The Latest Impact Achievement Group Study Concludes the Need to Refine and Improve Employee Engagement, Attitude and Satisfaction Surveys

Survey results article gives organizations tips and tactics for developing and implementing successful and impactful employee surveys

SEATTLE – October 3, 2011 – The latest research-based article from Impact Achievement Group reveals that employee attitude surveys may be doing more harm than good in their current form and offers practical solutions to the survey process.

The article, “The Hypocrisy of Employee Surveys: A Closer Look at the True Impact,” uses findings from a recent survey of human resource professionals, managers, vice presidents and chief executive officers to examine the myths and realities of current employee attitude survey practices. The findings validate years of anecdotal evidence about the inadequacies of employee engagement, attitude and satisfaction surveys.

Perhaps the most disturbing finding was the disparity of perceived value. Over the years, Impact Achievement Group has noted a predictable and routine disconnect between senior-level managers and human resource personnel and the manager/supervisor/employee base regarding the worthiness and utility of employee attitude surveys. For instance, the data revealed that 48 percent of senior-level personnel reported the surveys they used were highly valuable, while only 19 percent of all other respondents felt the same.

“The ultimate purpose of employee attitude surveys is to improve work-life for employees and impact business results,” said Lee Klepinger, president of Impact Achievement Group. “To ignore or haphazardly use the resulting data is to breach a fundamental trust. Organizations must be willing to make substantive changes and commit to follow-through if they hope to increase employee satisfaction and engagement.”

When managers and supervisors have little faith in the credibility or usefulness of employee surveys, they are less inclined to try to use those results to effect positive change. This results in a waste of time and money at best, and in increased dissatisfaction at worst. However, with a few fundamental changes, organizations can begin to gather accurate, meaningful data. The article recommends specific steps organizations can take to improve current employee survey practices, including:

• Find out and focus on which vital behaviors, like coaching or taking disciplinary actions, bring about real improvement in the organization.
• Instead of the commonly used “lag” questions—opinions or judgments, design effective “lead” questions that elicit actionable information.
• Use a more intuitive 10-point scale to increase accuracy and decrease score inflation and “perfection bias.”

“The Hypocrisy of Employee Surveys: A Closer Look at the True Impact” is available for complimentary download here.

About Impact Achievement Group

Impact Achievement Group provides assessment, coaching, and leadership development solutions. By integrating and blending the world's best assessment and recruiting processes, workshops and eLearning, coaching and measurement programs, Impact Achievement Group helps organizations improve leadership and management competencies to achieve employee engagement, accelerate innovation, and impact bottom line results.