Guest Blog from Questback
Many employees would like to be able to change certain things about their place of work, whether it’s a particular process or the entire culture. However, most also groan when told that they have an employee engagement survey coming up.
On the surface, this is somewhat strange. Engagement surveys provide the perfect opportunity to comment on what’s going well at work and what isn’t, so why do many employees feel as though they aren’t worth their time?
1. Leaving it up to HR
One major reason why employee engagement surveys fall flat is because companies leave the entire process up to their HR department. Boosting engagement requires the effort of the entire company, but particularly managers and team leaders. Senior members of staff should lead from the front by engaging in dialogue on a frequent basis. Ask team members how their workload is going and schedule regular meeting where ideas can be exchanged freely. Your HR team has a key role to play in driving engagement, particularly around the area of communication, but they need help from the other members of staff too.
2. Not providing feedback
Coming up with a well-thought out employee engagement survey and collecting the information is only one half of the process – employers must also ensure that the results are relayed to their members of staff.
Make sure you circulate the main talking points or pieces of data from the survey with all your employees. Remember not to highlight individuals, however, as anonymity is vital if staff are to give their frank and honest input. It might also be a good idea to come up with a few bullet points on how your company is going to address the survey findings going forward.
3. It’s a short-term fix
Employee engagement surveys often do not have the desired impact because they feel like box-ticking exercises and one of the main causes of this is the fact that the issue of engagement is not talked about regularly.
Introducing superficial changes in the weeks following the survey doesn’t help matters either. Even though you may only carry out the survey once a year, encourage staff to talk to each other openly about their workplace at all times. That way, engagement feels like an ongoing process.
4. It has no impact
If your staff have been at the company for a number of years, there’s a good chance that they will remember the last employee engagement survey that they filled in. Unfortunately, they may also remember how little difference it made.
For employees to get the most out of the survey, there needs to be clear and visible impacts. Employee engagement software by Questback can help by closing the gap between collecting information and delivering results.
5. There’s no engagement
Ensuing that your employee engagement survey makes a genuine difference can be difficult to achieve. It can prove particularly challenging when there is a negative culture in the workplace. Conducting a survey will not magically make your staff more engaged.
Engagement needs to be fostered through every part of the company, whether that’s a result of positive feedback, better communication or team bonding exercises. Employee engagement surveys can certainly help with the atmosphere in the workplace, but shouldn’t be viewed as a quick fix.
A more engaged workforce has been shown to be more productive, innovative and happier. Getting the employee engagement survey right, therefore, can result in a significant boost for your business, but only if you treat it as more than an afterthought.
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