What Worked and What Didn't with Employee Survey Programs - Examples of companies that had success with surveys.
By Patrick Gilbert, David Slavney, and David Tong

Integrating a survey with organizational transformation
An international high-technology firm with operations in more than 60 countries positioned the survey process as an integral element of its organizational transformation. Survey branding was integrated with the company's ongoing change initiatives and made use of distinctive art and tag lines associated with this process. The survey results were summarized to provide index scores for each of the company's corporate values. Response rates were higher than targeted, and survey results were used to refine and support change initiatives.

The survey census day
A retail banking organization had been conducting employee surveys for more than 10 years, but response rates had sharply declined. An extensive process for pre-survey communication was developed and included posters, Q&A documents, and regular countdown messages through team briefings and company newsletters. A "survey census" day was scheduled to provide a focal point, but the data-collection window extended over two and a half weeks. The bank achieved a significant increase in the survey response rate and had one of the highest rates observed for retail banking.

The survey champion network
A major retailer conducted a company-wide survey that was administered by the central HR function. Questionnaires were shipped to stores and deposited, unannounced, in employee break rooms. Return rates were predictably low. For the next survey, a champion network was created, with representation from employees and middle management. Regular meetings were held to organize administration and provide mutual support. An employee representative was appointed for each store to assist in administration and to encourage employees to respond. The return rates were greater than expected and increased by 15 percentage points over the previous year.

Improving the fit with culture
An organization with manufacturing operations in the United States and Europe conducted its first company-wide survey using a standard "cultural audit." However, employees complained that the instrument didn't seem to "fit" the company or adequately address the issues of greatest concern. Participation rates were low. A new survey was designed using input from employee focus groups that better reflected the culture of the company. The new survey achieved a significantly higher response rate, and the survey follow-up actions were universally viewed as more effective.

Demonstrating senior management commitment
A corporate bank had established a company-wide objective to improve employee morale and to become an "employer of choice." Despite an extended data-collection window, survey response rates were disappointing and anecdotal evidence indicated that employees had become skeptical about the follow-up process.

For its next survey, the bank limited the number of issues for follow-up action and assigned an executive sponsor to each area. These areas were communicated to employees along with the name and photograph of the executive sponsor. For the subsequent survey, return rates increased significantly and employees indicated that they were more confident that follow-up actions would be taken.

The dangers of a false deadline
A U.S. manufacturing company with international operations wanted to present survey results at a senior management conference that was scheduled in two months' time. That allowed just eight weeks to design, translate, and administer the survey in more than 30 countries. Local management had little involvement in developing the survey process and was instructed to "make sure the questionnaires are administered and returned on time."

For many countries, the timing was impractical, with data collection scheduled during periods of peak sales activity or plant-maintenance shutdowns. Somewhat draconian methods were introduced to induce participation, but the majority of employees did not respond. Few actions were taken in response to survey results. In a subsequent survey, planning was begun eight months prior to administration and a survey-coordinator network was established. Roles and responsibilities were agreed on, and follow-up expectations were communicated to managers.
Response rates improved.

An appeal to charity
A UK retail bank wished to increase survey response rates and offered a charitable donation for each completed questionnaire. Simultaneously with this company-wide survey, a second survey was conducted with a sample of employees--but with no promise of a charitable donation. The response rates were identical for both surveys. The company continued to support charities, but concluded that offering a charitable donation as an incentive did not affect response rates.

Linking survey results to bonus
An insurance company linked bonuses for employees and managers to balanced scorecard objectives, one of which was "people satisfaction," as measured in the employee survey. In other words, bonuses were based, in part, on how favorably employees responded to the survey questions. Return rates were acceptable but low. Written responses to open-ended questions indicated that employees felt pressured to report high levels of morale. The bonus linkage was dropped from subsequent surveys, and much to the surprise of management, return rates and satisfaction levels increased.

Timing is everything
An international accounting firm believed that two weeks was a sufficient amount of time for data collection. They also believed that response rates would be unaffected by fluctuations in the business cycle. Data collection was scheduled to immediately follow the income tax filing deadline. After two weeks of administration, the response rate was abysmally low, and data collection had to be extended for an additional four weeks. Subsequent surveys were scheduled to avoid the tax season.

Starting a dialogue
A specialty chemical company with operations in more than 30 countries was disappointed with the level of participation in its first company-wide survey. Management was convinced that future response rates could be improved by taking action on the current survey results and by monitoring the effectiveness of follow-up. Each company location was required to prepare regular reports on follow-up actions.

Adopting the title of the survey, these reports became known as "Dialogue" reports. The Dialogue reports were communicated to regional management and became a regular part of the briefing packs that were routinely prepared for visits by the company's executive team. As hoped, the response rates significantly increased for subsequent surveys.

Reprinted from Workforce Online