The Experiential Guide To Powerful Employee Survey Results

Throughout the past two decades I’ve been intrigued by leadership’s hearty interest in employee surveys. My main concern is that despite their best intentions, survey users don’t fully understand the level of sophistication behind a seemingly innocent list of questions. Often, decision-makers think of employee surveys as a harmless way to gather opinions—a single document requiring no prior knowledge or experience, yet surveys can function as a vital component of organizational change!

My second concern is that of responsibility. Given leadership’s limited understanding of surveys comes the unknown outcomes from their use.?And when the dust settles,?it’s the employees who are the collateral damage.

This editorial was designed to take the reader beyond the standard “how-to” script, and provide authentic, valuable, experiential knowledge from actual users.

Despite one’s best efforts at executing a survey, there are countless possible pitfalls along the way. Over time, I have collected the following narratives as they bear repeating.

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1. Your staff will absolutely tell you the truth (good, bad & ugly) if you provide the proper platform.
2. Survey results are peoples’ opinions. No matter how vehemently you may disagree with a response, it is someone’s opinion.
3. Do not measure issues that you do not want to change. Ask yourself, “if this issue were responded to negatively, would I change it?” If the answer is “No,” do not include it. [Stay away from personality-based questions.]
4. Surveys can raise employee expectations. If change does not occur as a result, they will likely question your motives. It is imperative to establish limited expectations up front.
5. Participants will give you only one (1) opportunity to get it right. If you take advantage of their trust, they will not give you another chance. What’s more, employees will not be forthright with their opinions if they even sense that their anonymity has been compromised.
6. Do not merely brainstorm a list of survey questions. Determine the issues that are most pertinent to the organization and design the questions accordingly.

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Often, management starts with a satisfaction survey as it may seem most feasible. Note: even this type of survey needs to be tied to the organization’s goals and strategic alignment.

In general, most people have a cynical outlook on employee surveys. Why? Because most survey outcomes fail for reasons including a lack of action and leadership commitment. Employees understand this “routine” quite well, in fact.

Based on their own experiences or those of others, employees have already formed their opinion on surveys, and have made the decision whether they should commit their efforts to future ones. Moving forward, this creates less-than-ideal conditions. In an attempt to change the mindset of the participants, apply a results-oriented approach utilizing the?4 “MUST”s:

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1. You MUST create a strategic action plan.?A survey is not a tool to be used in isolation, it is the active tool within a strategic action plan. People will not put effort into answering survey questions if you neglect to demonstrate your future plans. Period. Since most employees do not have expectations based on prior survey experience, even a small change can help restore employee confidence.
2. You MUST communicate, be accountable & transparent throughout the entire process.?If you fail to clearly explain the objectives of the survey up front, the participants may overestimate their expectations. Share survey results even if you believe they are mediocre, otherwise participants will likely draw their own conclusions. Communication begins long before you administer the survey.
3. You MUST conduct your own employee survey or hire a consultant.?First determine the objectives and survey type, then you can move to the survey creation.?Beware of the free online surveys or apps!?These “free surveys” or “free forms” may appear legitimate; however, they are created by web designers and freelancers who lack any knowledge of the subject.
4. You MUST listen.?This is also part of communication (#2). It is normal and understandable that subjective feedback can be tough to digest. However, consider that information gathering is the most common reason for surveying; and that only such intel can be derived from a survey. That’s a signal that there’s a lot at stake.

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Many survey issues stem from adopting too narrow a viewpoint. A survey is not about simply crafting a list of questions, it’s about seeing it as a piece of the overall strategic plan. Even more, it’s about creating organizational change.

Below are a few concluding thoughts chosen from Joe Folkman’s book?Employee Surveys That Make A Difference.?

“Change efforts are often difficult for organizations.? Employees do not always cooperate… Change, by its very nature, creates the possibility of losing something. It also creates the possibility of winning something.”