Employee Survey Results: Review, Analyze, & Communicate them LIKE A BOSS!
As a former VP of People & Culture, & currently in the leadership, team & culture development work I do, I have lived & breathed & loved employee surveys. I have experienced firsthand the power they have to provide data so we can proactively & intentionally build our culture, in the right way, to support our employees & achieve our vision. It is incredible the information you are able to obtain just by simply asking your people for honest feedback.
However, a survey is just a tool unless it is implemented in the correct way, including clear communication & ensuring the results are being collected, analyzed, discussed, & acted upon. There are tons of free employee engagement survey templates out there, but no one is talking about all of the other crucial steps you must take after the surveys have commenced & the data is flooding in to actually make an impact with your team. That’s why we’re here today!
How to Review, Analyze, & Communicate Employee Survey Results LIKE A BOSS!
THIS IS THE EXCITING PART! You’ve received all of your employees’ amazing feedback, & now we need to analyze it! It can feel overwhelming at first, but don’t worry. We are going to ORGANIZE the information in a way that SIMPLIFIES & CLARIFIES what actions we need to take:
1. First, ORGANIZE the feedback into these 4 buckets:
1. Trends - What trends am I seeing? What are the majority of people saying? - Trends are important because they give you direction on where to prioritize your time/resources for maximum impact.
2. Outliers - What is one or a few people saying that is still important? - Use your judgment to determine what is still important even if only one voice is saying it. They could be a canary in a coal mine (an advanced warning of something that other employees may soon experience, or are feeling and are not voicing). Outliers can help signal where you need to be proactive before things get out of control.
3. Based on the feedback, what CAN we do & WANT to do? - List out the suggestions that you actually can do something about & that you WANT to do something about. Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should or that it’s aligned with your business’ vision, mission, values, culture, strategic plan, etc. Do the things you CAN & that are aligned with your company’s values. You'll want to note the feedback received, action you will take & the timeline by which you’ll do it.
4. Based on the feedback, what CAN'T we do or are CHOOSING NOT to do? - List out the suggestions that you can’t do anything about right now, or that you could, but are choosing not to because it is not aligned with the company’s mission, vision, culture or values.
Just because you can’t do something, it doesn’t mean you can ignore it! The worst thing you can do is survey your team & then DO NOTHING with their valuable feedback! You'll want to note the feedback received, why you can't do it, & how you'll communicate it.
Want a worksheet to help you organize your data into these 4 buckets?
2. Next, COMMUNICATE the results & your action plan:
Based on the data organization & analysis you completed above, you now have a plan of what actions you will be taking, by when, & a list of suggestions you won’t be implementing & why. These are the things you need to communicate with your team!
Step 1: Communicate with Leadership - You will want to make sure they are on board with everything you want to do, & agree with the things that cannot be done. You may also need their approval if any of the suggestions require a budget allowance. You can share your worksheets from above, or you can summarize the data further as follows:
Based on the survey feedback received, here are the things I suggest we do & by when:
Start having monthly all-hands meetings - start on 5/1
Create a Learning & Development budget for employees - during our next budget cycle in Q4.
etc.
We received suggestions that, unfortunately, we can’t implement at this time. Here’s what was said & why we can’t take action:
Change to an Unlimited PTO Policy - we just revamped our PTO Policy, so while we could consider this in the future, it is not something we should prioritize right now.
Quarterly Team Retreats - we don’t have the budget to do these quarterly, so we will stick with our semi-annual retreats. However, we can set sales goals that will allow us the budget to do quarterly in the future (motivating for the team!)
etc.
Step 2: Communicate with the Team - Once you get leadership’s support, communicate the information to your whole team! You can do this via email, a recorded video, live at a meeting, on Slack - whatever works best for your company & your culture. You don’t have to share ALL of the information team-wide - there may be some things that you & leadership determine are best handled personally with the employee who gave the feedback, for example. That’s okay! You do need to take action on all feedback, but that action doesn’t mean you have to address it publicly. That action may mean you follow-up individually with an employee to discuss it further, or support them in the way they need it right now.
NOTE: Results should be communicated to the team within 2 weeks of survey completion!
Step 3: Communicate in Weekly 1:1's - Encourage managers to follow-up with employees after the results are shared. Here are some questions they can ask:
What do you think about the survey results?
What do you think about the changes the company is going to make? What about the timeline?
What's one thing you're excited about?
What's one thing that concerns you?
Step 4: Communicate Weekly Progress Updates - Each week you should communicate to the team what actions have been taken and what’s been implemented based on the feedback received. This is SO IMPORTANT because it is creating a positive feedback loop - employees see that by giving feedback, you are listening, and things are actually being made better based on their feedback. They will be encouraged to continue to provide feedback because they know it isn’t falling on deaf ears!
You Totally Got This!
Alright Leader, remember, the only thing worse than not asking your employees for feedback is surveying them & then DOING NOTHING! This shows them that you don’t actually value their thoughts, ideas, & feelings, nor their time (since they took time to provide you with the feedback).
You can do this, you totally got it, & if you need any help at all, you know where to find me! (...and if you don’t, you can just click here 😁).
Want more employee survey pro-tips? Check out this blog post to learn 3 things you’re not doing with your employee feedback, but should be!
Pssst...I LOVE connecting with & growing my community! Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn - see you there! 🤗