What
do employee engagement surveys tell or not tell us?
Over
next few weeks, I would be supporting managers/leaders in interpreting results
from an organization wide engagement survey and creating action plans from
them.
I
observe such surveys are taken seriously by even business managers. I wonder
whether they are complying (a part of their assessment does depend on results)
or whether they truly believe in the possible benefits from such surveys.
Well!
I would not know till the time I am neck deep into exercise too. Here
are some initial thoughts on my mind
- Surprises – what conclusions can I draw if a manager/leader is taken by surprise by results of the survey? I would know that at the least he has not had his ear to the ground. He either has not picked up what´s been expressed, has discouraged the expression of possible concerns, or has not acted on what has been expressed. If I observe surprises, I would want to explore ´What has been the manager/leader doing to understand pulse of his organization and consequently act? What needs to change?´
- Statistically Significant shifts in scores- I have heard this term often. It is a criterion for deciding possible action areas/strength areas. I do agree that we should consider this criterion, but what other criterion we may be missing out on? I think ´context´ is a relevant term here I need to interpret scores in terms of larger ´context´ a team is in.
- Context – I support a growing business with a large number of new employees. They obviously are in early stages of employee life cycle. Feel good factor prevalent in ´initial days´ might have bumped up scores. I certainly need to segment scores of employees as per their stage in employee life cycle.
- Segmenting Scores by Employee Groups– there is a need to identify trends for relevant groups (as per demographics, specific job types, specialist teams, etc). If I were to take only an uber level view of things, I might not sense some important under-currents.
- Qualitative responses – can be a double edged sword. Subjective answers provide richer understanding of emotions behind the different scores, but I am unsure of their utility in confidential surveys. If I come across a ´concerning´ subjective answer, I would discuss the same with the leader/manage and give him/her a chance to respond. How s/he responds is what I would be more interested in.
- Why this survey? – What is primary objective of conducting such a survey? I am not sure whether allocating rewards for managers/leaders should be primary outcome. The intent should be to understand what we are doing well/bad at a certain point of time, and take a collective decision on how can we progress further.
- Action Plans – ´Best plans are best executed plans´. Administering a survey (ensuring high participation rate and a safe environment for employees to respond authentically) and interpreting and sharing results don´t necessarily lead to increase in employee engagement. Co- creating action plans that have buy in of different stakeholders and ensuring their execution are the more monotonous, more difficult, but the most crucial aspects of ensuring a successful employee engagement survey.
-
Sourav
