Steps to an Effective Employee Survey
Steps to an Effective Employee Survey
Organizations do more harm than good by conducting employee surveys without a proper communication and action plan—the lack of follow-up erodes management credibility in the eyes of employees. Ponder these comments:
“We conducted an employee survey a couple of years ago, but the results were so bad that we didn’t share them”.
“We do an employee survey every year, but don’t know what to do with the results. This year our survey response dropped below 40% and employees are telling us that it is a waste of time”.
Listed below are eight best practices organizations can use to gain maximum benefits from your employee survey process:
1. Identify the survey as part of your continuous improvement culture: Your employment practices lead to important business outcomes such as attraction, retention and engagement. By measuring your employment practices with the employee survey tool, you can identify gaps for improvement.
2. Create ownership and set clear expectations upfront with executives: The employee survey process needs to be a cohesive partnership. The executive team and CEO in particular need to see the value in receiving feedback about improving the workplace. They also must fully endorse and participate in the communication and action-planning process. If they are not educated and enthusiastic, it may run aground later on.
3. Involve employees in the survey design: One of the best ways to build excitement and commitment is to get employees involved in reviewing and editing the survey. Each organization has its own “vocabulary” and sensitivities, so employees can be helpful in identifying questions that are ambiguous or confusing, and suggest additional questions. A sense of ownership by these positive “ambassadors” will grow.
4. Conduct employee focus groups to clarify survey issues: After the survey, do a quick analysis of the results and identify the “big issues”. These might relate to role clarity and career development, or to specific programs such as vacation or performance appraisals. The survey is effective in identifying high-level gaps, but follow-up focus groups with employees can help you clarify issues. For example, the survey might identify an issue related to career development, but a focus group allows you to ask questions like:
- Is the issue specific to certain departments, or is it company-wide?
- What do employees mean by “career development” and what are their expectations of the company?
Armed with the numerical analysis and the comments from the survey, and the focus group dialogue, you now have a very clear picture about the health of your workplace and the opportunities for improvement.
5. Provide insightful analysis to reveal the best opportunities for improvement: If the survey analysis is no more than a series of bar charts or tables with the survey data, you are probably not revealing the most important messages and you will not likely engage your executive team with the data. Here are just a few ways of analyzing survey data to extract greater clarity:
- Rank the questions from most positive to least positive. Look for themes and connections.
- Determine the drivers of employee engagement.
- Segment the data by department, level, or site to determine variations in the strength and the prevalence of workplace issues.
6. Develop action plans that are both smart and S.M.A.R.T.: Action planning is the most difficult part of the process, because this is when you make commitments to improve the workplace. Action planning should take place at a corporate level, to work on issues that are company-wide, and at a divisional/ department level, to address more local issues. Consider:
- Focusing on issues that will have maximum positive impact on the business.
- Looking for “low hanging fruit”; changes that are relatively inexpensive/easy and visible to employees.
- Understanding the resources and effort required to make the change before making a commitment.
- Being aware that it is better to under-promise and over-deliver, and;
- Studying the correct action to take in greater detail, particularly on matters related to costly items like compensation, benefits and vacation.
“S.M.A.R.T.” actions plans mean Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based. If your action plan does not address each of these criteria, then your action plan is at risk of either under-delivering, being late or delivering an unintended outcome.
7. Link your action plan to planning and performance management: If you have implemented your survey process properly, your action plans should be folded into your corporate operational planning process and performance management process. In other words, your survey actions should receive the same attention as a major capital expenditure, customer initiative or process improvement initiative.
8. Communicate honestly and frequently with employees: Your employee survey process should include a comprehensive communication plan that addresses:
- Goals and expectations for the survey process
- Timelines and Q&A
- Updates at key points in the process
- Disclosure and explanation of survey analysis/results
- Action plans and commitments for change
- Progress updates on action plans
- Reminders when action plans are completed
When properly executed, your employee survey process can be a catalyst for significant improvements to business performance. Remember, your employee survey will add value only if you couple it with a communications and change management process. Measuring your workplace is the first and necessary step to making it more engaging and more productive.
Originally published in issue 12-2 of Your Workplace magazine.
