Using Employee Surveys Effectively

At organizations of all sizes, employee surveys remain a consistent, go-to tool for gathering feedback.

But there are nuances to surveying employees. Done infrequently, organizations miss out on vital pulse checks for the company’s health. Done too often, they risk hindering productivity as employees experience “survey fatigue.”

We sat down with Kim Dawson, YouEarnedIt’s Director of Employee Experience, to talk about the importance of surveys and how they can be used correctly — as well as common mistakes organizations make resulting in ineffective processes.

YouEarnedIt: You have a lot of experience with internal communication and feedback gathering at companies. In general, what do you think about surveys and survey tools overall?

Kim Dawson, Director of Employee Experience: It depends on what the company culture is trying to be. If you’re interested in what your employees think, surveys are a great tool for that. If you’re not going to use the info — if you don’t really care — they’re going to backfire.

If we were to do our MUBs (YouEarnedIt’s Make Us Better meetings, in which employees submit feedback and ideas for improving anything at the company) and gather feedback for them with surveys but not take that data and make changes based on the info, it would just anger people. We’d say we’re trying to make this a better place to work but come off as not caring. Honestly, if your organization doesn’t care about the feedback, it’s better to not ask at all.

That said, a company that cares what employees think — a company that wants to make sure they’re delivering on their promises to employees and always strive to be the best they can be — can find a lot of value in surveys.

YouEarnedIt: What do you think are some of the biggest mistakes companies make with surveys?

Kim Dawson: One: not caring. Simple as that.

Two: not really understanding what you’re getting at. Surveys shouldn’t be spur of the moment or thoughtless. What are you trying to accomplish with this survey? Are you wanting employees to be heard? Do you want info so the company can make changes? Are you performing a pulse check? Digging for “dirt?”

Those things all happen — if you’re hearing signs of disgruntlement, instead of talking to those you know are disgruntled, you might send a survey to the entire company. This can end up giving everyone at the company the impression there’s more non-compliance than there is. Employees sometimes think of surveys as “witch hunts” and are less inclined to be honest when they think they’re being used that way. So surveys that aren’t 100% anonymous are risky in that regard.

Three: not thinking of the questions in ways that work. The way questions are asked has a big influence on the results companies get back.

Four: over-surveying. People get survey fatigue!

YouEarnedIt: When used right, what should companies be using surveys to accomplish? When should they use them?

Kim Dawson: You have to have a strategic plan for utilizing surveys to get the most bang for your buck. Also, show data over time that you can use to make decisions.

For example, we’ll be doing our Make Us Better meetings again soon. We will use the same survey that we’ve sent out multiple times before in the past years to gather feedback beforehand, so this time we’ll be able to see long-term trends in the data from that survey.

Sending out pulse surveys to determine the overall health of employees is something that can help companies manage change better. “How do you feel about your job today?” A point-in-time pulse to allow people to score how they feel and see how that changes over time can help you gauge what’s happening across your organization.

These can also be used to spot problems before they erupt into catastrophes.

Change management is a big part of the value of surveys. As the organization changes, if you have a regular cadence of surveys, you can determine how those changes are affecting teams or being internalized by employees — or if the changes are even effective.

I don’t think surveys substitute for good conversations and face-to-face feedback. You can’t just get information from surveys. But they are a good jumping off point for more in-depth conversations.

If you write a good survey while going through organizational changes and you get feedback about a change, you should be able to look at the data and say “we’re missing something in this area” and go back and take on that problem; tackle it moving forward.

Surveys should also let you know it might be time to pull the plug on an initiative, a program, a perk when needed.

Surveys should definitely tell you as a company what employees value and what you could be doing better.

About Kim Dawson
Kim Dawson thrives when developing a unique, purpose-driven company culture. She oversees compensation, benefits, and HR for YouEarnedIt. With a career spanning over 15 years in people-focused HR, Kim believes putting your employees first is the only way for your organization to thrive.

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