Three Tips to Improve Your Employee Surveying Practices to Drive ROI

Our economy has advanced to the stage where human capital has become most companies' greatest asset as well as their largest challenge, and employee surveys have become the go-to tool to combat this dichotomy.

ROI DETERMINES THE SUCCESS OF YOUR SURVEY

ROI (Return on Investment) undoubtedly determines the quality of these surveys, not just for management but also for employees such that they will be motivated to participate and provide high-quality, honest feedback.

For most managers we speak with, ROI is determined by how much this survey will cost and the degree to which the survey will uncover the actionable insights & strategies necessary to improve outcomes such as reducing turnover and improving performance.

With employees, ROI is determined by how long will this survey take me to complete, do I trust the anonymity, and will my input actually lead to material improvements that impact my areas of concern.

Below are three tips to improve your employee surveying practices to increase ROI:

TIP #1: ACKNOWLEDGE ANONYMITY CONCERNS 

The largest barrier to honest survey responses is employees' concerns around anonymity. If employees feel that their answers are linked to their identity, they still might participate, but their reputational concerns will distort their feedback. 

This concern is a rational one, and it doesn't do anyone any favors to ignore it or pretend otherwise. What does help is addressing it with an understanding of this apprehension through a straightforward discussion regarding the measures taken to ensure employees' privacy is upheld.

Simply by addressing and respecting the rationality of this concern, you will demonstrate your understanding of the issue and your desire to combat it, which will infuse trust in skeptical employees. 

Here are some suggested improvements to address anonymity concerns: 

•  Ensure that results are only reported in the aggregate. At New Wave Solutions, we only report data for groups of 10 people or more.
• If you have identifier questions (which ask for employees' location or department), explain to employees the reasoning. Let them know that the purpose of these questions is to identify which segments of the company desire which improvements. 
• Before distributing your employee survey, allow a week for employees to contact you with any questions or concerns regarding practices to protect their anonymity. 

TIP #2: MAKE SURE YOUR SURVEY TAKES LESS THAN 15 MINUTES

The importance of having a succinct survey extends beyond the obvious fact that participation decreases as survey length increases. We also see that as the number of questions increases, the time spent on each question decreases (see chart below).

One of the best ways to cut down the number of questions while increasing the feedback's quality is to ask FRQ's (Free Response Questions) instead of multiple-choice. Doing so will allow more flexibility for employees to respond with more substance for the questions and topics they care more about. 

While many survey vendors avoid such questions due to the time required for analyses, New Wave Solutions doesn't sacrifice your team's survey's quality to save our team time! 

The most frequent FRQ's our clients use, ask employees for suggested improvements across these six topics:

1. Company Leadership

2. Career Development

3. Direct Management

4. Pay & Benefits 

5. Resources & Support 

6. Company Culture

TIP #3: PROVIDE A CLEAR TIMELINE FOR RESPONSIVE ACTIONS

If you're asking employees to spend time on your next employee survey, it's critical first to make sure that they know how and when the survey results will lead to actionable improvements.

The only thing worse than not conducting employee surveys is to have a survey but do nothing with the results. While truly doing nothing isn't common, many employees won't expect changes if you don't take the time to tell them your plan of action.

At New Wave Solutions, we outline that timetable so you don't have to. We want employees to know how long it will take to analyze those results, and when they should expect to be informed about the top initiatives your company plans to undertake. 

Doing so involves them in the process, rather than leaving them in the dark to wonder when, or if, their responses will translate into necessary changes. 

KEY TAKEAWAYS

We don't need to pretend that employee surveys are fun. We don't need to pretend employees aren't concerned about anonymity. Instead, we need to understand what drives all stakeholders' ROI throughout the employee surveying process. 

New Wave Solutions has conducted surveys across four continents and in all 50 U.S. States. Informed by that experience, we recommend the following: 

 1. Acknowledge and address concerns over anonymity and privacy.

 2. Ensure your survey's length is less than 15 minutes long; ideally, it should include FRQ's.

 3. Don't leave employees in the dark when it comes to your plan and timetable for taking action based on survey results.

OUR MESSAGE TO YOU

At the end of the day, we want you to successfully gain, train, and retain your top-tier talent. To do so, we work with our clients to deploy surveys designed to be opportunities rather than obligations.

Reach out to [email protected] to learn more.

*?RECOMMENDED READ: 3 Reasons to Measure Commitment NOT Engagement

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Written By Andrew Kitchner

CEO | New Wave Solutions

E: [email protected]

P: 714.496.2984 

New Wave Solutions’ Employee Surveys enable our clients to measure, track, and improve Organizational Commitment so they can better gain, train, and retain top-tier talent.