9 Reasons Most Staff Engagement Surveys Don't Work - And Some Tips To Get Them Right

Copyright (c) 2010 Shona Garner

Have you ever used a staff survey to gauge what your people feel about where they work?

Do you have low morale, or people issues which you suspect are holding back performance and ultimately, your results?

Those of you who have known me a while, and certainly for those of you who have attended my workshops on how to effectively motivate and engage your staff, you'll know I believe there are some simple rules and simple techniques that are absolutely critical to more effectively motivating and engaging our staff. One fundamental principle of motivation is what I call, "knowing which buttons to press". We need to understand that what drives and motivates us isn't what drives and motivates someone else – and then we need to understand just what it is which is motivating someone, so we can plan how to more effectively motivate them in future.

Here's a simple example: you were a child once, right?

Did you know "which buttons to press" to get what you wanted from Mum?

And did you know you had to press a different set of buttons to get what you wanted from Dad, or Grandma?

Of course you did!! You did it unconsciously!

Yet, as we grow up, we seem to lose that ability – or start to somehow believe that other people, including our staff can be motivated by pressing the same buttons that motivate you!

Wrong!

It's also a fallacy to assume that the way you see the culture of your workplace, is the way your staff see it. They usually don't!

If you, as a manager, are ever to effectively tap into the very best performance of your staff and the whole team, you need to get to know how each individual on your team "ticks" – and what they feel about their work.

Let's face it – if you don't – how can you ever begin to "press the right buttons" so your staff give more of their best – willingly and with commitment?

STAFF SURVEYS CAN HELP YOU IDENTIFY STAFF MOTIVATIONS AND FEELINGS ABOUT THEIR WORK

For me, staff surveys are a great way of getting staff to open up and tell you about how they see things – about what motivates and de-motivates them – and about what they feel would make their workplace not only a better place to be, but somewhere they genuinely want to give of their best, more of the time.

I figure that if I try to understand what their needs and feelings are, and make a genuine effort to see how, together, we can make things better for everyone on the team, my staff are more likely to feel happier and I know happier staff perform better! Seems like a win-win all round for me!

But – as with most things – there's the good, the bad – and the downright ugly! Here are some of my key tips to getting a staff survey right, and the benefits for you if you do!

9 COMMON WAYS STAFF SURVEYS GO WRONG

1. They grow into unwieldy, time-consuming and complex "monsters" - often totally led and followed up by management, with staff feeling it's something done to them, instead of with them. Staff own no part of the process – and even if specific issues are identified as requiring some action, they expect management to sort it - not them!Now I may be "boss" – but I'm all for commitment to make things better on both sides! This isn't about my staff pointing the finger and saying to me, "What are you going to do to make things better?"This is about us sitting down and saying: "What can we do to make things better?"

2. Many staff surveys I've seen require a complicated setup and access process. For those of you with some experience of staff surveys, I'm sure this will resonate with you!

3. Once set up, it takes ages, (and often consultancy hours for which you are paying!), to encourage all staff to take part.

Despite your cajoling and encouragement, you're lucky to achieve more than 60% of staff completing the survey.

4. You have to wait to get the results. This is a biggie! The number of managers I've spoken with who have said it has taken months to get the results back, by which time, often many of the staff who completed the surveys have moved on – either leaving the company or the team. Whilst you can still get a feel for some general issues which might be affecting performance, your ability to make any follow up something genuinely targeted and useful, and which engages staff, is almost impossible.

5. The results come back in the form of some long, rather complex report.

More time is taken with management trying to make sense of it, and come up with an action plan. Everyone, including management, are now feeling overwhelmed with information and a sense of yet more stuff "to do " if they want to follow it up. Often, follow up falls on the shoulders of a few souls in HR or Learning & Development who struggle to plan a useful programme of improvement.

6. Follow up is so late it becomes ineffective.

7. Staff are cynical.

They see it as another, management led initiative, which disappears into a black hole, and which doesn't seem to change anything. I've heard a few staff in my time say they feel staff surveys are a waste of time, because while they are asked for their opinion, nothing changes. It's perceived as a "tick-box" exercise.

8. They are expensive to run. You find yourself paying not only for the survey, but the "complex report" from the consultancy, and maybe even further high fees for them to help you implement the follow up.

9. Because the survey is seen as management led, staff don't really get involved in the plans for improvement.

That doesn't mean surveys are a bad thing!

I believe when a manager solicits feedback they send an implicit message to their staff which says – "I care what you think – I want to know", which in turn sets an example and allows staff to feel more comfortable to solicit and receive feedback too. I genuinely believe staff surveys are a great tool, used properly.

What you want is something where all staff take part, where results come back quickly, and where you can plan a simple follow up process, with actions which everyone gets involved with to make things better.

Staff surveys - 5 tips for success

1. Find a survey which is meaningful, but quick and easy to administer – and which gives you a better chance of getting 100% response rate.

2. Don't allow HR to take over!

My apologies to HR – but if you really want this process to be something which makes a meaningful difference, where individual teams really engage with the process you MUST have individual managers' buy in to driving the process.

Whilst senior management oversee everything, (and clearly they are interested to understand if there might be common patterns or problems coming up across teams) – it's the team managers who really need to champion it. It's through their example, their enthusiasm and their commitment to fostering more open relationships with their staff that I believe leads to a place where, whenever anyone is stopped at random on the corridor of their work and is asked: "What's it like to work here?" the response is: "Great! This is a great place to work!"

3. Set deadlines to get all feedback in and to meet up for the first follow-up session.

I know myself – running my own business – there's nothing quite like making a public commitment to doing something, to make you really take action and get things done!

Set a timeline (perhaps agreed with your staff? That way they're in from the beginning!) when you want all surveys completed – and at the same time, set a date and time when you're going to meet up to discuss the findings and talk about what you do next. That way, you send a strong message to your staff that this is NOT a tick-box exercise – and that you ARE going to follow it up – and that you EXPECT them to get involved!

4. Set the first follow up within a month of completing the survey.

Don't wait – don't drag your heels. Add it into the agenda for your next team meeting – do whatever you need to – but follow up as soon as you can so your staff know you mean business, and that you really do want to work with them to see how you can make things better!

5. Get your staff involved in the solutions

Follow these 5 tips, and not only will you get your staff involved and less cynical about staff surveys, you'll see a difference in what the whole exercise was really for in the first place – better staff motivation, engagement, commitment and performance!