Asking for Employee Feedback

It seems that an important part of employee satisfaction is not just a matter of things like pay, friendliness of staff, etc. Often it seems that a big part of employee satisfaction is simply tied to the ability to give feedback to the employer that is going to be honestly considered by the company. I am reminded of a story by a young yoga teacher I’m acquainted with.

Like many yoga instructors she spends her time at multiple studios – 4 in total – working under different management at different times. When you ask her about her favorite studio she responds with the smallest studio she works for, citing management that is friendly, a facility that is clean, and students that are truly there to learn. Yet when asking her about her least favorite workplace she responds with the exact same studio.

Why? Because the owner – an older lady that she respects and enjoys – is consistently doing things at work that are nonsensical, leading this yoga teacher to endless amounts of frustration.

When asked what would make the experience better, she says she simply wants an opportunity to tell the owner all of the things she is doing that is frustrating this yoga teacher. The owner hasn’t developed the teaching manual she had been promising for over a year. The owner consistently repeats commands that all of the instructors already know.

The owner forgets the schedule constantly, often believing instructors are late and absent who weren’t scheduled. All of those issues are minor, but they have been going on for over 3 years, and the owner is too sensitive a person (and too involved in the workplace) for the yoga teacher to tell her so out in the open. She doesn’t necessarily care if there are changes, but she does care about the ability to speak her mind and be heard.

It is interesting to think about the employee satisfaction effects of simply being able to share your mind and know your thoughts will be heard, understood, and respected by management. While it’s difficult for small companies like the yoga studio to solicit feedback from instructors (since so few instructors means the results will be fairly personal), it’s clear that for some employees, employee satisfaction is linked to something as simple as knowing that their opinions of the workplace matter. Maybe the act of surveying employees is having an effect on satisfaction on its own.