Employee survey: ask, analyse, and then really do something

It delivers an anonymous, comparable picture of how employees experience leadership, collaboration, processes and information, across all departments. This lets senior management see where action is needed before it shows up in staff turnover or sickness absence, and base measures on data rather than impressions. For the workforce it is a signal that their view counts, provided visible consequences follow. If they do not, a survey has a negative effect: it raises expectations and disappoints them. The benefit therefore comes not from asking, but from what happens afterwards.

An online survey tool that supports anonymity, multiple languages and analysis by department, and whose data is stored in the EU or Switzerland. For production I supplement it with terminals on the shop floor or paper questionnaires, because many employees on the shop floor have no company e-mail. Which tool is actually used depends on your size, your IT requirements and your data protection rules; I clarify that in the concept. More important than the tool are the questionnaire and the process that follows; the most expensive tool does not help if the results end up in a drawer.

Through technical and organisational rules. Technically, no names, e-mail addresses or device information are recorded, and analysis is carried out only for groups above a minimum size, usually five to seven people; smaller units are combined. Organisationally, the survey is run and analysed by me as an external party, so nobody in the company has access to raw data. These rules are agreed with the staff representation before the survey and explained to the workforce. Anonymity that is not explained is not believed, and then participation drops.

For a full survey, 30 to 50 questions that can be answered in ten to fifteen minutes. More reduces participation, especially in production, where the survey takes place during the break or at the end of the shift. A pulse check manages with five to ten questions. More important than the number is the selection: every question should be assigned to a topic that the company wants to and can work on. Questions on topics where nothing can be changed raise expectations that will be disappointed. One or two open questions at the end deliver the stories behind the figures.

The most important part. Within four weeks of completion, senior management receives the overall analysis and every manager receives the results for their department. Then every manager discusses the results with their team in a workshop and derives two to three measures with them; senior management does the same for the cross-cutting topics. The measures are recorded in a list with owners and deadlines and followed up in a regular review meeting. After three and six months, the workforce learns what has been implemented. Without this process, a survey is wasted money.

A full survey every two years is a good rhythm for most companies: long enough to implement measures, short enough to see developments. In between, pulse checks with a few questions are suitable, for example every six months or after major changes, to test the effect of measures. Surveying more often without implementing anything in between does harm: the workforce notices that questions are asked but nothing is done. The rule of thumb is to ask only as often as you are prepared to respond to the answers.

Yes, if it is made for it. That means: short, clearly worded questions without management jargon, translations into the languages of the workforce, access without a company e-mail via terminals, QR codes or paper, and time during working hours, for example at the end of the shift. The managers must actively support and explain the survey, because their attitude determines participation. And the results workshops must fit into the shift schedule. With these adjustments I achieve response rates in production that are comparable with the office; without them, the shop floor is left out and the picture is skewed.

That depends on the number of employees, the languages, the format and the extent of support after the survey. I bill on a time-and-materials basis at a day rate or as a fixed-scope package, transparently and monthly; tool costs are shown separately. A package typically includes design, questionnaire, delivery, analysis and facilitation of the first results workshops. We clarify the scope and the proposal in a no-obligation initial consultation. I quote amounts there, not on the website, because without knowing your starting point they would not be serious.