Employee Experience, Employee Surveys, Survey Design
We have shared a common approach for sharing employee survey results and developing action plans. In this post, we will share some specific examples of how our Great Place To Work-Certified™ companies and Best Workplace winners approach sharing survey results gathered on our Emprising™ platform and how they take action on the feedback to ensure a great workplace For All™.
How the best workplaces use employee survey results
Kimpton
The most effective part of the employee survey process, according to leaders at Kimpton, a hotel and restaurant group headquartered in San Francisco, is sharing results with employees and then together putting action plans in response to feedback.
General managers must develop an action plan to address responses that fall below the company-wide threshold for any particular question. Those action plans are then shared with the employees, managers and the home office within 30 days of receiving the survey results.
Each team discusses their action plan progress at employee meetings and pre-shift huddles until the plans are complete and implemented.
PwC
PwC, a professional services firm headquartered in New York, shares results from its annual full-census People Survey with partners and staff – no matter the outcome. Then, leaders talk with their teams about their specific results to create more context around the findings and generate ideas through two-way dialogue.
PwC uses a cascading communications plan that begins with messages from the senior partner and provides template communications to local leaders. The templates can be tailored by local leaders to drive the communication of results, key messages and next steps throughout the firm to all partners and staff.
Since completing the first survey in 2002, PwC has held its leadership accountable for results and has set clear expectations around improvement and related action planning. In fact, a Global People Survey target is set annually and is one of the primary metrics that make up their Human Capital Scorecard.
The action plan process is disciplined and rigorous – and refined every year to help drive desired results. The goal is to identify and address concerns quickly and share best practices across the markets and market teams.
PwC also creates “heat map” reports so that leadership can highlight areas of strength and improvement opportunities. The heat maps help make analysis more consistent and keep leaders focused on areas that need the most attention.
Each market uses the data from their survey reports analysis, the shared best practices and other relevant inputs – such as turnover stats, departure survey data and other key data points – to build their fiscal year market action plan.
This process and its templates are regularly reviewed and updated to drive greater results. Market action plans are shared with leadership and the execution and results of these plans are a key input for evaluating of the market’s managing partner and human resource leader.
Because visibility and knowledge sharing are important, plans are available to all market human resources leaders. This allows them to identify similar issues across markets, and then connect and collaborate on best practices and next steps.
To facilitate this sharing, PwC instituted a “best practice” series. Each month, two market human resource leaders facilitate a presentation and discussion on a specific topic that has helped to improve different areas measured by the survey.
Marriott International
At Marriott, an international hospitality company, property managers use the results of their annual survey to address work environment concerns that influence associate engagement.
Managers must share results and gather suggestions during regularly scheduled department meetings or stand-up sessions, conduct feedback sessions with associates and then create action plans. The action plans are submitted to an internal Engagement Survey Center.
The company provides managers with “We Heard You” posters, which thank associates for their feedback. And, managers must list and sign off on top survey ideas their teams are working on.
OhioHealth
OhioHealth, a non-profit hospital group, uses the results of their annual Associate Opinion Survey (AOS) to engage in a thorough process of action planning that allows leaders, including senior leaders, to respond to and act on the feedback associates provide.
Once the survey results are received, each manager meets with department staff to review the responses. They discuss both the positive results and what improvements could be made to enhance the work environment. Then, they develop an action plan for improvement.
The resulting action plans are provided to the responsible vice president and human resources staff to ensure accountability and follow-through. AOS action plan discussions then become a standing agenda item during department staff meetings.
Senior leadership teams at the care sites and business units also develop AOS action plans to drive positive changes for their specific areas.
If these examples of operationalizing feedback inspire you, please reach out for more information on our industry-standard Trust Index™ survey, or if you need help developing your company’s response to an employee experience survey.
