Background
“The feedback process is the beginning of the follow-through portion of the Employee Opinion survey process. In an environment where communication is already effective, the feedback process can help to target potential problems and capitalize on strengths. In an environment where communication is poor, it can ‘jump start’ a change in culture where issues are openly and continuously identified, analyzed, acted upon and followed.”
An opinion survey is one of the tools organizations can use to continually measure and monitor what employees are thinking and saying about business matters, concerns and issues. On an overall basis, opinion surveys provide insight and help to better understand the feelings and perceptions employees have relative to the overall climate of the organization.
Opinion survey process phases typically include:
Development/Design
Communication/Administration
Data Collection
Report Generation/Analysis
Feedback/Action Planning
To insure the survey process is taken seriously it is critical for organizations to demonstrate a high level of commitment and active involvement throughout each survey phase. Actions can include, but not be limited to upfront planning (design, communication, administration standards, etc.), wide variety of awareness vehicles (posters, meetings, etc.) and the allowance of dedicated work time for employee completion of the surveys. The overall employee response rate will be a clear indication that the upfront investment and commitment was well worth the effort. The effort extended can qualify as a leading practice in the early phases of the survey process.
In preparation for the employee feedback process, sessions are generally held with the Human Resources team to provide an orientation to the survey report format along with refresher information on the facilitation of survey feedback meetings. Human Resources professionals can subsequently hold formal feedback sessions with each location management team once data reports are completed. In addition, an executive team survey overview feedback session can be held before or after employees have received feedback. During that session several follow up actions can be surfaced and agreed upon, along with an active discussion relative to learning more about some of the leading approaches deployed by companies and organizations relative to survey data follow up and action.
Benchmarking Study
As mentioned earlier, an agenda item during executive team sessions covers information and requests describing some of the leading approaches relative to understanding and acting on opinion survey results. In direct response to questions surfaced during the executive team sessions, The PARTNERSHIP recently conducted a study of some of those approaches. The following information summarizes the findings of the study.
Companies and organizations that regularly administer opinion surveys have varying degrees of success in their attempts to address those areas requiring attention and/or improvement. While the survey process generally includes five (5) distinct phases, the study focused on the three stages associated with feedback and action planning (reporting results, identifying issues and concerns and addressing opportunities). In addition, the study highlighted and showcased methodologies and practices deemed to be leading approaches by the sample companies and organizations.
The sample companies and organizations represent a wide array of industry segments, product and service offerings, geographic presence and employee populations. The companies and organizations are those with which The PARTNERSHIP has first-hand knowledge and/or experience. In addition, there is information on companies obtained from research conducted and published by the Corporate Leadership Council, a US-based human resource management research organization.
Profiles of and information describing the companies and organizations are as follows:
Findings
The study highlighted as well as showcased a number of practices and approaches that these particular companies and organizations regularly use as part of their survey process to properly identify and address employee issues and concerns.
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Three (3) distinct aspects or stages of survey feedback and action planning are presented in the study. The aspects or stages contained twelve (12) specific practices and/or approaches. The aspects and practices are as follows:
- Reporting survey results
- Identifying employee issues and/or concerns
- Addressing opportunities
Reporting survey results…Establishing formal processes for sharing survey results with employees at all levels of the company or organization.
Identifying employee issues and/or concerns…Determining the areas that, if improved upon, will increase survey ratings during subsequent administrations of the survey.
Addressing opportunities…Acting on survey results.
Lessons Learned
Throughout this information gathering process, a few items seemed to surface repeatedly. The items seem to take into account and encompass the three aspects central to the study.
Lesson 1 - Requiring business unit/location leaders to communicate survey results and action plans directly with employees may increase management’s commitment to improving survey feedback.
Lesson 2 – Action plans are most commonly used to increase involvement in improving employee satisfaction results at the business unit/location level.
Lesson 3 - Designating oversight of action planning programs to a senior manager or executive at the highest levels may ensure greater accountability and adherence to action plans.
Lesson 4 - It is important to communicate with employees when the company is unable to make changes to certain areas of the business in which employees may have indicated dissatisfaction. Ignoring issues that cannot be changed without explaining why changes are not being made only leads to increased employee dissatisfaction. If time is taken to explain why the company cannot make use of the employees’ suggestions in particular areas, employees are more likely to accept such an explanation and stop considering the issue when responding to future survey items related to that topic.
Lesson 5 - There are mixed reviews on whether companies and/or organizations should tie business unit/location leaders’ bonuses, compensation packages and/or performance metrics to survey results. In some cases it is believed that “…what is measured, will be addressed”; while at least one company that tied compensation to survey results in the past cited some drawbacks to the technique, including:
- Possible manipulation of survey items and results
- Too much emphasis on numbers and measures
- An overall negative atmosphere in regards to discussions about survey items
Credits/Disclaimers
This study was researched and documented to respond to frequently asked questions by clients relative to practices and approaches to better understand and act on employee opinion survey results. It is important to note that as a result of the research findings, The PARTNERSHIP is in no manner or fashion recommending or endorsing a particular practice or approach.
The sample of companies and organizations referred to are those with which The PARTNERSHIP has first-hand knowledge or experience (Companies A-E and K and Organizations A-D) or has become aware of through published research by major agencies or groups like, the Corporate Leadership Council (Companies F-J). The Corporate Leadership Council (CLC) is a US-based human capital research organization.
Published research used in the study from the Corporate Leadership Council included:
- Administering a Successful Employee Survey, 2002
- Improving Employee Satisfaction Survey Results at Business Units, 2002
- Improving Scores on Employee Satisfaction Surveys, 1998
To learn more about the Opinion Survey Benchmarking Study findings contact The PARTNERSHIP by telephone at 216.932.2391 or Email at ibrooks@netzero.net
The PARTNERSHIP
July 2008
