Here is another valuable Management Tip of the Day from Harvard Business Review. To sign up for a free subscription to any/all HBR newsletters, please click here.

I presume to include a prefatory comment: All of the major research studies on customer satisfaction and employee satisfaction indicate that feeling appreciated is ranked very high among what is of greatest importance to respondents in both groups. In my opinion, it is imperative for all supervisors to keep that fact in mind each day.

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Most companies ask customers for feedback about their products and services. But only a handful ask their employees the same questions. This is a missed opportunity.

A lot of insight can be gained from connecting your customer feedback to your employee feedback systems, especially if you flag interactions where your customers’ and employees’ perceptions diverge.

o So in addition to asking your customers questions like “Was your problem solved” and “Are we easy to work with?” ask your employees “Did you solve the problem?” and “Was it easy to access the tools and resources you needed to do it?”

o The combined answers will give you more insight into your customers. And managers can use the information to coach employees, assess whether they had the right tools and resources, and identify people with innovative ideas and leadership potential.

o Connecting these systems can create powerful feedback loops that both engage employees and help your company respond to fast-changing customer expectations.

This Tip was adapted from “Listen to Your Employees, Not Just Your Customers,” by Beth Benjamin.

To check out that HBR article and join the discussion, please click here.

Also, you may wish to check out an anthology, Management Tips from Harvard Business Review, by clicking here.