Feedback can be received in many ways, not just in an official capacity such as an appraisal or employee survey, but in the day to day conversations we have with your patients or employees. Everything about the way we talk or behave is providing the vital insights we need for improvement.

Continual improvement is very important in the running of any business and time should be spent asking and learning from what your employees or customers have to say. All the top-performing businesses are not only good at accepting criticism and/or praise, but they deliberately ask for it, this has benefits for both the receiver and the provider.

Building formal systems into your day to day encounters with employees or patients is a great way to encourage an environment in which people feel comfortable to give and receive comments. Correctly analysing the trends is a great way to assess whether any changes in the business have been received well or had the desired effect.

As Winston Churchill once said “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” Regardless of whether you agree with the negative feedback that you receive or if it’s not treated as constructive criticism, it can help formulate better decisions to improve and increase performance.

Even the process of asking will have a positive effect on your business. At the very least if your happy patients leave you a Google review it will allow new patients to find you a little better.

Our Business Advisor, Dan Fine, will often ask the management staff on our Practice Development Programme to request 360 feedback from the staff in the practice. Your employees will feel valued and appreciated and that their opinions can help the business to succeed, leading to an increase in both motivation and performance.

“Feedback is the breakfast of champions” Ken Blanchard

Does your business receive the feedback it needs? Do you listen to it? Do you know how to analyse and react to the feedback once you have it? We can help you with this process, call 01872 300232 or email us at hello@hivebusiness.co.uk.