Employee engagement surveys are a common tool used across all industries to gather
feedback from employees. But many organizations complain that they have a hard time
getting employees to provide their input.
There’s a very simple reason for that.
Lack of Response Leads to Apathy
Too often, when organizations gather feedback from employees through engagement or
satisfaction surveys, but fail to close the loop by sharing the results with employees.
Senior leaders may have the data but don’t share how they’re going to respond to the
feedback.
There are so many times that I’ve done focus groups where I hear variations of the
same comment: “I don’t know why I even bother to give input; nothing ever happens
with it.”
Many organizations fall into the trap of conducting employee engagement surveys
without a concrete plan for sharing and using the results. That can, and does, lead to
wasted resources, decreased employee trust, and missed opportunities.
Maximizing Survey Effectiveness
Employee engagement surveys are most effective when results are shared with all
levels of the organization, not just senior management. In addition to sharing the results
with employees, it’s crucial that leaders create and execute an action plan to address
the issues identified in the survey.
This is where many leadership teams come to a screeching halt. They want to make sure they have a perfect plan for addressing all the
issue before they share anything. Remember- perfection is the enemy of progress.
Continuous communication and updates about progress and ongoing efforts will
strengthen employee trust that their input is valued.
When you’re transparent about both what you’ve learned and how you’re addressing
issues identified, you’ll increase the odds that employees will not only participate, but be
eager to participate, in the future. The resounding message should be:
You Spoke, We Listened, and Here is What is Happening.
Keep in mind that this doesn’t mean that you have to agree to every issue employees
raise. What it does mean, though, is that you have to acknowledge those issues and
communicate whether and how you will address the issue—or why you won’t.
For instance, employees may universally agree that benefit costs should be lower. But
that may not be financially feasible. Instead of ignoring their feedback because you
don’t plan to reduce these costs, validate that their concerns were heard and explain
why changes aren’t feasible at this time.
Evaluating Your Survey Practices
Are your survey practices designed to give you actionable insights to help drive real improvements? We put together a brief survey that we use with organizations in our engagement
and culture workshops to help them assess where they’re at, and where there might be opportunities for improvement. Are you interested in how your organization’s employee engagement survey practices stack up? Take the brief survey here.
Then give us a call. We’ll help you put together a plan, process, and tool designed to
get maximum results from your employee engagement efforts.
About Baird Group
Since 1994, Baird Group has been on a mission to make healthcare better for patients and the people who serve them. A leading healthcare management consulting firm is who we are.
Founded by Kristin Baird, a nurse and pioneer in the patient experience, Baird Group is a leading healthcare management consulting firm uniquely qualified to help healthcare leaders understand their current culture and the resulting experience. We then can drive engagement solutions that achieve greater loyalty with patients, employees and providers.
Have a question or comment for Baird Group? We’d love to hear from you! Please click here to provide your contact information and we’ll get back to you as soon as we can! Or give us a call at (866) 686-7672.
Tags: Employee Engagement, employee engagement survey, employee feedback, employee satisfaction, seeking feedback, surveys and assessments
