You can reply to anonymous comments simply by clicking a comment and answering it. 🤩 This, in short, enables you to say thanks for feedback, recognise poor experiences, ask for more context or urge them to reach out in person.
Let's start with some frequently asked questions.
Frequently asked questions
Does it matter whether we reply to comments?
Response rates are typically significantly higher in organizations where employee's feedback is valued and appreciated. We asked employees to share, so when they have written thoughtful or vulnerable comments, the least we can do is value their feedback and recognise their experience.
Here is a general guide for improving response rates.
Do we need to reply to all the questions?
No. Questions like "Not really..." doesn't need a reply. However, we recommend replying to all the thoughtful comments, where people have made an effort to provide relevant context and feedback.
The reply can be short, and even copy pasted in many cases, but appreciating people's feedback when asked is important for ensuring the long-term effect of measuring.
Can the employee see who replied to their comment?
Yes. Employees get a message containing the reply as well as who wrote it. So the admin or manager who replies to an employees comment is not anonymized.
Can they then reply back to my replied on their comments?
Yes. Employees can answer back anonymously. Theoretically, there is no limit to the amount of back and forth comment replies you and the employee can have.
You get a notification from us in case employees reply back.
Can multiple people reply to the same comment?
Yes. Both your HR manager and team manager can answer the same comment. But you'll be able to see whether someone already replied (more context below).
There is a counter in the top right corner of the comment allowing you to instantly scan whether a comment has received a reply or not.
Can I see other people's replies to comments?
Yes. Users in Zoios can see replied to comments originating in segments (department, teams etc.) that the person have been granted access to. If you are an admin you have access to all segments and can see all comments.
The manager of Engineering Team Alpha can see the reply if the HR manager replies to a comment from someone in that team and vice versa.
Who should reply
Another classic question we get: Should HR or managers be the ones replying?
That's obviously an organizational decision, and there is no right and wrong, but our best practise recommendation is both - depending on the nature of the comment.
We split comments into 2 categories:
1. Organization-directed comments
Some comments are directed more towards general management, the organization as a whole or the company culture. Example: "I'm worried for the direction of the business following the new re-org and our lacking sales performance."
These are the comments that HR should likely reply to, take serious and bring these type of insights to the executive team.
2. Unit-directed comments
Some comments are directed more towards everyday work, their tasks, the team's collaboration or their lack of development. Example: "Our team is constantly behind on tasks and we struggle to coordinate our work, which only adds more pressure..."
One simple way to coordinate both HR and managers replying to comments it to allow HR the first week, after a survey, to reply to comments. Then managers should pick up, and reply to, the rest of the thoughtful comments.
What to reply
Here are a number of great responses that we think you should consider.
They are build using message blocks / components;
Theme | Examples |
Appreciate the feedback | "Thank you for sharing that."
"Thank you for providing this feedback - it helps us a lot." |
Recognise the experience | "I'm sorry to hear you experience that. That is not how we want our team to work." |
Explain the situation | "We are really stretched because of the upcoming holidays, but we expect things to ease up soon."
"There is indeed a need for more clear direction and you can expect management to present more on this matter soon." |
Ask for clarity | "Do you have an example of this to help us understand the challenge even better?" |
Suggest an action | "We will strive to do better! But I would also recommend you to tell your manager in person the next time you experience that or feel this way." |
Now we can combine these blocks quite easily for pretty great response.
Let's image an employee has written this comment:
"I often feel overworked and it's really hindering my focus and ability to deliver the quality on projects that I know we want".
You can reply to that comment in a thousand different ways, but it could be by combining appreciate + explain.
"Thank you for sharing that. We are really stretched because of the upcoming product launch, but we expect things to ease up soon."
In general explaining should primarily be done when the context you provide isn't obvious or the situations is caused by external factors outside of your control.
Employees generally don't actually benefit from more context, but it might help them accept the situation as it is.
Back to the comment. Let's reply using appreciate + recognise + ask:
"Thank you for sharing that. I'm sorry to hear you experience that. That is not how we want our team to work. Would having less work fix this, or do you experience that it's caused by poor collaboration, unclear priorities or something else?"
Obviously the reply will differ heavily depending on the questions, but using these blocks makes it significantly easier to formulate great replies, that employees will appreciate, and that will benefit you with insights.