It seems like every company is racing for the highest productivity levels. After all, how else are we supposed to stay competitive in today’s market? But employee productivity isn’t as easy as snapping your fingers and watching the numbers go up. Research has shown that, time and time again, happy employees are productive employees. So, you do what any HR team would do and hold an employee engagement survey to discover what exactly the employees want that will keep them engaged.
However, the results might not be as enlightening as you would hope, and there’s a reason for that.
New research from Visier reveals that employee engagement surveys are ineffective at getting employees to do exactly what the surveys call for, which is sharing honest feedback.
Read on to explore some of the highlights from this report and discover what your next steps could look like.
Not-So-Honest Feedback
Let’s address the elephant in the room. A whopping 47% of employees admitted that they “feel pressured to withhold feedback” when filling out their engagement surveys. Yikes.
And if you think your surveys are the exception because they’re anonymous, think again.
According to the report, the number one reason why employees held back honest feedback was because they “don’t believe employee engagement surveys are ever really anonymous.” If an employee doesn’t trust the company to maintain confidentiality when promised, then the survey is likely to fail before it has even been sent out.
The second biggest reason for withholding feedback is when the employee doesn’t believe that any meaningful change will come from it. Ranked just under that is the thought that sharing honest feedback in these surveys just takes too much time.
From the employee’s perspective, the thought of spending too much time on a survey that won’t lead to any change doesn’t seem worth the effort. Add on the fear of retaliation because the survey wasn’t actually anonymous, and employees are likely to feel they have more to lose than gain if they allow themselves to be honest.
The Generational Gap
For what it’s worth, some employees are more likely than others to share their truth.
Out of the Gen X respondents, only 15% shared the same feeling of pressure to avoid honesty. So, if your employee base mostly falls into this generation, your surveys are probably safe.
However, companies with an intergenerational workforce will have to be more aware. Millennial (26%) and Gen Z (24%) employees were both more likely to fall into the dishonest category, and employees in junior positions are less likely to believe their colleagues are completely sharing their thoughts and opinions.
Why The Lies?
Now we know employees aren’t being 100% honest, but what are they holding back on?
Visier shares these insights too, revealing that 36% are dishonest about their job satisfaction, and 33% aren’t sharing how they truly feel about leadership performance. In a similar vein, 30% aren’t honest about their relationship with their managers, and 24% don’t feel comfortable sharing their thoughts on the available compensation and benefits.
Relationships with leadership and employee benefits are major factors when it comes to employee well-being and retention, so not having all the information in these areas is a detriment to employee engagement plans.
Take Action, Get Results
We finally know why some employees hold back in their surveys, but what comes next? The answer isn’t an easy one as change can’t happen overnight, but there is a solution.
Employees shared the top strategies they would like to see companies take with their engagement plans. Ranked at number one is “regular updates on actions taken from employee engagement survey feedback.”
Engagement surveys are meant to spark change, and your company may be one that follows through on insights from the results. However, your employees might not know that. Or if they do notice some change, they might not completely understand how it affects them.
By regularly sharing how the company is adjusting its practices based on engagement surveys and explaining the benefits, employees may start to realize they can trust the company. With more trust comes more honest answers to engagement surveys, which can then lead to a more positive change for everyone.
So, yes. Your employees are lying to you, but it doesn’t always have to be that way. With honest and transparent efforts to improve the workplace based on employee insights, engagement survey results can once again become a trustworthy strategy that both employees and leadership can rely on for change.
