The Feedback Loop Paradox: Why Your Open-Door Policy Isn't Working

By Dan Newman, Learn to Scale

Not-So Honest Feedback

You've announced an open-door policy. Your team says that they know they can come to you with anything. Yet, your door remains stubbornly closed to truly candid feedback. 

Saying “Trust Me!” doesn’t inspire real trust, does it?

Many leaders, despite their best intentions, struggle to generate honest feedback from their employees. This is the feedback loop paradox: the very system designed to encourage communication often falls silent. An open-door policy is a great start, but it's just the first step. To truly provide space for honest feedback, leaders need to cultivate psychological safety and implement structured feedback mechanisms.

The Psychological Safety Gap: Why Employees Don't Talk

Why the silence? It boils down to a lack of psychological safety. Employees often fear reprisal for speaking up, especially in hierarchical environments. They worry about being passed over for promotions, receiving less desirable assignments, or even facing outright hostility. 

Even without malicious intent, leaders may not have simply built enough trust for employees to feel comfortable being vulnerable. The power imbalance between managers and employees further complicates matters, making it difficult for employees to voice dissenting opinions, particularly when it comes to critiquing those in power. 

A culture of conformity can also stifle feedback, especially in creative fields where subjective opinions reign supreme. It might show up as "shooting the messenger" syndrome – where leaders react defensively to critical feedback – which quickly discourages future attempts at open communication.

Every leader goes through these realizations…but not every leader does something about it. 

If you think that your team has a lot of communication issues, our Comprehensive Guide to Resetting a Team Culture is the larger-scale way of addressing culture problems, but keep reading for tips on how to groom your organization’s culture into becoming a great place to work.

Beyond the Open Door: Building Psychological Safety

Building psychological safety requires more than just an open door; it requires a conscious and consistent effort. Leaders must model vulnerability by admitting their own mistakes and actively seeking feedback on their performance…which is basically asking for regular servings of humble pie. Not many leaders can appreciate the taste.

Active listening is a crucial skill for agency leaders trying to build psychological safety. Demonstrating genuine interest in employee perspectives needs to be seen and felt: asking clarifying questions, visibly avoiding interruptions, and restating back what you heard. Read more about how to be a better leader using active listening skills.

Crucially, when feedback is given, acknowledge it and demonstrate that it's being taken seriously. Explain how the feedback will be used and, when appropriate, act on it. If you changed your mind, celebrate the employee who helped you think differently. Circle back to the feedback giver with evidence that you took action. Create a culture of appreciation by recognizing and rewarding employees who provide thoughtful feedback, even if it's critical.

Structured Feedback Systems That Work

While psychological safety creates the environment for feedback, structured systems provide the mechanisms: 

• Regular 1-on-1 meetings between managers and employees, with a dedicated focus on open communication and feedback, will have the biggest long-term impact on building a feedback culture.
• After a campaign or project, conduct retrospectives to identify what went well and what could be improved: these reflections are great opportunities to practice candid honesty!
• Use short, frequent anonymous pulse surveys to gauge employee sentiment and identify emerging issues. Even at a small 10-person agency, this mechanism can help people feel seen and heard.

Blindly putting these practices into action won’t work. Long-term changes in feedback culture happen when leaders are intentional and ensure that these are not one-and-done initiatives, but recurring. From our experience with small marketing agencies, there are some good rules of thumb:

• Managers should be meeting 1-1 at least every other week with their direct report.
• Campaign or organizational retrospectives should happen monthly: long enough to be comprehensive without being too far apart to be fully forgotten.
• Pulse surveys should be done quarterly, with more comprehensive performance reviews annually.

We recommend starting with 1-1s, then expanding to other practices. When done well, the 1-1s will be your litmus test as to how your people are feeling about other feedback mechanisms.

This is the feedback loop you are looking for.

Fostering a Culture of Continuous Improvement, One Chat At A Time

Feedback is the lifeblood of any successful business, but especially for smaller organizations. It fuels innovation, improves performance, and strengthens relationships. 

Building a culture of open communication is an ongoing journey, not a destination. It requires consistent effort, vulnerability, and a genuine commitment to listening and acting on what you hear. Don't let your open-door policy become a symbol of empty promises. Prioritize feedback, build psychological safety, and create a workplace where employees feel valued, heard, and empowered to contribute their best.