A few thoughts on employee surveys

"When was that survey run again? Three months ago?"

Surely the time of long, drawn out employee feedback projects has passed.

I'm sure you’ve encountered them, those surveys which leave you waiting for months before any data is released. Even when this data is released, it’s actually just a high-level view and not the full analysis. By the time the full data analysis and action plan is released, you can barely remember participating in the survey.

Businesses change quickly. Many attitudes and opinions do too. With the quick pace of change in modern businesses, annual surveys are starting to seem archaic. It’s a little like drinking milk pass the expiry date. It just doesn’t make sense.

Our surveys are different. We like to think our survey process and the models we use are somewhat special.

Consider that in most organisations, people tell us how they feel multiple times a day. They always have. It may not be out loud and  we might have to ask but at the very least we ensure we notice and we listen.

People who have stopped making the effort to tell us how they feel  have probably done so because previous experiences have taught them surveys rarely yield a tangible result. But the Blue Provident perspective is different. We believe a survey is a structured conversation promoting dialogue and encouraging each employee to voice their thoughts in the knowledge that they matter. That we listen.

We are sure you've heard of it, first or second hand. The idea there are too many surveys circulating your organisation. The admirable, yet misinformed, belief that people must be protected from the insatiable desire for information.

In our experience, there are two things responsible for survey fatigue.

Firstly, a lack of validation of people' views. Whether this results from a brief set of communications simply stating 'we heard what you said' or a detailed action planning program, it is fundamental that people see evidence they have been listened to. We desire connection and the belief that our opinions are validated, the affirmation that in an organisation of 5,000 employees we have a discernable voice.

The second contributing factor in survey fatigue is that of a poorly-designed employee feedback system. This being a poor communications plan that doesn't consider taking an integrated approach to feedback.

Think on this, millions of people update their status using social networking every day. Countless more tell their colleagues how they feel, without being prompted, and explain clearly what would make them more engaged and more productive in the workplace.

They do this because they are in control of their communication and receive almost immediate feedback and validation. In many businesses, there is a disconnect between how people want to communicate and the feedback mechanisms available to them.

Either that, or those running the surveys simply don’t want to listen.

At Blue Provident we think it strange that in 2011, getting hold of high quality employee feedback services still seems to be too difficult for many companies. Usually, this is because:

• Leaders don't think it is a good idea
• It's too expensive
• It's too complicated - you don't know which survey framework is the best
• You did it before and it didn't provide any value
• Any or all the above

Most of these barriers stem from the fact that high-quality employee feedback programs require expertise to deliver value. Which usually means a lot of money.

However, good employee feedback programs don't need rocket science!

The mystique around structured employee feedback often gets in the way, leading to long and drawn-out programs. For employees, this means an extended period of time between sharing views and getting much needed feedback and validation.

For managers, this means a long time to get any discernable benefit from the process. Or, worse, reinforcement of cynical views that nothing will be done with the results.

The quick validation of views and simple improvement actions are critical and should be amongst the primary objectives of your employee feedback program.

Any expertise you use needs to help you achieve these objectives.

In the employee survey world, a common and very good question to ask is 'so, where exactly do we stand against other companies?‘

Taken literally, it is peculiar question considering the comparators are usually called benchmarks. 'Where do we sit' seems somewhat more appropriate. Why the wordplay? Many survey programs suffer from the lack of appropriate positioning of benchmarks. The key things they tell you are:

• Particular geographic, sector or industry characteristics. For example, employees are engaged more by company brands in consumer products sector.
• How good or bad scores are in relation to these characteristics. You are great at x, but bad at y in relation to the average company in your industry.

But they don't tell you:

• How different departments compare to each other.
• What different managers doing in your business to achieve different results.
• How people can learn from each other through the survey process.

Resting on external benchmarks as if they provide the key insight into survey results is lazy. Stand up and find out what is causing the differences within your organisation.

Employee feedback projects promise a wide-range of possible benefits. If only businesses could realise more of these.

The Blue Provident perspective? Your employee survey should not simply sit in the annual calendar by itself. It should not be a stand-alone project. It should not exist just to serve to boost the survey project team's profile across the business.

Benefits are best realised when employee feedback projects sit at the center of business as usual. In other words, when they:

• Are integrated into the range of people-related processes that exist within your business.
• Relate to how you manage your people on a daily basis.
• Link through to customer outcomes.

Our experience is that it's not actually difficult to answer the question 'how can employee feedback be placed at the center of business as usual?'. However, it doesn't tend to happen unless the question is asked.