November 30, 2025 at 12:15 pm

Employee Gave Brutally Honest Feedback In A Mandatory Work Survey, So Their Boss Blew Up And Proved Every Complaint Right

by Benjamin Cottrell

busy office employees working on their computers

Pexels/Reddit

Workplace surveys are supposed to give employees a voice, but sometimes they just expose how little management actually listens.

When a company forced its staff to fill out “anonymous” feedback surveys, one employee decided to finally tell the truth.

They didn’t expect their brutally honest answers to make the boss completely lose it.

Keep reading for the full story!

Mandatory Feedback? Okay, you got it…

Since I started working at this company, we have received third-party emails asking us to complete anonymous feedback.

I always ignored them because I went directly to my supervisor with any concerns, and when they took it up with their supervisor, it was usually shut down or ignored.

Okay, fine.

So frustrated by the low participation, management had a bright idea.

Recently, the boss made it mandatory to complete these surveys. They are anonymous, but the third-party program has a way of letting management know how many people from each department participated.

So if we don’t do the surveys, then my supervisor—who I really like—gets it counted against them.

Okay. You want feedback? You got it.

This employee finally decided to comply… maliciously, that is.

I gave mostly terrible ratings and comments. I gave my honest opinion.

(I’m already looking for another job because of all the issues, and the schedule doesn’t work for me anymore.)

The program allows management to respond to any answer; they just don’t know who they are talking to.

The honest words really got to management.

This boss is clearly upset. I mean, the further into the questions we go, the more irritated their answers get.

I’m told to get another job, that they have feedback for me, asking why I work here—yada yada.

The employee couldn’t help but laugh.

It was honestly a fun read, and I laughed.

But it’s also so sad that they don’t listen, then want feedback, then get angry when it’s negative.

Hopefully this HR department learned a valuable lesson that day.

Redditors chime in with their thoughts.

Anonymous surveys are rarely truly anonymous.

Screenshot 2025 11 11 at 7.26.06 PM Employee Gave Brutally Honest Feedback In A Mandatory Work Survey, So Their Boss Blew Up And Proved Every Complaint Right

Even if the survey doesn’t include names, there are still other ways to have your identity revealed.

Screenshot 2025 11 11 at 7.26.46 PM Employee Gave Brutally Honest Feedback In A Mandatory Work Survey, So Their Boss Blew Up And Proved Every Complaint Right

It’s hard to feel motivated to give feedback when management never listens.

Screenshot 2025 11 11 at 7.27.15 PM Employee Gave Brutally Honest Feedback In A Mandatory Work Survey, So Their Boss Blew Up And Proved Every Complaint Right

Are completing surveys even a good use of employee time?

Screenshot 2025 11 11 at 7.27.43 PM Employee Gave Brutally Honest Feedback In A Mandatory Work Survey, So Their Boss Blew Up And Proved Every Complaint Right

The company asked for honesty — and that’s exactly what they got.

Sometimes the truth hurts, but that’s kind of the point of feedback, isn’t it?

If you liked that post, check out this story about a customer who insists that their credit card works, and finds out that isn’t the case.