Everyone nodded. Then it went quiet.
Tuesday afternoon, and the whole team is in the canteen. HR presents the employee survey results: forty slides, a few charts and a list of action points. Everyone nods.
Then the report goes to the management team. That's where it stays, somewhere between the budget and the daily rush. Six months later, the invitation for the next survey arrives.
At the coffee machine, a colleague says out loud what others are thinking: "Why would I fill that in again? Nothing ever happens with it anyway."
What a waste, because the answers are already there. You just have to do something with them. And that's easier than it sounds.
Why the report gathers dust
Hardly anyone shelves a report on purpose. It just happens, step by step. Things usually go wrong in the same places:
- The list of action points is too long. Twenty points look thorough, but nobody knows where to start.
- There is no name next to it. It says "we'll pick this up", so nobody does.
- HR becomes the owner of everything. But most issues live in the teams, not in the HR department.
- Nobody says what is happening. Even when something does change, people don't know it's because of their answers.
That costs more than you think. Researchers at McKinsey reviewed more than twenty academic articles on why people get tired of surveys. The number one cause was the feeling that the organisation wouldn't act on the results anyway.
Gallup showed back in 2006 what you gain when you do act. Look at the teams that felt most strongly that the last action plans had made a difference. Their engagement rose by 10 percent on average. In the teams that felt this least, it dropped by 3 percent on average.
So doing nothing is not neutral.
Discuss the results with the team itself
A report in a folder changes nothing. A conversation with the team does. So put the results on the agenda of every team meeting within a few weeks.
The answers are anonymous, and they stay that way. So you don't ask who said what. You ask: "What do you think is behind this?"
Take a customer service team that scores low on one point: hearing about changes in time. In the conversation, the story comes out: new promotions are already on the website before the team knows about them. Customers call about them and nobody has the answer.
Sort what you hear into three buckets:
- What the team can fix itself.
- What the manager can arrange.
- What needs to happen higher up in the organisation.
Then, together, pick no more than two points to really work on. Two points that get done achieve more than twenty that sit on a shelf. Write the rest down for later.
Put a name and a date on it
An action point without a name is just a wish. So don't write "we will improve communication". Write down who does what, and by when.
In the customer service example, that gets very concrete. Team leader Sarah agrees with marketing that every new promotion goes into the team channel a week in advance. That starts in the first week of March.
Make the team's manager the owner, not HR. HR can help, but the problem lives in the team, and so does the solution. Take a first small step within two weeks, so people can see you mean it this time.
Also be honest about what won't happen, and why. For example: "A new canteen isn't in the budget this year, because the money is going to new laptops." An honest no beats a year of silence.
Show what happened with the answers
This step often gets forgotten. Something does change, but nobody connects it to the survey. Then it still feels as if nothing was done with the answers.
So just tell people, in three sentences: this is what you said, this is what we did, and this is what's coming. Say it in the team meeting, put it on the screen in the canteen or in the newsletter. Better too often than too little.
After a few months, briefly check whether things have improved. You don't need a new survey for that. One question in the team meeting is enough: "Do you hear about changes in time now?"
Also start the invitation for the next survey with what happened last time. For example: "Last year you heard about new promotions too late, and now they're in the team channel a week ahead." Then people know why it's worth taking part again.
The short version
An employee survey is only worth something if you act on it. People don't switch off because of a survey. They switch off when nothing happens afterwards.
So discuss the results with every team and together pick no more than two points. Put a name and a date on each point. Then tell people what was done, including what didn't work out.
GrowPromoter is a European feedback platform for customer and employee experience (NPS, CSAT, CES and eNPS). You see where each team needs action, and your own contact helps you with the next step: Book a 30-minute demo.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns the action points: HR or the manager?
The team's manager. HR helps make sense of the results and keeps an overview. But most issues live in the team itself, so that's where the owner belongs.
How many action points should you pick after an employee survey?
Two per team at most. That keeps it doable, and people really notice the difference. Write the rest down so you can come back to it later.
Should you share the employee survey results with everyone?
Yes. Everyone took the time to fill in the survey and wants to know what came out of it. Share the main points with everyone, and discuss with each team what matters to them.
