by Julie Burrell | October 30, 2024
Surveys can be a powerful tool for improving workplace culture and employee satisfaction, but they can have unintended consequences if no action planning follows. In fact, the lack of tangible — and rapid — action planning often lead to a cycle of employee disengagement and eroded trust, which results in fewer employees taking future surveys, and ultimately weakens their effectiveness overall.
But getting surveys right is possible. By implementing targeted surveys and following up with action planning, higher ed workplaces can earn a reputation for valuing employee insights. CUPA-HR’s recent webinar Turning Insights Into Action: Designing and Implementing Impactful Employee Climate/Engagement Surveys explains how to build, or regain, employee trust and confidence in surveys, increase response rates, and create a campus culture in which employees’ perspectives are prized.
Ask These Two Questions First
Before launching a survey, ask these critical questions: Does our institution need a survey? And, if the answer is yes, does our institution have the resources to act on the survey results?
Without a solid “yes” to both questions, consider pausing survey efforts. It’s better not to conduct a survey at all than to conduct one and not follow it with action planning.
Surveys should also focus on clear objectives, addressing one to three specific topics in depth. They should be topics the institution is ready to act promptly on once the survey is concluded. It’s also best to avoid questions with predictable answers. For example, you may already know that employees want parking that’s both closer and less expensive. Asking more refined or open-ended questions might lead to actionable results. In the case of employee satisfaction around parking, the right question might reveal that safety is a primary concern, something that can be addressed by installing more lighting in lots or strengthening security for employees using parking garages after dark.
Increase Response Rates by Building Trust
Effectively communicating the survey rollout and offering incentives can boost completion rates, but responses are ultimately determined by the trust employees have in your institution and the survey process itself.
Make it anonymous. Clearly communicate how the survey will be kept anonymous and confidential. This is especially important for open-ended or text-based responses. If you’re not using an outside vendor, consider adding a survey analyst to your committee — you probably already have employees with these skills.
Know that timing is everything. The survey should be sent out at the right time to avoid clashing with other surveys and to steer clear of any big campus plans or events that might skew results (for example, a recently announced capital project like a new stadium). A timely response from leadership is key, as are timelines in action planning. Any follow-up items should have target completion dates.
Be clear on when and how employees will see the results. Don’t wait for a grand reveal when action items have been completed. This might take months, long after employees remember how they’ve answered survey questions. Instead, publicize the survey results as soon as possible and begin listening sessions to both refine results and include departments and divisions in planning.
Build in accessibility and offer time to complete it. Consider if you need to translate the survey into multiple languages or if employees working outside of an office might benefit from a hard copy. Encourage supervisors to offer incentives like an early departure after completing the survey and ask them to send calendar invites to block off time for completion.
Take Action. This is by far the most important way to build trust. The webinar offers concrete processes for building and planning a survey, impact planning (including templates to send to campus leadership for quarterly tracking), ideas for holding listening sessions, and proven employee engagement strategies.
Discover More Resources for Data-Informed Decisions
Read the article Employee Engagement/Satisfaction/Climate Assessment: Producing Actionable Results, which offers a six-step guide to creating and implementing effective surveys.
Explore other webinars in CUPA-HR’s Data and HR series: Data You Can Count On: Using CUPA-HR’s Data Resources for Strategic Decision-Making and Data Visualization and Storytelling Tips and Tools for HR.
How does Disney engage over 70,000 employees — aka, cast members — to ensure that the details are done right? While cast members’ jobs may be different, from serving food at EPCOT to directing riders on Space Mountain, they all share in one common goal: creating happiness. In their talk, Williford and Pyka emphasized that culture is defined by how people behave, and training is critical to achieving desired behaviors. Caring and communication are also vital elements of culture. The extent to which organizations genuinely care for their people is the extent to which those people will, in turn, care for customers and each other. And high-quality communication can reinforce culture as much as lack of communication will undermine it.
Why? One reason is that work has replaced what people once found in community, whether through church or bowling leagues or book clubs. McGowan said that’s why current and future generations entering the workforce seek jobs that reflect the totality of their values and personality.