Taking action is absolutely essential for all companies that wish to keep their employees happy and engaged. And this means that there must be a system in place to properly collect the information.
There are numerous ways this can be done. For example, a combination of annual surveys (during which employees can give feedback with their name attached) and quarterly anonymous feedback forms (within which they can say anything without having to be personally scrutinised) will ensure that positives and negatives will be highlighted.
A regular management and staff meeting in the form of a 'Town Hall Meeting' is a popular way to engage employees. This article gives you tips on how to run a successful one.
Senior employees and decision-makers will then have the ability to take on board what has been said and come up with any solutions they believe will be able to make the company better to work for. It will be important to also explain ideas that aren't taken up, with the right rationale, this will also become a positive.
Employers should consider employee feedback as something of a GPS. Feedback should play a large role in setting the company's future direction, and employees should be at the centre of deciding what is important and what isn't.