How To Create A High Performance Culture Through Employee Feedback

As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we know that building a high-performance culture is critical to scaling a business. One of the biggest mistakes leaders make is assuming they know what’s happening on the ground. The truth is, when you’re actively listening to employees, there should never be any huge surprises. If there are, you’re probably too far removed. The key to success lies in making continuous, small adjustments based on real employee feedback.

At WorkBuzz, our mission is to improve the working lives of a million people. We do this by helping businesses get real-time feedback from employees, using AI to analyse responses, and coaching managers to be better leaders. Over the past three years, we’ve scaled from a team of 10 to 75 employees, serving 400 clients globally. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that listening is the foundation of a thriving company culture.

Key Takeaways for Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders:

• Employee listening should be continuous—there should be no major surprises.
• Align feedback with business priorities (customer experience, retention, operational efficiency).
• Make feedback actionable and show employees the impact of their input.
• Treat culture as an evolving entity—what worked at 10 employees may not work at 100.
• Be transparent about changes and provide a clear vision for growth.
• High performance means accountability—ensure you have the right people in the right roles.

If you want to build a company that attracts and retains top talent while achieving sustainable growth, listening to your employees isn’t optional—it’s a strategic imperative. And in the ever-changing world of business, those who listen and adapt are the ones who thrive.

Growing a company quickly is challenging, and it’s easy to lose the DNA of what made your business special in the first place. Culture dilution, losing customer focus, and misalignment with core values are real risks. Listening to employees helps keep you honest. It provides insights into whether your team truly understands and embodies your mission, vision, and values—and where adjustments are needed.

Scaling also brings operational challenges. Employee listening helps me, as a CEO, stay connected to frontline realities. It allows us to identify bottlenecks, streamline processes, and ensure we’re prioritising the right initiatives. More importantly, it helps us track improvements over time and measure the impact of our actions.

Employees want to have a voice. They want to feel heard and to know their input shapes the company’s direction. If something isn’t working, they expect leadership to listen and act accordingly.

At WorkBuzz, we collect organic feedback through casual check-ins, asking about recent wins and losses, gathering insights on product development, and staying tuned into customer feedback. But we also complement this with structured feedback using our own platform, surveying employees quarterly. We ask 20 key questions to assess engagement and overall employee experience. This structured approach ensures that we don’t just hear feedback, but actively use it to drive real change.

For listening to be effective, it needs to align with tangible business outcomes. For example, if customer experience is a top priority, ask employees what is preventing them from delivering excellent service. If reducing turnover is the goal, understand why employees choose to stay or leave. Data-driven insights can help pinpoint areas for improvement before problems escalate.

We’ve seen this across our 400 clients. In high-turnover industries like care for instance, the most engaged locations also have the lowest attrition rates. In retail, stores with highly engaged teams tend to deliver better customer experiences and even experience lower stock loss. The link between employee engagement and business performance is undeniable.

At WorkBuzz, we operate with a “versioning” mindset. Each year, we roll out a new version of our company—right now, we’re on WorkBuzz 5.0. We transparently share where we are today and where we’re headed next, ensuring every team member understands our evolution. This clarity helps align the team with our growth trajectory, whether it’s expanding into new markets or innovating our product.

Culture also needs to evolve. Over the past 18 months, we’ve shifted from a ‘family feel’ to a ‘professional sports team’ mentality. Just like in sports, underperformance over a full season leads to changes. High performance means accountability, ensuring the right people are in the right roles and that new talent is introduced when necessary.

Some employees may be sceptical of feedback initiatives, especially if they’ve seen past employers treat them as a box-ticking exercise. That’s why it’s critical to close the loop and show employees how their feedback leads to tangible changes. At WorkBuzz, within days of a survey, we share key headlines and trends with our team. We’ve even created an internal committee, our ‘Ministry of Magic,’ to ensure our unique culture scales alongside our growth.

The changes we make don’t have to be massive. Sometimes it’s something as simple as upgrading the office fridge. Other times, it’s breaking down silos, improving communication, or adjusting hiring strategies. The key is reinforcing that employees have a voice, and while not every request can be actioned, leaders should always explain why.

Scaling a business is like levelling up in a video game, what got you here won’t necessarily get you to the next stage. That means constantly assessing your leadership team, evolving your product, and anticipating market shifts. The key here is to remember at the heart of all this change is people.

I’ve learned that leadership challenges often boil down to two things: people problems and people problems. As a CEO, your role is to create a compelling vision, communicate it clearly, and listen to your team’s input. When you do, you build not just a successful business for today, but a resilient, high-performing company for the future.

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