Employee engagement surveys can damage engagement!

The latest research-based article from Impact Achievement Group reveals that employee attitude surveys may be doing more harm than good in their current form and offers practical solutions to the survey process

The article, "The Hypocrisy of Employee Surveys: A Closer Look at the True Impact," uses findings from a recent survey of human resource professionals, managers, vice presidents and chief executive officers to examine the myths and realities of current employee attitude survey practices. The findings validate years of anecdotal evidence about the inadequacies of employee engagement, attitude and satisfaction surveys.

Perhaps the most disturbing finding was the disparity of perceived value. Over the years, Impact Achievement Group has noted a predictable and routine disconnect between senior-level managers and human resource personnel and the manager/supervisor/employee base regarding the worthiness and utility of employee attitude surveys. For instance, the data revealed that 48 percent of senior-level personnel reported the surveys they used were highly valuable, while only 19 percent of all other respondents felt the same.

"The ultimate purpose of employee attitude surveys is to improve work-life for employees and impact business results," said Lee Klepinger, president of Impact Achievement Group. "To ignore or haphazardly use the resulting data is to breach a fundamental trust. Organisations must be willing to make substantive changes and commit to follow-through if they hope to increase employee satisfaction and engagement." The article recommends specific steps organisations can take to improve current employee survey practices, including:

•     Find out and focus on which vital behaviours, like coaching or taking disciplinary actions, bring about real improvement in the organisation.
•     Instead of the commonly used "lag" questions - opinions or judgments, design effective "lead" questions that elicit actionable information.
•     Use a more intuitive 10-point scale to increase accuracy and decrease score inflation and "perfection bias."

When managers and supervisors have little faith in the credibility or usefulness of employee surveys, they are less inclined to try to use those results to effect positive change. This results in a waste of time and money at best, and in increased dissatisfaction at worst. However, with a few fundamental changes, organisations can begin to gather accurate, meaningful data