Could Blogs Replace the Employee Suggestion Box?

Gathering candid, genuine employee feedback is challenging for most organizations (both large and small). Management teams often implement the classic employee suggestion box – which is usually either ignored or used for any gripe imaginable – or begin town-hall meetings or employee survey programs.

In recent years, formal research has been increasingly used to gauge employee satisfaction and commitment. Hundreds of organizations, for example, have used Gallup’s 12-question employee engagement survey to improve their performance and build a more dedicated, loyal employee base.

Blogs offer a new alternative for gathering anonymous, focused employee feedback. In its recent coverage of Boeing’s blogging programs, Business Week featured the unique ways the aerospace giant has incorporated blogs for internal communications:

In February, Boeing’s senior IDS leaders set up blog kiosks at the annual strategy meeting in Los Angeles for the company’s top 1,000 defense executives. During a series of briefings, managers went over new company policies and the division’s top strategic and business priorities for the year. While [CEO] Albaugh and his team discussed hot topics such as ethical compliance rules and a new management compensation plan, executives responded at the kiosks located outside the conference room. “As each exec talked, they would talk about comments from the blog,” says DL Byron, a blogging consultant to Boeing. In the end, the blog helped air questions about the unit’s strategy and made sure everyone understood the human resources and diversity policies. It also let Albaugh understand what his top people knew or didn’t know.

This inventive approach highlights the advantages of the medium: easy implementation (compared to electronic meetings or discussion boards), instant feedback and anonymity. Management may fear the potential for off-topic comment rants or spiraling discussions. But when implemented correctly, with a clear topic and focused discussion, blogs can easily become a forum for thoughtful and productive employee feedback.