhare employees are all hardworking and dedicated, but we hope continuous feedback will inspire employees to challenge themselves further. They will be able to constantly adjust and form new goals to achieve and know when to change courses. The goal is to eliminate any stagnant development and to focus on our employees’ strengths, not their weaknesses. There is nowhere to go but up!

We are officially rolling out our continuous feedback program in October. For now, we are running a test phase with the management team in order to first see how it all works before we implement it to the entire company. It has been incredibly successful so far and we have high hopes for the full introduction in the fall. We hope that by implementing continuous feedback, we will break down all hierarchal barriers and allow employees to be successful in doing what they do best. It is an exciting time for censhare and we can assure you, there is more excitement to come.