This report by Forbes tells us that 74% of employees would be more inclined to provide feedback if the process were truly anonymous.
It’s a staggering number.
And it highlights potentially one of the most critical issues that organizations face: That their employees indeed would like to share comments and feedback about the company or its culture. However, they are not willing to put their names on it.
In turn, this suggests that collecting anonymous employee feedback is no longer a good-to-have but an absolute necessity for modern organizations.
That said, the issue of anonymous feedback is quite complex, in fact. Therefore, I believe it’s a good idea to review its pros and cons, and gain a full picture of all the advantages and disadvantages of the program.
But let’s start at the absolute beginning…
What is anonymous employee feedback?
When we talk about collecting anonymous feedback from employees, we mean a survey or another similar program that aims to collect responses without acquiring personally identifiable data or information that would help you determine the person behind them.
When employees complete anonymous feedback forms, the system (such an an anonymous suggestion box):
- Does not ask them for their name, employee ID, or any other personal data.
- It also uses unique, random identifiers that cannot be traced back to any individual.
- Does not collect IP addresses or any other metadata that might reveal a respondent’s identity.
- Applies methods to strip out any indirect identifiers that could be combined to identify someone, and so on.
In other words, the system does not collect anything that would compromise the person’s identity.
The goal for that is simple, to ensure that the individual’s personally identifiable information remains hidden.
Here’s an example of an anonymous employee feedback. Note that there is absolutely no way to use this response to determine who provided the feedback.
In fact, the only way for the company to uncover its author would be if that person has included their name in the response.
That’s precisely why employees prefer anonymous feedback programs.
However, as everything else, anonymous feedback has its advantages and disadvantages.
Let’s go through both in turn.
The pros of anonymous employee feedback
1. Greater participation
Anonymous employee surveys often achieve response rates of around 90%.
It’s an incredible result, particularly if compare to the response rates of non-anonymous survey types (typically, around 30%)
This high rate indicates that employees are far more willing to participate when they’re assured their responses are untraceable.
Then again, it makes sense, doesn’t it? Anonymity removes the fear of being identified. This means that more employees are willing to complete surveys and share their candid feedback.
With anonymous feedback, they can feel safe and confident that their opinions won’t be traced back to them, and they won’t suffer any consequences of speaking up.
2. Greater input from typically quieter or less outspoken employees
Anonymity is bound to also encourage introvert and less outspoken employees to share their ideas.
Normally quiet in everyday office situations, and shy to speak up their minds, these employees might be more prone to sharing feedback when they know their identities are being protected.
3. More honest and candid feedback
I mentioned this advantage of anonymous employee feedback several times already but it’s worth including it on the list, too.
You see, without the fear of personal exposure, employees are more likely to provide unfiltered insights about any issues they’ve witnessed, ideas they’d like to introduce, comments they want to make, etc.
For employees, anonymous feedback becomes a secure way to voice their real opinions without the pressure of social desirability or fear of retaliation.
For you, this means that anonymous feedback can deliver more genuine insights. In this case, with their anonymity protected, employees are far more likely to tell you what they want you to know, rather than what you want to hear (or what would be a “safe answer.”)
4. Fewer conflicts and disagreements
Unfortunately, a common disadvantage of open and public feedback is ego clash. One person shares an idea, another one, perhaps feeling threatened by it, objects and a conflict arises.
This is also why employees prefer anonymous feedback so much. They don’t have to deal with ego clashes while still share ideas and comments with the organization.
5. Boost of innovation
An amazing outcome of launching an anonymous employee feedback program is a sudden spike in creativity.
It’s almost as if just the fact that employees have a platform to share their best ideas sparks innovation and creative thinking.
What’s more, the lack of personal attribution in feedback sessions gives employees the freedom to propose unconventional ideas without fear of judgment. Anonymous feedback makes them feel liberated to share innovative suggestions, even if those ideas are unconventional or challenge the status quo.
6. Uncover hidden or recurring issues
Because of its nature, anonymous feedback is by far the best way to help reveal patterns and recurring concerns that may be obscured when feedback is attributed to individuals.
For employees, anonymous feedback provides a reliable way to report problems without the burden of personal repercussions, while ensuring that important issues are raised.
In some cases, this works similar to whistleblowing. However, often, anonymous feedback can also help uncover smaller yet still potentially dangerous issues affecting the workplace.
The cons of anonymous employee feedback
Unfortunately, anonymous employee feedback programs also pose some challenges. Here are the most important ones to keep in mind.
7. Feedback might lack context
Often, the feedback you receive is limited to a few sentences an employee typed into the online suggestion box.
Unfortunately, in some cases, that mightn’t be enough to fully understand the issue or an idea.
There is a solution, though. Anonymous feedback platforms like Suggestion Ox provide a way to have fully-anonymous 2-way conversations with employees without ever uncovering their identity.
In this case, the system will pass on the manager’s reply to an employee and do the same with their response. However, the identity of both parties will remain obscured.
(Anonymous direct replies feature in Suggestion Ox)
8. Potential for unconstructive or even malicious comments
Unfortunately, the shield that anonymous feedback provides can sometimes encourage disgruntled employees to post feedback that is overly negative, personal, or even malicious comments that are far from constructive criticism.
Similarly, it might encourage venting, practical jokes, and silly replies that add no value to the company whatsoever.
For you, it might mean having to separate genuine comments from harmful or negative remarks, potentially adding to your workload.
9. Reduced accountability
With no personal attribution, employees might feel less responsible for the impact of their words, leading to a lack of ownership over feedback.
Some may misuse the platform to air grievances without offering constructive solutions, which can diminish the overall quality of feedback.
10. Potential for misinterpretation
Anonymous comments can lack the nuance and context that help clarify intent. This, unfortunately, can make many of them open to various interpretations, not always matching what the author had in mind.
This, sadly, could lead to potential morale issues. Employees may feel that their honest feedback has been either misunderstood or oversimplified, or even worse, ignored and lose interest and trust in the feedback program.
This issue carries another disadvantage for you. It can lead to making wrong action plans or misallocation of resources, as it becomes harder to determine the actual issues.
11. Skewed feedback
This is particularly challenging if a small group of employees is more motivated to provide feedback (such as those with negative opinions or attitudes towards the workplace.) This might results in the overall feedback being skewed towards the group’s opinions, rather than the workforce as a whole.
To sum it up… should you launch an anonymous employee feedback?
Quick answer: Yes.
A more elaborate one….
Yes, it’d be a smart move. There is far too much evidence to the effectiveness of anonymous employee feedback (and its necessity) to ignore it.
However, it’s wise to understand its drawbacks, too (as I mentioned above.)
Just the sheer fact that a feedback program is anonymous will boost participation, honesty, and innovation while helping uncover hidden issues.
However, it can also present challenges to deal with: reduced accountability, potential for misinterpretation, and unconstructive feedback.
To overcome this, implement safeguards that balance openness with responsibility, ensuring that anonymous feedback remains a valuable tool for both employees and the company.
Try it free and experience the benefits of employee feedback
Andy Berkowitz
Founder & CEO Suggestion Ox
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