So, your organization has just gone through an employee engagement survey - great! You have gained access to results and might think: what now?
Survey results show you where your organization is at the moment. Results are shown in a heatmap through different areas (dimensions) of employee engagement and through answers to open-ended questions. Before making any conclusions consider the next few things: current context, which phase of development the organization is in, what is the fluctuation like etc., in your organizational unit lately and what is the possible connection between previous events and current results.
Look at the results as a well-meaning voice of employees with the intention to make the company better together. Here you will probably find a handful of different positive and negative comments, expected and unexpected, but you have to keep the focus on constructive feedback on the basis of which successful Action plans for change will be built. Don't try to check, examine or question who wrote what or who answered something.
Steps for a successful Action plan implementation:
Communicate the results to your team. Thank everyone for the valuable feedback by participating in the survey.
Discuss with the team about obtained results, positive and negative. With open discussion we enable everyone to express their perception, expectation and thoughts of improvement. Being open and compassionate (accepting someone's reality even if it’s not your own) will help team members to feel comfortable. This way you will get honest feedback from your people in the future. It’s important to talk about how results relate to your everyday interactions and everyday work. For areas with best results, what is your team doing differently that led to positive results? For lowest evaluated areas, what are behaviors/processes that could be developed and improved? Don’t characterize any feedback as “wrong evaluation/judgement” or “bad feedback”, just direct all your focus on the things you can influence and all that through a positive context.
After you have communicated results to your team and discussed them thoroughly, your team is ready to choose one or two areas to focus on to begin with. We recommend keeping the focus on a smaller number of areas so you could make significant changes.
Brainstorm ideas for Action plan! When choosing measures and activities always think about the unique context. If something functions in one organization maybe it won’t be compatible with the values of your organization. Even within the organization, one team experiences different limitations compared to others. Always check with your team if an action makes sense to them.
Ensure the implementation of an Action plan through specific activities, naming employees (even entire teams) owners of specific measures, set a timeline and deadlines and determine measurable achievement indicators.
ADVICE: If you want honest feedback to improve employee engagement, then you have to give your employees a chance to actively engage through open communication. That means you have to talk less and motivate more, as well as let others speak.
Keep going bravely forward!