The Purpose of an Employee Survey

The Employee Survey seems to be one of the greatest ways to create disharmony with your employees that I have seen.  This is especially the case in generically written corporate surveys where the aim is to gather contextual views and trends at a higher level.

So what is the output of an Employee Survey?
I propose that it delivers two things.
1. Measure a specific set of metrics (and potentially compare against benchmarks) - Point in Time
2. Demonstrate a trend of this data based on previous year's comparable data - Change throughout Time

Now this is all well and good and incredibly valuable but is only data.  It needs then to be turned into information.  This is where the leadership teams consider and possibly seeks feedback generically from the employees (focus groups etc.) in order to decide decide what to do about it.

However, this is where the failure point lies.  It can only ever deliver a gap between the individual employee's expectations and the leadership level initiatives based on the overview trends.  This is often simply due to the gap between the individual level and the hierarchy which builds up to the level at which the organisation operates the survey.

So what is the output of an Employee Survey for the Individual?
Lets go back to the question of what an Employee Survey delivers but this time from the viewpoint of the employee filling it in.  It delviers two things:
1. An opportunity to share their views (positively or negative)
2. Change, but only when the results (data) are interprested and are acted upon.

I beleive the downfall comes from the difference in approach between the top down and bottom up viewpoints.  Both are valid but neither particularly being met or supporting each other (when the data and trends are bad, the focus becomes to drive change broadly which dissapoints individuals.  When individuals are dissapointed, they perceive no change to them and effect the scores/data negativly).  A downward spiral or at best neutral despite everyone's best interests and hard work.

It seems that this top down approach of using the generic/organisation level data to drive the changes can unfortunately miss the mark.  One approach can instead be to look at the survey less as a driver for change but singularly as a measurement of it.  Looking at point 2 of the employee's view of the output, Change, or in the context of an annual cycle activity, Continuous Improvement.

What can I do as a manager?

Stop thinking of the survey as the driver for the change.  You and the team are the driver of the change on a continual basis, week after week, month after month.  How else do you think your team will believe that you take the idea of making improvements based on their feedback seriously.  Make it a part of your regular agenda, add a suggestions section it to your stand-up board, simply make it a routine topic to talk about continuous improvement.

The Employee Survey? It'll take care of itself if you do this right.  Its just the measurement piece.  It might even add some further ideas to bring into the cycle of improvement but is not the only source.

And because its continual improvement, you don't need to wait until after the next survey cycle to start.  Start today, ask the team what they would like to change or improve and ensure the process is there to follow up and make it a regular ongoing activity.

You want engaged employees?  Don't wait for surveys and someone else to tell you what to do.  Start today by making it your responsibility.

Please see my website at www.managingforthefirsttime.com for more techniques, tips and advice on this topic and others.