Employee Survey things i learned
Some recent conversations made me go back to my booklet “Things I learned” to consult the “Engagement Survey” section.
Without going too far, here are some of the considerations that I have memorized over time, hoping that they will be useful to you. Read them as written by a Paul of the past who writes to the Paul of the present.
Engagement Surveys are a blessing: the situation described by the results and comments (whether you like it or not) exists regardless. So at least you can work with it.
Those who responded, even negatively, are more engaged than those who didn’t respond: they appreciate the energy that went into compiling it. Furthermore, high participation indicates that there is interest in change.
Although you are a great leader (and you are not), you cannot increase engagement, on the other hand you can certainly decrease it. In next week’s post I will elaborate on this comment I wrote more than ten years ago, when I lived and worked in China, a wonderful experience, which however began with a phase in which I was unable to get one right in terms of engagement.
If you experience the result of the survey as another KPI, you will end up transforming it into a referendum on you, because it is not a metric according to which “If I do A then certainly B”.
If the result shocks you, you haven’t done a good job as a leader. Sorry, it is what it is.
If you are now reading the results of your survey, you are a team leader or an HR Business partner and they have shocked or depressed you, do not be afraid. In a few days, if you like, I’ll tell you some of the other things Stefano Susani and I learned about how a Leader Coach approach can help create conditions for #therightteam in your environment
Hoping you find them useful, here are some of the tips from the past!
🧠 Create a very positive climate on this topic. Avoid killer phrases, comparisons with other teams and above all refrain from trying to figure out who wrote the comments you like least
🧠 Submit the results to the team in a group session. Useful questions: “What do you notice in these results? What surprises you? Do you find yourself there?” In this way you will create together a shared picture of the current situation, different from only the leader’s point of view. The goal is to understand together, the keyword is to SHARE the analysis.
🧠 Work together a vision that represents the ideal condition. Useful questions “How would you describe a team that receives the maximum score in this item? What prospects will open up when we have reversed this situation?” The aim is to open possibilities, the keyword is CREATION of the common vision
🧠 Work together an action plan that can guide you towards the ideal situation.
Useful questions: “Where do we start, what are the most important and most pressing aspects? What is in our control, what can we start doing tomorrow morning?”
🧠 Finally, make a pact ′′ How will we know we’re working in the right direction? How will we know we’ve achieved the desired results? The goal is to leave the room convinced that the plan is feasible and ready to face the difficulties.
As a leader, spend some time with the team to regularly check progress, clear and pave the way for them.
