
Three conditions are key to ensure employee surveys are effective:
(𝟏) Companies commit to allocating resources to 'fix issues' that arise.
By resources I mean time, expertise and money, because:
◾ Solutions may need financial backing for effective implementation.
◾ Throwing money at a problem does not resolve every employee 'grievance'.
◾ Leaders must give internal teams enough time to focus on change initiatives.
◾ When internal expertise isn’t available, organizations should outsource support to fill the gaps.
◾ Communicate the results of the survey to similarly engage employees about corrective actions to follow (some transparency is required).
(𝟐) Ensuring that there is enough psychological safety and trust in the feedback process.
◾Employees must feel safe and trust the process to share honest feedback. Without this, their responses often become skewed or unreliable.
◾ It is hard to use skewed data as a basis to make impactful changes that need reallocation of time, money and expertise.
(𝟑) Avoiding survey fatigue.
◾ Employees are not there to be 'pulsed' all the time and over-surveying can reduce the value of the feedback.
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The saying 'don't ask until you can commit to addressing it' comes to mind when it comes to surveys. Asking questions inadvertently creates an expectation that someone is 'looking' at the topic.
The truth is organisations have competing priorities. Yet, surveys without follow-up actions can erode trust and make engagement worse. If we ask for feedback, we need to be ready to show progress - in what 'employees' said they care about.