Feedback is a two-way street — and as it turns out — the secret to feeling engaged in your work.
Gallup data shows that when employees are given meaningful feedback, 80 percent of them feel engaged in their work. But when employees feel like they can offer feedback to their company and it’s listened to, giving them a sense of ownership in their workplace, the percentage who feel engaged in their work spikes to 97 percent.
Built In found two Chicago tech leaders who had stories of their own about giving and receiving feedback — and how being heard makes their workplace somewhere they love.
Hireology’s HR technology empowers businesses to build great teams.
Tell us about a time when you were able to share feedback — either positive or negative — with your company. How was it received? Explain why you felt supported in sharing this feedback.
I’ve had several opportunities over the years to share feedback that helped shape strategy and internal processes. More recently, I provided feedback around the optimization of our go-to-market tech stack. As our company scaled, I noticed overlapping tools, underutilized features and inconsistent adoption — all of which contributed to a growing list of inefficiencies. I shared these observations with my leader during one-on-ones, highlighting not just the redundancies, but also the missed opportunities for automation, better data flow and improved user experience. She was super receptive and recognized that streamlining our tech stack could directly improve go-to-market execution and team productivity. I felt fully supported in raising these concerns because Hireology encourages cross-functional problem solving and continuous improvement. Rather than seeing it as a critique, my feedback was treated as a catalyst for progress and I was empowered to own the solution.
How did your employer take action on that feedback? What did these changes demonstrate to you as an employee?
As a result, we deprecated several tools, consolidated workflows, restructured integrations and improved the user experience. These changes led to measurable improvements in lead conversion, reporting accuracy and time savings for our revenue teams. This experience reinforced that feedback is valued and acted upon.
How does employee feedback influence your company culture and how you feel about your workplace?
Continuous feedback fosters transparency, trust and shared ownership of outcomes. At Hireology, we run two engagement surveys a year to get a pulse on how everyone is feeling. The surveys impact how we engage, grow and improve as a company.
I believe when you can influence strategic decisions, it strengthens your connection to the company’s success. Having a voice gives a sense of belonging and truly impacts how you show up every day for the company and each other.
The IGNA-Tasty house of brands includes tastylive, tastytrade, tasty Software Solutions, tastyfx and London-based IG Group acquired tastylive, Inc. These entities work across news and entertainment, fintech and the trading industry.
Tell us about a time when you were able to share feedback — either positive or negative — with your company. How was it received? Explain why you felt supported in sharing this feedback.
There have been several times I’ve been asked to provide feedback even though I’ve been with the company less than a year. There were a few companywide and division-wide surveys as well as our regular review process. One such instance we were asked to provide feedback on diversity and inclusion. The fact that we were even asking these types of questions made me, as a woman in technology, feel like the right people were in charge and did actually care about creating the type of environment I want to work in.
How did your employer take action on that feedback? What did these changes demonstrate to you as an employee?
The results of this survey were not only heard by leadership, but presented in an all company “ask me anything.” The fact that leadership was willing to discuss not only our successes but also areas where we may be able to improve in an open forum, made me immediately feel like I made the right choice of employer. Steps were outlined on how the company would address the feedback moving forward.
How does employee feedback influence your company culture and how you feel about your workplace?
When you work in an environment where you are asked regularly what you think of the company and its people and then you also see your feedback taken seriously, you feel valued. Companies that make the effort to do this make it easier to retain their employees. It feels like they have my back, so I want to be here and help this company succeed.
