The pros and cons of anonymous employee feedback

Feedback is crucial to any successful workplace, but how you as a business leader collect that feedback may be even more important than you realize. Do you require your employees to identify themselves to enforce accountability, or do you prefer to allow them the freedom of anonymity?

The route taken likely depends on the context of the feedback. Employees might prefer to provide feedback about their manager in an anonymous survey, but they might rather discuss details of a specific concern in person.

Of course, there are times when allowing anonymity is essential. If employees feel that their jobs might be at stake for reporting harassment or violation, removing the option to do so anonymously risks discouraging reporting.

On the other hand, there are times when identification might not help or matter, such as collecting opinions about something routine, like vending machines or pizza toppings.

But when it comes to collecting useable feedback to improve your business, which route is the best?

In favor of secrecy

Allowing employees to respond to a feedback request without signing their names gives them the ultimate freedom to be honest. While some may abuse this option or see it as a chance for unchecked venting, many will take it as an opportunity to give unfiltered opinions without fear of judgment or retribution.

In non-anonymous peer-topeer review settings, employees often feel the need to refrain from real honesty for fear of hurting a coworker’s feelings. While encouraging empathy and kindness in giving feedback is certainly to everyone’s benefit, employees who offer only superficial observations out of fear end up delivering very little in the way of helpful feedback.

Soliciting feedback for managers can be even worse if employees know their boss is watching. Particularly in situations where you need feedback most — like when a manager has adversarial relationships with his subordinates — employees might feel afraid of providing honest insight when they know their name will be attached.

In defense of identification

For all the perks of anonymity, experts agree that it might not be the best approach. Aside from employees taking the opportunity to offer unconstructive personal gripes without consequence, anonymous feedback can cause actual harm.

When an individual receives negative anonymous feedback, he or she may understandably feel anger, shame, or disbelief — or all of the above. Another unintended (and often undiscussed) consequence is mistrust. When given negative feedback without context, employees may become suspicious of those around them, wondering who said it. In the workplace, mistrust can spread quickly, leading to lower morale and unhappy employees.

In addition to sowing mistrust, anonymous feedback can cost team members valuable opportunities to speak up and learn to harness their courage. Delivering negative or difficult news is scary, but doing so helps build the strength and character needed in a healthy workplace.

Finally, anonymous feedback is simply too easy to ignore. Without a name or face to associate, employees are able to ra-

tionalize away the criticism by assuming the person making it is wrong or uninformed.

Whether your company seeks the brutal truth of anonymity or the kinder side of personally delivered feedback depends on the type of culture you wish to cultivate. A highenergy, no-holds-barred workplace may find anonymous feedback to be a good fit, while a more buttoned-up establishment may prefer the more formal, personally delivered route. In all situations, it can be helpful to coach employees and managers in giving feedback constructively. The key to remember is this: Anonymous feedback has its pros and cons, so it’s important to identify what kind of outcome you seek before setting off into the world of employee feedback. Ann Potratz is an associate editor with J. J. Keller & Associates, a nationally recognized compliance resource firm. She specializes in business topics such as discrimination and harassment, background checks, and security. She is the editor of J. J. Keller’s Employment Law Today newsletter and Essentials of Employment Law manual. For more information, visit www. jjkeller.com/hr and www. jjkellerlibrary.com.

ANN POTRATZ