Employee Survey

shelby

We will be conducting an employee survey through an outside consultant in the next several months. I want to come up with some ideas to really promote the survey and urge employees to participate (i.e. free lunch for anyone who turns one in). I'd also like to create a fun slogan for the survey to catch peoples interest. Any fun ideas will be appreciated!

SMace

I'm all for fun, but I think there are some other issues you need to address. Have you done surveys before? Did you do anything with the info, such as hold meetings to discuss the input and talk about what steps you are taking to address the issues? If you've done surveys prior and never gave any feedback, no catchy slogan or free lunch is going to bring them in. Asking for feedback and then ignoring it can be a real blow to the person giving the info.

I suggest you communicate that once they survey is complete and the results have been presented to your senior staff, they will hold meetings to discuss the results and outline steps that will be taken to improve any areas that need improvement. That will get 'em going. Good luck
!

lee2

Since I don't see any posts I'll share my experiences. With 4 decades in HR I've done many such surveys and have found the following to be helpful in getting substantial and honest responses as well as building trust and support with employees.
1. Promise that the person or people who have the power to change things will see the surveys.

2. Promise anonimity. Go the extra mile to insure that individual employees cannot be identified.

3. Promise detailed feedback. ie - how many people marked which answers. A summary of essay answers. Don't attempt to soften critical answers.

4. Promise follow-up. This may mean meetings to clarify or discuss issues.

5. Promise that issues needing attention will be seriously addressed. Answers like "we don't have enough money to do that " is not enough.

6. Promise periodic follow-up surveys(perhaps annually) that ask, among other things, what they thought of the last survey and the response to it.

Good luck.

Don D

Great response Lee, based obviously on experience and 'the trenches'. I would only add that anytime you ask a question, you have to be prepared to deal with the answer. And, never ask a question for which you have no clue what you'll do with the variety of answers you'll get. If you go into a survey without that proper analysis, you'll have accomplished nothing. And, oh, this; if you think you will get responses like "I like the way this place is run and you guys really do things right", think again.

An employee survey without appropriate feedback and without some degree of action is a morale buster and a builder of non-trust.

shelby

I guess I should have provided more background info...We conducted a survey (outside consultant so confidentiality was totally protected)15 months ago. Once the results were compiled and returned to us we initially held an employee luncheon to discuss the survey results (handouts, charts, etc.). We selected the three main areas that the results indicated we needed the most work on then set up focus groups consisting of volunteer employees to address the three issues and make recommendations for improvement. There was alot of communication to employees throughout the process and alot of ideas instituted. We are now wanting to do a follow up survey to see if we have in fact made improvements as that was the reason for conducting the survey in the first place. Or to tell us if other areas have risen to the top as issues since we have addressed the ones from the first survey. For the previous survey we had a 48% response rate and would like to see an even higher percentage this time. I think since employees have seen that we have in fact taken action and made improvements, more people will feel we are taking their input seriously. However, I still felt we can further show that we truly value their opinions if we create more enthusiasm about the next one. Thus, the idea of creating a "theme" for this go-around. We are moving on the right track but I think building some excitement about it would still help. That's why I was hoping some of the many creative minds out there on the forum might share some ideas.

Don D

"However, I still felt we can further show that we truly value their opinions if we create more enthusiasm about the next one."

I guarantee you that if you had a 48% response rate and you addressed the major concerns and communicated that well in followup meetings, that will generate all the enthusiasm you need for your upcoming effort. I can't help with the idea of a 'theme' or a fun gimmick since I don't see the connection or need for those with this particular activity.

Now, I do see a down side to what you did earlier. You ignored or did not address EVERY concern, therefore you have possibly disenfranchised quite a few respondents who may think their input did not warrant action or did not rise to the level of importance that other responses to your survey got. Perhaps you could have a second phase where you select some of those for action. Or at least address all of them before you move to the next level. What your system did was give the perception of ignoring those that did not perhaps get mentioned at least seven times in the initial survey.

Dutch2

We do a similar survey every year. We send out a list of questions just to get folks thinking and to ensure that the topics they we wish to be discussed will at least come up. The ee's can send in their answers ahead of the meetings or they can just attend the meetings and discuss their opinions. The President/CEO and his executive sec. are the only management in the meetings. We feel this incourages the ee's to discuss topics that they may not be comfortable doing if their supervisor(s) were also in attendance. After the meetings the CEO sends everyone on the Sr. Management Team the questions/concerns (that he was unsure of) that apply to their areas and we answer and we respond in writing. Every question asked and concern raised is then sent out in printed form with the company response to each within a week of the meetings.

sonny

workforce.com has some good information running on this topic.