It’s been said that “the beginning is the most important part of the work.” Whether you have just taken the next step in your professional career at your existing company or have transitioned into a new organization, when you land a new leadership position, the same notion holds true.
In a new role, you have a lot you want to accomplish. This means your first 100 days will be the most critical. During this time, if you’re not making decisions based on data and facts, you risk being unprepared to optimize the actions and decision-making criteria that will impact your future success.
Start by Talking to Employees
When you land a new position, what is one of the first things you should consider? We suggest that you should be tapping into the wealth of knowledge among your internal colleagues and team members.
That’s because those who have been working inside the organization for months or years undoubtedly have opinions about what works well, and what doesn’t. And, there are essentially two ways you can gather this feedback – in person, or through an anonymous online survey. We recommend a combined approach.
The Employee Opinion Survey
What obstacles do your front-line personnel face when servicing customers? What do they believe customers need, and how well are those needs being met?
Much like a suggestion box, an Employee Opinion Survey provides a “safe” place for employees to offer improvement suggestions. When executed correctly, it can hone in on inefficient processes, internal breakdowns, and policies that work against your company’s best interests.
It can also uncover how employees feel about the customer experience they receive from their internal colleagues. Your organization won’t be able to deliver a differentiated service experience to your external customers unless all employees are working together, with a shared commitment to do their best for each other.
Making Employee Feedback Actionable
These are some of the reasons we believe an Employee Opinion Survey is an extremely valuable tool to new leaders. It’s also a relatively simple diagnostic that can be executed quickly, as a way to gather unfiltered employee feedback you can use to help guide your priorities.
So, what’s the next step after you’ve gathered their feedback? Of course, employees will expect to see their input leveraged in some way. Talk is cheap, right?
Be sure to read through survey results and select specific issues to work on and correct. This process is proven to be a key driver of increased employee engagement.
Of course, partnering with a third-party firm such as Satrix Solutions, can ease the burden during those first 100 days as we gather the intelligence you need, analyze the feedback, and provide objective recommendations you can confidently rely on to demonstrate positive change.
Optimize Your First 100 Days
Today’s employees want more than just a paycheck. They want to be happy at work, realize a great future, and feel connected to something bigger.
Additionally, they want to work in an environment that values their opinions and takes action to improve their day-to-day, and the customer experience.
By seeking input from employees – and using it to prioritize the most pressing issues you should be focused on first – you demonstrate that you value the opinions of others. As a new manager, this is exactly the type of environment you want to cultivate.