The honest opinions of your employees are a valuable resource. Employees can give you feedback on what they need to do their jobs, as the people who do them every day. They can give you more perspectives on a co-worker or supervisor.

They can tell you what they like and dislike about the company culture and work environment. Which, if you act on, can help with retention. They are sources of insight and creativity, suggestions and ideas. In order to avail yourself of this resource, you have to learn how to encourage employee honesty. And maybe do some reading between the lines.

Just because people are talking to you doesn’t mean they’re being honest. If the employee is afraid of offending you or someone else in a senior position, they may still withhold vital information.

They may also pretend that everything is fine even though morale is low. This is a natural reaction to their fear of consequences for speaking out. Employees know that it’s hard to receive criticism, and they know that you have power over them. But if you don’t have an accurate picture of morale, your company could pay the price of turnover.

As HR leader Josh Bernin wrote, “Many studies show that the total cost of losing an employee can range from tens of thousands of dollars to 1.5-2X annual salary.”

This is where reading between the lines becomes important. One way to determine if there are issues you need to work on is to cast a wide net. Amy Gallo suggests that you “triangulate between several points of feedback,” for instance by asking the same question of several people.

Another way to cast a wide net is by using 360 surveys as a feedback tool. 360 surveys allow you to get a complete picture of the subject’s performance. They collect feedback from peers, supervisors, and subordinates. This method avoids the possibility of bias in single-source appraisal by a supervisor. It can also be a way to compensate for the reluctance of individual employees to give honest feedback to their bosses. Keep an eye out for patterns.

Employees will be more likely to give their honest opinion when they don’t have to do it face-to-face. It’s always unpleasant to give criticism, especially when you’re already afraid to do so. But it’s also because surveys offer anonymity.

As part of rolling out any workplace survey, you should explain to employees how the survey works. Stress how their anonymity will be protected. Take heed of the Captain Hindsight meme: “If you wanted anonymous answers from your employees, you shouldn’t have asked for our names on the first page.”

Surveys alone won’t create a culture of honesty and trust. They must be used in combination with other methods and continual effort. But that doesn’t mean the effort can’t be enjoyable.

Another way to promote honesty among your employees is to establish positive associations with feedback. Make it positive and constructive and make it fun. If you are the boss, set the example. You encourage feedback, while showing employees that you appreciate feedback and will change your behaviours based on it. Use humour to make employees comfortable. Consider how language contributes to a positive or negative atmosphere. For example, Kit Hickey calls it “feed-forward” instead of feedback “to reiterate the fact that it’s about improving, not about past mistakes.”

The only way to create a feedback culture is to make sure that feedback is happening all the time. That means during or after meetings or through regular one-on-one or group meetings for that purpose. Feedback shouldn’t wait for scheduled times. But it’s important to have those scheduled times to ensure that it happens.

Consider all the different ways of collecting feedback and their advantages and disadvantages. Naturally it’s important to meet one-on-one with your team members and be able to communicate openly in groups. It can also be important to allow employees the chance to give feedback that’s anonymous or at least not face-to-face. It may be necessary to keep things low risk at the start. Once employees understand that feedback is truly desired, they will become bolder.

No matter how much effort you spend creating a positive experience, you can’t create a culture unless the feedback has results. Even if employees aren’t worried that their honesty will be unwelcome, they won’t care to give feedback if it has no effect.

Show them that you’re listening. One way to do this is to lead by example and share the criticism you receive. Rachel Emma Silverman and Leslie Kwoh tell the story of the social-media software company Hearsay Social Inc. They made feedback public, yet anonymous. This was so their employees could hold them accountable for improving.

Likewise, if you’re using surveys to gather feedback, make sure to act on the results. In the case of employee evaluations, use the results to create a development plan for the employee. In the case of employee engagement surveys, it is equally important to take action. As Kate Jennings, cautions, “Our recent research tells us that running a survey without visible follow-through will actually reduce engagement levels in your organisation.” Remember that gathering feedback is not an end in itself. Rather, you’re collecting data so that you can make improvements where they’re needed. As it turns out, the best way to encourage employees to give feedback is to use it.