Why Preparation Matters: Engagement Surveys

Engagement surveys are a popular tool for organizations to gauge employee morale and satisfaction. However, without proper preparation and consideration, it can do more harm than good.

Without adequate preparation, engagement surveys can cause:

• Unrealistic Expectations: Employees may misinterpret intent / result of surveys, leading to inflated expectations that are difficult to meet. This can create resentment and dissatisfaction among employees which would haven't been an active or collective one without a survey.
• Misdirected Focus: The survey with a wrong tool may highlight issues that are not the root cause of employee dissatisfaction, diverting attention from more pressing concerns. This can lead to wasted resources and missed opportunities to address genuine employee concerns.
• Damaged Morale: Asking employees about sensitive topics without a plan to address their concerns can erode trust and damage morale. This can create a negative work environment and hinder productivity.

?Doing it somewhat right

?To ensure that engagement surveys yield meaningful results and contribute positively to employee engagement, here are some generic steps:

• Establish a Clear HR Strategy: To start with, organizations should have a clear and well-defined HR strategy in place. This strategy should outline the organization's overall HR goals and objectives, as well as the specific initiatives that will be implemented to achieve these goals.
• Develop a Comprehensive Employee Engagement Strategy: Once a clear HR strategy is in place, organizations should develop a separate employee engagement strategy that aligns with the organization's long-term goals which should be preferably documented and published. This strategy should identify the specific factors that drive employee engagement in the organization and outline the specific interventions that will be implemented to enhance engagement.
• Establish Procedural Justice and Fairness: To ensure that engagement surveys are perceived as fair and unbiased, organizations should establish a strong culture of procedural justice, transparency, and fairness across all initiatives and processes including R&R.
• ?Implement Regular Feedback and Development Plans: There should be well established venues, forums, and opportunities for ongoing feedbacks and development plans.
• Consider Crowd and Industry-Specific Factors: In addition to the generic steps above, organizations should also consider factors that are specific to their crowd and industry. For example, organizations in the technology industry may need to consider the unique challenges of retaining top talent, while organizations in the healthcare industry may need to focus on employee burnout.
• Choosing the right tool: Not all tools are equal or serves same audience. While an in-house questionnaire can give you goosebumps, it may not give you picture of engagement levels.

Clear Communication about Employee Survey: This communication should be transparent, honest, and address any potential concerns that employees may have. Organizations should clearly communicate the purpose, process, and anticipated outcomes of the engagement survey to all employees, the anonymity of responses, and the way in which the results will be used.