What it takes to make employee surveys truly worthwhile for your employees
Imagine this scenario: Employees diligently complete their surveys, and HR presents the results with great enthusiasm, particularly highlighting the positives. However, employees remain quiet, seemingly resigned. Why does this happen, and how can we make employee surveys truly effective and impactful?
Ineffectiveness of Employee Surveys: The Current State
Currently, employee surveys often fall short in several key areas:
Lack of Transparency: Surveys may avoid the real issues that concern employees, giving an impression that the company is uninterested in genuine feedback.
Superficial Inspection: When critical issues are raised, there's a tendency for leadership to downplay rather than earnestly address them.
Inadequate Adaptation: Promises of action often lead to minimal or no real change, leaving employees' concerns unaddressed.
Additionally, the dynamics between employees, leadership, and HR can significantly impact the effectiveness of these surveys:
Leadership's Reception of Feedback: Leadership's approach to feedback can significantly influence the survey's effectiveness. There’s often a gap in leadership's willingness or ability to genuinely interpret and act on feedback, especially if it challenges their existing management style or points to areas needing improvement.
Balancing HR's Role: HR's perceived role as management's advocate rather than an employee ally can create hesitancy in sharing honest feedback. Ensuring that HR is seen as a neutral and safe conduit for employee voices is essential for garnering authentic insights.
The Potential of Impactful Employee Survey
For employee surveys to be meaningful:
Deep Transparency: Surveys must invite vulnerability and express a genuine desire to understand and address underlying issues.
Constructive Inspection: Leaders should show a willingness to understand employee perspectives and discuss viable solutions.
Effective Adaptation: Changes implemented should target the most impactful areas, even if they are challenging, and involve employees in the change process.
Key Factors for Effective Employee Surveys
Structured Feedback Collection: Employee surveys should cover a range of topics, including job satisfaction, communication, leadership, work-life balance, and growth opportunities. This approach has been found to build a "high-trust" work environment.
Fostering Engagement and Retention: Surveys provide a safe space for employees to voice their opinions, leading to increased job satisfaction and effort towards the company's success.
Avoiding Survey Fatigue: It's crucial to act on the feedback provided in surveys to prevent skepticism and disengagement among employees.
Connecting Survey Results to Actions: Organizations should clearly link survey feedback to the changes they implement. This helps employees understand how their input is being used.
Business Benefits: Companies that prioritize employee feedback and act upon it see increased productivity, better retention and recruitment, and enhanced customer satisfaction.
Benchmarking and Granular Analysis: Comparing survey results with industry peers and analyzing data at a granular level helps identify specific areas for improvement.
Structured Approach and Action Planning: Defining clear objectives, ensuring confidentiality, involving employees in decision-making, and communicating the connection between feedback and changes are essential steps in making employee surveys effective.
Empowering Questions for Meaningful Employee Feedback
Conclusion: Radical Transparency and Vulnerability
As we consider the future of employee surveys, the focus must shift towards radical transparency and vulnerability. This involves asking questions that genuinely reflect the impact of working conditions on employees' professional development as well as personal lives. These questions should not be limited to HR or leadership but can be asked by anyone in the organization, fostering a culture of continuous feedback and improvement.
In addition to understanding the broader principles of effective surveys, providing practical tools is essential. Here are key questions inspired by the leaked Goldman Sachs survey and the WSO 2021 Investment Banking Work-Conditions Survey. These questions aim to reveal the true effects of working conditions and its effects on employees' private lives:
Questions: Hours worked
How many hours have you worked this week?
How many hours have you worked per week in avg. since January or in year XY?
Have your work hours negatively impacted relationships with family and/or friends?
Questions: Recovery time
How many hours do you sleep on average per night?
On average, what time do you go to sleep?
Can you switch off after work? In average (1-10, 10 absolutely)
Questions: WFH Treatment
Do you prefer working from home or working in the office?
Has it become harder to focus when working from home in your given situation?
Has it become harder to switch off after work? (1-10, 10 absolutely)
Does Home Office impact your mental well-being? (1-10, 10 absolutely)
Does Home Office impact your physical well-being? (1-10, 10 absolutely)
Questions: Work experience in general
Have you frequently experienced unrealistic deadlines?
Have you frequently experienced shouting or swearing?
Have you experienced excessive monitoring or micromanagement?
Have you frequently experienced being shunned or ignored?
Have you frequently experienced blaming without justification?
Do you feel like you’ve been a victim of workplace abuse?
Have you experienced lack of accountability by your colleagues or supervisors?
Questions: Mental and physical health:
Rate your mental health before and after starting your current job
Rate your physical health before and after starting this job
Have you sought/considered seeking counselling, therapy due to the stress at work?
Questions: Retention and satisfaction:
If working conditions stay the same, what is the likelihood you’ll still be working in your current firm in 6 months? (1-10, with 10 being most likely)
How satisfied are you with your current firm? (1-10, 10 being very satisfied)
How satisfied are you with your work life? (1-10, 10 being very satisfied
How satisfied are you with your personal life? (1-10, 10 being very satisfied)