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Employee Survey Savvy
January 05, 2010
Are you suspicious your employee surveys are less than accurate? Those overly positive or negative employee reflections raise your eyebrows as to their honesty, right? Joe Folkman, Ph.D., co-founder and president of Zenger Folkman, and author of "Employee Surveys That Make a Difference," offers the following tips for rolling out employee surveys that hold a realistic mirror up to your organization:
• Form a steering committee. A steering committee with the proper authority, composed of the right people, is essential to accomplishing the change goals of a survey process, Folkman explains. "A well-rounded committee includes 8 to 12 people representing the various levels, demographics, and locations in the company," he points out.
• Keep your survey simple. Some surveys seem to collapse under their own weight. They are long and measure too many things, says Folkman. "The reports are complex, the analysis is overwhelming, and the feedback is time-consuming," he says. "When people cannot see the links between the issues being measured in a survey and the critical issues of the company, the survey will lose its perceived value."
• Measure things you are willing to change. Establish expectations up front that although your survey will measure many issues, you only will be focusing on a few critical issues, says Folkman. "Too often," he notes, "employees expect everything measured will be changed. But if the company takes on too many issues, no change will occur."
• Strive to predict business outcomes. When surveys can measure and predict company performance, the results become compelling, says Folkman. "It's exciting to discover, for example, the groups that scored highest in a certain category also had the most profit, the highest customer satisfaction, the greatest productivity, and the lowest turnover," he says. "Surveys that measure the right things can predict these and other outcomes."
• To create leverage, start with small wins. Sometimes the results of an employee survey can seem overwhelming, Folkman says. "Many people don't know where to begin with the change process," he explains. "Also, many employees have become cynical over the years about the 'latest corporate initiatives' that didn't work."
• Identify root causes through careful analysis. The secret to fostering strategic alignment with employee surveys is careful analysis that identifies the root causes of surface issues, Folkman points out. "Problems initially identified by the data become clearer," he says, "and root causes are easier to identify after thorough analysis."
• Learn from your survey every year. Once you have established your survey and the company is comfortable with its contents, it helps to build a database of results to make comparisons from year to year, says Folkman. "Make sure your survey evolves over time to mirror the changes and changing demands of your company," he advises.
• Make the survey a part of your business. "Ultimately," says Folkman, "for employee surveys to make a difference, they must become a standard part of how your company does business rather than a deviation or distraction from regular work."
How honest do you think the feedback is that you receive from employee surveys? Can your managers and executives handle the truth? Join the discussion on Training Day
Did you miss last week's Inside Training? To read it, click here.
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