How to Manage Employee Engagement Surveys Well

Lots of organizations send out employee engagement surveys with the desire of improving employee engagement and retention; unfortunately, they often damage both in the process.

There are a few employee engagement survey pitfalls that luckily are easy to avoid.

Here are three practices to follow when sending out employee engagement surveys:

1. Shorter is better. I hate to say this, but no one wants to fill out an employee engagement survey. It’s time consuming, employees doubt the survey will yield results, and they worry that their feedback isn’t really confidential.

Make your employee engagement survey easy to fill out by making it short. And by short, I mean 25 questions or fewer.  You’ll get a better response rate to a 25-question survey than a 65-question one.

2. Provide employees with survey results quickly. Most organizations ask for too much information. Leaders are overwhelmed by the volume of survey information, so they spend months and months reviewing it, while employees comment on yet another employee survey with no communication.

Send out a succinct communication sharing the top few learnings – the good and the not-so-good — within a few weeks of sending out the survey. You don’t need to take action at the same time. Simply keep employees in the loop by communicating a quick summary of what you learned. If you wait too long to share the feedback, it often never gets communicated. And the next time you send out a survey, employees will remember the absence of information and be hesitant to fill it out.

3. Within 90-days, tell employees what you will and won’t be changing, based on the survey feedback, and tell them why. Employees don’t need or expect all of their input to be utilized. Closing the loop with clear communication about what you are and aren’t changing, and why, is often sufficient.

Five Keys to Employee Engagement and Employee Retention – Managing Well

Employees leave managers not jobs. We’ve all heard this 100 times.

One of the most prevalent reasons for employee turnover is boredom and lack of growth. We’ve also heard this many times.

We know why employees leave jobs. The question is what must managers do to engage and retain their best people. The answer is actually quite simple, although not necessarily easy to execute.

Employees want to know that their manager:

• Knows them
• Cares about and is invested in their careers
• Gives feedback so they can improve
• Provides opportunities so they can develop

In other words, employees need attention, and attention requires time – time many managers may not feel they have.

Here is a five-step formula for employee retention and employee engagement:

1. Get to know employees better and differently.
2. Have meaningful, one-on-one meetings [at least] monthly.
3. Give balanced feedback as work is done.
4. Ask for and be open to feedback.
5. Create opportunities for employees to do the work that interests them most.

Managers, how do you make time for these meetings when you are busy and have several direct reports?

1. Meet for 15-30 minutes.
2. Ask direct reports to create an agenda and run the meetings.
3. Ask direct reports to send follow-up notes of decisions and plans made during meetings. Give some of the accountability away.
4. If meetings get cancelled, reschedule as soon as possible. Direct reports take cancelled meetings personally. Cancelled meetings that are not rescheduled send the message that managers don’t care about employees and their careers.

Employees, if your manager doesn’t schedule meetings with you:

1. Ask permission to put a monthly meeting on your manager’s calendar.
2. Provide rationale for why you want to meet – to get your manager’s feedback and ensure you’re focused on the right work.
3. Ask permission to reschedule meetings when they get cancelled.
4. Don’t take cancelled meetings personally.
5. Offer to meet with your manager via the phone when it’s convenient for them. Leverage commute and travel time, if applicable.

Employees need time with their managers. Meaningful discussions and work, result in employee engagement and employee retention. So managers, make the time, even when you don’t feel you have it. Ask questions you don’t ask now. Give feedback, even when it’s uncomfortable. Give your employees an opportunity to do the work that interests them most. And watch your employee engagement and employee retention improve. And if your manager doesn’t do these things, politely and persistently ask. You won’t get what you don’t ask for. We are all 100% accountable for our careers.