Employee Survey Feedback is Helpful, But Only if Done Right

Plenty of employers gather feedback from employees to measure strengths and weaknesses of the organization. But that survey feedback is only as good as the process surrounding it, and how the results are used.

A recent study by the Top Workplaces Research Lab revealed that 84 percent of organizations survey their employees once a year, while an inspiring subset goes beyond, actively listening even more frequently. This signifies a commitment to hearing employee voices and ensuring workers feel valued and appreciated.

More than 230 responded to our November 2023 survey, which revealed these key findings:

• Most organizations survey once or twice a year.
• Fewer than 1 in 5 organizations believe their employees struggle with survey fatigue.
• Employee participation is one of the biggest challenges.
• Only 3 percent of responders indicated that it is very difficult to run surveys.
• Senior leaders and managers typically reacted positively to survey results.
• 9 in 10 organizations saw notable value from their surveys.
• More than two-thirds of organizations share results with employees and managers.

Here's how employers rated the top goals for employee surveying, in order of importance:

• Identifying areas to improve
• Ensuring employees feel heard
• Identifying areas to celebrate
• Understanding what’s top-of-mind for employees
• Seeing how scores have changed from previous surveys

More than 90 percent of organizations said they found value in employee surveys. The key is doing it right. Here are six tips for a successful and effective employee survey:

1. Communicate the survey’s purpose: Employees want to know why they should take the time to participate in a survey, particularly if they have had bad experiences with surveys in the past. Be clear about why feedback matters and remind them of past changes prompted by employee feedback.

2. Remember the survey’s purpose: When survey administrators, leaders, and managers begin examining results, they need to avoid taking the feedback personally. Many in management struggle not to see survey feedback as something akin to a grade or critique of their performance. Feedback is key to personal and organizational growth.

3. Share results with the organization: While organizations are most likely to share results with leadership (88 percent), only two-thirds share them with front-line employees. Survey results can feel sensitive, so it is natural to want to safeguard them. However, keeping results from the people who participated is counterproductive. Employees need to feel heard. While it is not necessary or recommended to share all the results with everyone, ensure employees at all levels receive relevant information.

4. Drive success by taking action: Not acting on feedback is problematic. Employees are less inclined to continue participating in surveys if they do not see changes resulting from their feedback. The primary catalyst for survey fatigue is lack of action on feedback.

5. Start small to build momentum: When it comes to acting on survey results, start with small steps and gain momentum by focusing on one improvement area. Even if each department takes just one action to improve its team’s experience, it is more likely to be readily visible, relevant, and meaningful.

6. Survey more than once a year: Change happens constantly but is sometimes difficult to anticipate or see. With shifting economic, job market, and industry forces, measuring employee sentiment is essential. Employers that survey once in a blue moon might have difficulty identifying which factors led to changes, making it harder to decide what to implement going forward.

Bob Helbig is media partnerships director at Energage, a Philadelphia-based employee survey firm. Energage is The Washington Post’s survey partner for Top Workplaces. To nominate your company as a Top Workplace, go to https://www.washingtonpost.com/nominate.

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