Handling Disappointing Employee Engagement Survey Data
Typically, our clients are pleasantly surprised with their Employee Opinion Survey results, often finding the overall outcome even more positive than was anticipated. Sometimes, though, (particularly in first time surveys) the overall results can be disappointing and not as positive as expected. In these situations, management turns to us and says, “How do we present this honestly, but in a positive light?”
Based on our twenty years of experience, the following seven tips will help you confidently take actions that will proactively address your survey results, regardless of the overall outcome. The good news is that if you take action on your results, you have nowhere to go but up when it comes to favorable perceptions of your organization.
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Focus on Your Strengths:
While the results may not be what you expected, typically not all areas within the survey are a disappointment. Whatever the outcome, you asked for employees’ insights, and now you have a much clearer picture of reality, thanks to your employees’ perspectives. You are to be congratulated for having the courage to ask for employee input. Most organizations don’t want to know, or worse yet, don’t care.
As you review the data, start positively by reflecting on those areas where employees have given the organization a “thumbs up.” Identify areas of satisfaction and think about what you need to continue doing to keep satisfaction levels high in these areas. Only after identifying the positives in your survey, should you move on to address the less favorable areas.
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Honestly Communicate the Results to Employees
No matter the outcome of your survey, it is important that you communicate the overall results of your survey soon after your receive the data. The worst thing an organization can do is to withhold the data from employees, who, in truth, already know the outcome. Although you may have been surprised about the outcome, typically, employees are not. After all, the survey reflects reality from their perspective. Remember, if you are not forthright in presenting the data, rumors and gossip in the workplace will exaggerate the truth, painting an even more dismal picture of the survey outcomes.
Either at an “all hands” meeting, or in an email to all staff, begin boldly by saying, “We appreciate your input in our recent Employee Opinion Survey. Like every great organization, there are areas that make us proud, and areas where you’ve identified some concerns. We hear you. Frankly, in some areas, we were surprised. We think that what you shared with us is important in helping us build an even stronger work environment. We are committed to getting you involved in the action planning process to help us address areas where you think we could do an even better job.”
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Announce a Specific Action that Will be Taken Based on the Results
Before the announcement about the survey results is made to all employees, senior leaders should meet to determine what immediate action can be taken to address employee concerns. This will demonstrate that senior leaders are taking the survey results seriously and intend to take action in some of the lower rated areas.
For example, you could state: “The lowest rated question in our 2011 survey dealt with communication flowing effectively from upper management to employees. We own the problem and are focused on fixing the breakdowns in communication. Effective immediately, each VP will be meeting with his/her direct reports on a weekly basis. Feel free to ask your manager any questions you may have, or share your ideas. It is evident that the gaps in our communication make it more difficult for you to do your job. We want to fix that and, think that with your help, we can all become more effective in our roles. At the senior executive level, we are committed to improving our communication with you. Hold us accountable for doing a better job in this area.”
Obviously, as you move forward, leaders at every level within the organization will be reviewing their data and completing action plans with their teams. However, when the survey results are disappointing, we recommend that you make an announcement about at least one specific action that senior leadership will be taking at the same time you roll out the initial data.
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Support Vulnerable Leaders
Sometimes when the results to a survey are disappointing, the lowest rated questions are similar throughout the organization; meaning, that most departments cite similar concerns. However, it is not uncommon for some departments to be very positive in their overall review of their working environment, and some be almost uniformly discontented with theirs. What’s the difference? In a word . . . leadership.
For whatever the reason, when you look at the lowest rated departments, you see a similar pattern. There is a strong correlation between the overall results and the results specific to the section in the survey on “my supervisor.” In general, when employees don’t like their immediate supervisor, they tend to be uniformly negative about their entire employee experience with your organization.
Because of the challenges evident in the lowest rated departments, these are the leaders who will need additional support from either an H.R. representative, or an outside consultant. Unfortunately, these are also typically the leaders who least like the action planning process and wish the survey had never occurred.
As you move forward, it will be important to not only support these leaders, but also hold these leaders (who don’t see the survey and action planning as part of their job) accountable for meeting with their team and developing an action plan.
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Communicate the Timeframe for Actions to Address Employee Concerns
On the day you roll out the data to all staff, ensure that you convey that presenting the data is not the end of the survey process. Make sure employees know that, within a specific timeframe, their manager will meet with their team to share their team’s specific results and conduct an action planning meeting. The purpose of the team meeting will be to get employees involved in reviewing the data and then brainstorm ways to make positive changes to address some of the lower rated areas in the survey.
Conducting the action planning phase in a timely manner helps ensure that employees know that management is taking the survey, and their concerns, seriously. To preserve the integrity of the survey, it is critical that all leaders receiving data specific to their area, share that data with their team and complete the action planning phase within the agreed timeframe. We typically recommend that the plan be completed within 60 days of rolling out the survey results.
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Update Employees Several Times throughout the Cycle on Status of Action Plans
Some clients rigorously address the lower rated areas within their survey, but are surprised when the overall responses to the following question decline when they resurvey:
“I believe the results of this survey will be used to create positive changes.”
When we ask the clients how many times they referenced the actions they had taken since the previous survey, they indicated that they hadn’t updated employees on the status of the action plans. To ensure that employees understand the importance of the survey, it is important to reference, several times before the next survey is administered, actions that are being taken based on survey results. You might say something like, “Based on your input in our 2011 Employee Opinion Survey, we are/have…”
It’s not enough to take action on your survey results. You’ve got to be talking with employees about the actions you are taking, based on their concerns shared in the survey. To keep the survey alive, provide employees with multiple updates.
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Resurvey
You get what you measure. You won’t know if the actions you are taking are working unless you resurvey. In areas of your survey that were particularly low, you might want to conduct a mini survey after approximately 6 months, targeting just those specific areas to ensure that you are making progress. Then, conduct a full survey a year after the previous survey to assess your progress and repeat the reporting and action planning phases again.
Effective leadership cannot happen if leaders are out of touch with the people they lead. All information collected in the Employee Opinion Survey process, no matter how negative, can help leaders create a more positive, motivating and productive work environment for all employees… an environment where employees say, “I love my job.” Whatever your results, take action!
