Employee Survey - 3 pitfalls to avoid

When I started in Internal Communications I wasn't convinced that an employee survey was beneficial - probably the cynic in me. I failed to understand why Managers would be motivated to create team action plans, implement them and regularly review them…let alone why people complete the survey (especially if it's a large organisation). But after managing an employee survey for 3 years for a large FMCG, I have been proven wrong!

Each year many organisations ask their employees a set number of questions that broadly fall into categories such as my job, manager effectiveness, employee engagement, reward & recognition, quality & performance, mission & values, communication, leadership & vision and survey follow-up, etc. And each year, high level results are shared with the board and other leadership teams, who (ideally) co-create action plans with their own team to help drive engagement and performance. My observation is that while most organisations have the best intention to do this, they often fall into these three pitfalls (there are others!):

1. The time between the results being made available and being shared with teams is too long.I've seen some managers share the results the week after they are out and other managers sharing them 3 months later. The implication? Varied experience of the survey and the value of it. It essentially boils down to how much value a manager places on the survey results and co-creating robust action plans with his/her team to drive a positive change.

Key learning: People forget, and priorities change very quickly, so what teams where feeling/thinking when they did the survey may not be applicable 3 months down the line. Strike while the irons hot. As soon as the results are made available analyse them and share with your teams. Co-create action plans and work on them like you would any other project.

2. Line managers do not know how to share the results or worse, don't understand them.I've attended sessions where line managers try their best, but often lack the skills to facilitate a workshop or fail to explain the results properly or create robust action plans or worse, all three.

Key learning: Invest time to coach & support managers. Most companies use external providers to carry out the survey and often these companies can provide multiple conference calls with managers to help them understand the key components of the survey as well as best practice for workshops. What I have seen work well is when HR managers support managers facilitate the workshop. Though be careful the presence of HR doesn't affect people having the ability to speak freely. If budgets permit, allow the learning & development team to create a bespoke program on the art of facilitation to upskill line managers.

3. Action plans are not followed up.There is always a great buzz once the results are made available and there is normally a flurry of activity to create action plans. But all too often, as the months roll on, the focus on action plans dwindles and they are soon forgotten… until the next survey!

Key learning: Keep banging the drum. Maintain focus on action plans and track progress against them at least once a month with your team. Work in manufacturing? Create a central area to display site action plans and make team action plans visible in their working area. Nothing more powerful than 'you said, we did'. But don't forgot to update them regularly!

Whether you survey every 12, 18 or 24 months if you simply ensure you don't fall into those 3 pitfalls, I think you'll be in a great place to drive engagement & business performance.