Annual Employee Pulse or Pressure?
By: Steph Barry
Tags: Business Strategy, Employee Engagement, Organizational Culture

Going beyond the retaliatory opinion survey to relationship-building.

Numbers Too Good To Be True

The company was considered “one of the best places to work” and had for years gotten a 98% employee satisfaction score. The results were touted in talent acquisition, company investment literature, and HR association PR.

I had moved up to the inner circle, and now I was in the room when they rolled out the much coveted results. Sitting in groups by region, we were told how important it was to not figure out who said what. No sooner had my boss, whom I happened to be sitting beside, gotten his binder than he found his summary page and discovered his score had dropped significantly. It was clear one person in particular had scored him at the lowest level. As panic started to rise in me, he turned to me and said “I think we have a problem with so-and-so; he seems to have scored me very low”. I was equal parts relieved but also incredulous.

A trusted colleague told me her boss outright told his team the numbers “better be good” when the survey went out. Of course, he scored 100% even though he had a hallway reputation as a biased, difficult boss.

Later one of my direct reports came to me concerned that comments they had made were redacted because they were detrimental to the C-suite. Taking my leadership role seriously, I contacted HR about this. They denied it fervently and somehow knew who made the comments, even though the survey was supposed to be anonymous.

Used For Good

I believe wholeheartedly in getting employees opinions. I have worked in and with multiple companies and departments where annual surveys were used for good, making things better for the company and for the employees.

Employee opinion surveys are done well when they are:

Completed anonymously.

Given at regular, comparable intervals— such as annually.

Administered and/or broken down with enough people to not reveal who said what.

Conducted by a neutral, independent party.

Ask questions employees are directly involved with rather than higher-level strategy questions out of their scope — eg would you recommend this as a place to work, do you feel valued in your department, etc.

The numbers are used internally for improvement only and not as bragging rights.

Results are reported to an equally influential body, not HR, that can hold leaders at the very top accountable, such an advisory board.

If things aren’t in place to maintain the impartiality of the survey, employees should be wary of being truthful. If employers aren’t setting up their surveys this way, they probably aren’t getting the truth.

Used For Bad

Employees are told they should view the survey as an opportunity to tell the company how they really feel so that the company can make things better. Unfortunately, if a bad boss wants to know who is going to threaten his/her power, an employee opinion survey hands them the answer.

An institution I worked with used the annual survey results as a hit list for people to fire. To maintain that power, the boss additionally made sure HR reported to his cronies.

Middle Ground: Improving Employee-Employer Relationship

If a company really wants to understand how employees feel and if employees really want to be able to speak up, the employee opinion survey, done right, is one of multiple options to foster a productive, thriving employee-employer relationship.

The board, advisors, and the C-suite should look at other metrics to know what is really going on.

Glassdoor and other company review sites do have their downside. Either companies or HR professionals are putting in their own reviews or disgruntled ex-employees are bad-mouthing the company. Whatever the reality is, this is a data point prospective employees and current management should track and consider.

Exit interviews can also have the same issues and impact. Either nothing is said or it is a place to air dirty laundry. But when information is given, it needs to be examined.

Look also at voluntary turn over, particularly by department, boss, gender, age, race, and other demographics. When looked at objectively, the data and patterns can help indicate a possible problem.

Set up alternate complaint systems such and an ombudsman. Informal, neutral, and truly confidential, only the ombuds officer knows of the complaint. According to HBR, “thirteen percent of U.S. companies have them, to handle issues ranging from bullying to termination.” Employees are more willing to bring complaints to an ombuds officer and the officer, in turn, can alert leaders to problem areas.

Employees want to be heard and want to be happy at work. Employers aren’t always the best at managing that. They need to find ways employees can speak up truthfully, and management can hear it without their ego getting in the way. Everyone wants the company to thrive and satisfied employees.