Tips for communicating your employee survey results

It is vital that you communicate your employee survey results, communication demonstrates:

• You have “heard” what your employees had to say
• You are taking steps to address issues and concerns

If employees don’t receive any feedback on employee survey results, it will contribute to a view that their views are not valued. It may also encourage rumours about the results.

Where appropriate, involvement of senior leadership in the communication of your results can be valuable.

Key areas to address with your employee survey results

Talk about the employee survey process

• Remind employees why they conducted the employee survey
• Explain how the employee survey was conducted
• Describe in simple terms what the survey is measuring

Detail the top line results

• Convey what you have learnt from the employee survey data
• Indicate the areas which have been determined as a focus area based on the interpretation of results
• Let employees know that you will be seeking their feedback on the results to strengthen your understanding

Action planning

• Tell people what to expect in terms of an action plan based on the survey results
• Tell your employees how they will be involved in the process by engaging them in the decisions that identify how key focus areas will be addressed
• It is better to under promise and over deliver rather than the other way round

Top-down vs bottom-up communication

Initiatives to improve employees’ alignment with the organisation’s goals should be top-down, while improving employee engagement requires a bottom-up approach.

Employee engagement related initiatives are more effective when handled at the local team/work group level, e.g. Building more cohesive teams to maintain and/or enhance employee engagement .Alignment related improvements are generally better handed by top-down strategies, e.g. Clarifying your organisation’s external client orientation.