You want to run a survey? Great! But how to get your employees to complete it?
Simply running a survey isn't enough
Employee surveys play a vital role in understanding your employee’s needs, satisfaction, and engagement levels. They provide valuable insights into your employee’s perspectives, letting you make informed decisions and improve the various aspects of your business. However, running an employee survey is the first step; your job doesn’t stop there, and ensuring maximum participation and engagement is equally important. In this blog post, I will discuss five effective strategies to promote your surveys and encourage active participation.
- Communicate the purpose and benefits:
One key element in encouraging your employees to participate in surveys is clearly communicating the purpose and benefits of their feedback. When introducing the survey, please explain how the insights gathered will help shape organisational policies, improve their work environment, and enhance the employee experience. Emphasise that their opinions are valued and that their feedback from your survey will ultimately lead to positive changes. When employees understand the purpose and their potential impact, they are more likely to engage and provide thoughtful responses.
Also, make them feel special and get them to want to complete your survey and express genuine appreciation for their participation in it. Consider putting the following in your comms, email, and introduction to your survey.
- “We want to know what you think.” Emphasise that you value their opinions—and explain how their feedback will directly impact your product roadmap or offerings, the content you send them, etc. Be specific so they understand how they will influence company decisions with their opinions.
- “Please take 5 minutes to complete our survey.” Be respectful of their time by giving them an idea of how long it will take them to complete your survey. We show this on our summary page when building your survey. Also, tell them how much you appreciate the time they’re taking out of their busy day to do you a favour.
- Bonus: Keep Pulses short
Given workloads and attention spans, short surveys encourage participation. A five- to seven-question pulse survey will take an employee two to three minutes to complete. Managing expectations helps, too, “This five-question survey will take two minutes.”
But sometimes you need a comprehensive survey—in the 40-question range. Don’t assume you won’t get the participation you need. Research says that participants who stick with a survey for five minutes are likelier to finish it. Just don’t expect a 90% response rate.
2. Ensure Anonymity and Confidentiality:
This point is one of the most important ones in this blog.
Assuring employees of anonymity and confidentiality is crucial in promoting honest and open feedback. Employees should feel comfortable sharing their opinions and concerns without fear of repercussions. Clearly state that survey responses will be collected and analysed anonymously and that individual responses will not be linked to personal identities. This encourages employees to provide genuine feedback, knowing that their answers are safe and protected. Reinforcing the confidentiality aspect in your communication builds trust and encourages participation.
3. Provide multiple channels for participation:
Offering various channels for survey participation is essential for accommodating different employee preferences and abilities. While online surveys are popular and convenient, not all employees may have easy access to computers or are comfortable with digital platforms. Consider offering alternatives like paper-based surveys or dedicated survey kiosks in common areas. Using QR codes on posters and leaflets is also a very popular and convenient method. Meetings are great for “convenient” gentle nudges. Leaving a poster on the meeting room table or in the cafeteria with a QR code makes participation easy, and tools like ours make it easy for respondents to use their preferred devices. Using posters, videos, and animations helps promote on various platforms; if you have an intranet, you could utilise that.
If you have deskless workers, maybe posters, leaflets, stickers with a QR Code, and a short how-to might be best. Company newsletters, intranet portals, or email bulletins to create awareness about the survey. Also, send a reminder (or two or three). This seems obvious, but it works. When we conduct surveys for our clients, there’s always a spike when we send a reminder. Also, Schedule your survey when the calendar is clear so you’re not competing for attention. While it may not overlap with other surveys, it’s worth checking for significant initiatives and busy times.
4. Management Support and Involvement:
Explain the importance of participation and arm your managers with the correct information, as they will spearhead their teams’ completion rates. Leadership support is vital in promoting employee surveys. When employees see their managers actively encouraging survey participation, they are more likely to engage. Managers can advocate for the survey during team meetings, emphasize its significance, and explain how it aligns with the organization's goals. When employees perceive that their managers value the survey, they are more likely to take it seriously and provide honest feedback. Trust is a big thing here.
5. Continuous Feedback and Action:
Highlighting your employee survey's importance and ensuring they know how their feedback will be used will lead to tangible actions and improvements within your organisation. Employees want to know that their opinions matter and will result in meaningful changes. Communicate how their survey data will be analysed and how the insights gathered will be used to drive positive changes. Employees won’t complete your survey if they believe nothing will happen.
To foster a culture of engagement and trust, share the results with participants, employees, and stakeholders every time you conduct a survey. Providing timely feedback and communicating the actions taken based on survey results is crucial. Additionally, provide a clear plan for follow-up actions and timelines, highlighting key themes or improvement areas. When employees see that their feedback is being taken seriously and acted upon, they are more likely to engage and participate actively in future surveys. Regularly update your employees on the progress made based on the survey results to demonstrate transparency and accountability.
To conclude:
In Conclusion, promoting employee surveys requires thoughtful planning and practical strategies to encourage participation and engagement. By communicating the purpose and benefits, ensuring anonymity, providing diverse participation channels, utilising effective communication channels, and emphasising the impact and follow-up action, organisations can foster a culture of feedback and improve employee engagement. Remember, employee surveys' success lies in the employees' willingness to share their honest opinions, so make it a priority to create an environment where their feedback is valued and acknowledged.
Want to talk with us about your employee surveys? Book a time slot here