Organisations need to re-think their approach to employee engagement survey action planning in order to get the most buy-in and return on their investment.

Employee Engagement Survey Action Planning Needs Change

During the economic crisis it has become even more important for companies to invest in workforce engagement. Yet there continues to be low levels of engagement in many organisations.

Employers need to get the most from their investments in recruitment and training. Whilst employee engagement increases productivity and lowers staff turnover.

Unfortunately there continues to be low levels of engagement survey response rates. One cause may be the market saturation of surveys. Another cause is the lack of effective action planning.

In order to encourage employees to take part in a staff survey they need to understand the questionnaire, its importance and the outcomes. There are several ways an organisation can promote and encourage respondents.

Timing is Everything

Before you begin, the first thing you must consider is timing. If the company is going through a time of change, upheaval or a busy period then the engagement survey will seem like an imposition.

To get the best results, choose a time that suits the staff. Otherwise, employees who do participate will give negative and skewed answers.

Communications Plan

Employees need to be aware of when the engagement survey will take place. They also need to be told when it will end and be reminded when time is running out for their participation.

An organisation’s staff also need to know how the survey will be conducted. This includes the method (online or pen and paper), how long it takes to complete and what the questions will be like (multiple choice or free form).

Staff cannot be relied upon to read every e-mail, especially if they do not work closely with computers. By reinforcing the parameters of the staff questionnaire, the employees can schedule it into their day.

Furthermore, the more informed staff are about the process, the less daunting the task of taking part. Employees will also feel more at ease if the engagement survey is conducted anonymously by a third party.

Other simple tricks include personalising the staff surveys. This can be done through using the right language and a brand survey initiative. This tells the workforce that survey is specific to the company, being taken seriously and not a one-off.

Delegation of Duties

It’s helpful to fully involve staff at all levels and have a communications plan for each. great{with}talent provide this with their engagement survey implementation pack, including: senior management teams, line managers and the employees.

By having the endorsement of senior staff and peers, employees will be more likely to participate. They will see that the survey may make a difference and that their views are valued.

This communication needs to happen throughout the engagement survey process. This means prior to the staff survey taking place, during and post-survey reviews.

Resource Allocation

It’s important to be realistic with resource allocation to follow-up actions. If there isn’t an adequate budget to follow through with the survey results then an engagement survey can have the opposite effect.

By asking staff to give up their time and give their opinions with no adequate rewards or change, they will be disgruntled and less likely to respond to future endeavours. Moreover, the current employee engagement levels will lower. Not to mention the waste of resources to conduct the survey.

It’s also wise to quickly respond the engagement survey results with ‘quick-wins’. These immediate small changes will give the company time to tackle larger tasks where results and change take longer to develop.

By being wise with time and resources, companies can get the largest benefits from their employee engagement surveys. Without due consideration, on the other hand, a survey can be detrimental.

Contact great{with}talent and find out more about their TalentEngage employee engagement surveys.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAF23qiSE8&w=560&h=315]

(Main image from People Time)