How to Turn Employee Feedback into a Competitive Advantage

Every leader believes their culture is good – but how do you really know? Is it what you say it is, or what your team experiences every day?

Every industry I’ve worked in claims to be unique. But when you strip it back, most businesses — including DSOs — run on the same core principles: supply, demand, and economies of scale. What sets great DSOs apart isn’t the business model, it’s the people. Excellence in patient care is what drives results.

I’ve heard the debate many times: ‘When’s the right time to invest in HR — 10 practices? 30? 50?’ But the real question I’d ask if I were CEO is simpler: ‘Do you have someone who wakes up every day thinking about how to get the very best from your team?’ If the answer is yes, you’ve already invested in HR!

When it comes to attracting, retaining, motivating and developing your team, the industry is agnostic. What matters is creating the environment that sets the foundation for a high growth culture – and that starts and ends with the leaders. Culture is a huge word, not easily defined, so how do you know if you have a positive one or not? Culture is not what you say it is – it is what the team says and does. So, if that’s true, there are several ways you can assess your culture, even report out on it. Ask yourself these questions:

Do your leaders/managers know their team?

How often do they conduct performance discussions? Whether they be formal performance reviews annually, quarterly, or monthly, or even if they are biweekly 1×1 discussions to discuss how the team member is performing and what obstacles may be in their way, do your managers truly take the time to provide positive and constructive feedback on a regular basis?

Do you managers know the career goals of their team members? If you asked a manager what their team members want to be doing in 2-5 years, can they provide an accurate answer? Do they know if they want to become a supervisor, team lead or Office Manager someday? Do they want a regional role supporting multiple offices? Are they willing to relocate? What are they passionate about? Do team members even know what possible opportunities are available to them?

There are some simple tools such as performance reviews, career discussion templates, and/or 9 Box grids that help identify the high performers/high potentials in the business. Using simple tools to ensure both managers and team members understand how they are performing and what future career opportunities might be available to them is critical to ensure your key talent want to stay with you long term.

I can’t tell you how many times a DA or hygienist has said to me, ‘This is it for me — there’s nothing else I could do beyond this.’ The truth is, in a DSO that’s simply not true. There are endless opportunities — but if they don’t know that, we’ve failed them.

Do you ask/know how the team is feeling?

Is there a mechanism in place to capture feedback from team members? The performance discussions are one way of asking for feedback, however, there is a risk of broken telephone by the time that feedback gets to the top. And of course, let’s not forget that much of the important feedback will not be shared with direct managers for fear of consequences.

Do you conduct skip level 1×1’s? This is when the manager’s manager has discussions with their indirect reports to see how things are going.

Do you survey your team members anonymously with relevant questions to understand how they are feeling about their day-to-day work environment?

I’m a huge fan of using engagement surveys to understand what is and isn’t working well across the practices and corporate group. Surveys aren’t magic. In fact, they can backfire if results aren’t communicated or acted on. But when done well, they build trust, surface blind spots, and give leaders a roadmap for real change.

Are you measuring what matters?

Do you have an HR dashboard with key metrics such as turnover, vacancy rate, open positions, training participation, engagement scores, absenteeism, or time to fill? These metrics are key indicators (some leading, some lagging).

Is someone thinking about these indices and developing actions, policies and programs that help the business achieve their financial goals?

Leading indicators (such as engagements scores, training participates rates, absenteeism) can definitely signal what might be headwinds you are facing and provide cause to consider making changes. The behaviors that drive these indicators will determine future business outcomes. Lagging indicators (such as turnover, time to fill) measure results after behaviors have already occurred and will provide insight into how successful your strategies and programs are in driving engagement.

Culture isn’t abstract — it’s concrete, lived every day in the experiences of your people. By asking how they feel, listening and responding to what they need, and tracking the right metrics, you make culture visible and actionable. When leaders show they’ve heard the team and respond with real change, culture becomes a competitive advantage — one that fuels performance and long-term success.

Written by Andrea Garson

Andrea is President of Breaking Glass Inc., an HR Consulting Firm, a seasoned HR executive with over 30 years in various industries driving culture and engagements strategies. Andrea is the former Chief People Officer for Guardian Dentistry Partners (GDP) where she built the HR strategy and infrastructure during their rapid growth.