How do you tailor Employee Engagement surveys for different departments?

One key reason for tailoring surveys for different departments is to drive local ownership. A common warning sign of an ineffective engagement survey is when leaders refer to it as the "corporate survey". In other words, it feels like it's something that's done to people, rather than with people. By providing leaders space to surface especially important local issues, you are giving them some skin in the game and increasing accountability. In global surveys this can be especially important to do.

A common flaw in developing objectives is focusing on outcomes instead of root causes. For example, common topics include competitive compensation and benefits, employee development, remote work, etc. Focus on these types of objectives are often why outcomes of employee engagement surveys fail. More effective objectives focus on drivers of engagement such as job fit, manager direction/coaching/feedback, culture, and team dynamics. In this instance, the survey is universal across the organization, but the actions to address the results can be tailored to each department.

Start by understanding the goals and objectives of each department. What are their key performance indicators (KPIs)? What challenges do they face? What are their unique responsibilities within the organization?

There are a core set of humans needs across all Departments, which call for whole company surveys. E.g., How Satisfied are You work you with the level of coaching and feedback? How safe for you feel to voice concerns? They are the base line. AND Different departments have different pressures, psychological profiles and cultural dynamics. Sales teams need to input on how comfortable they are with targets and how well they are serviced by other parts of the business. Product teams need to input on whether they feel confident on how much they feel their company is investing in staying ahead of disruptive trends. You must tailor global surveys to provide insights that help each department fulfill their objectives within a functioning whole.

I advocate for treating each department as a distinct entity, akin to a mini-organization, with its unique culture, and casting the department manager in the role of CEO. While striving for a consistent employee experience across the entire organization is essential, it's equally crucial to recognize that practices may be perceived differently by employees in various departments. Understanding the specific objectives of each business manager is key when tailoring a survey. Aligning the survey objectives with the business manager's goals enhances the acceptance of feedback and the formulation of relevant action plans within each department. This approach ensures a understanding of departmental dynamics and promotes targeted improvements.

Develop or customize survey questions to align with the specific objectives and concerns of each department. For example, sales teams might have questions related to sales targets and customer interactions, while the IT department might focus on technical tools and workloads.

As a general principle with employee engagement survey design, it's good practice to have a largely universal set of questions to pose to all your audiences. This will ensure you can better benchmark internally, and be able to spot trends, nuances or commonality across teams, demographics or regions. That said, where you do have questions that may only be pertinent to certain business areas or regions, most good survey tools/providers allow easy question 'routing' to ensure these are seen by other the relevant people.

Why? Why segment your questions - they're all your workforce. How can you expect equity? Don't get me wrong, I understand the need in some instances to communicate differently with different audiences, and do use good Comms in questions. But for an understanding of differences in culture start with a level playing field.

Most employee engagement survey providers or tools make it simple to add routing or branching to one main questionnaire. This can ensure you only ask relevant questions to different areas of your business and, when it comes to reporting, can drilldown where needed on these areas.

If you want to analyse whole company trends and understand variances across the business, I’d recommend a core set of questions that is appropriate to all employees using uncomplicated, clear language. By all means add some questions in for certain groups such as line managers but, in my view, this should done sparingly.

A common mistake is choosing a survey delivery method based on ease of use for the administrator, not the employees. The delivery method of the survey that is easiest for employees to complete will yield more feedback.

The most effective approach is to adopt the 'Horses for Courses' method. It's crucial to factor in the accessibility of surveys for both office-based and field employees. Utilizing a core set of questions aligned with organizational values, coupled with customized department-specific inquiries, is highly recommended. This ensures a balanced survey structure that captures overarching organizational concerns while addressing the unique aspects and challenges within each department.

Pigeon carrier, fax, telekinesis? If they're far away, shout louder. People without keyboards can't type, and if they switch their monitors off no words will appear on screen... ...

While customizing questions, it's crucial to retain a set of core questions that are consistent across all departments. These core questions allow for company-wide comparisons and tracking overall engagement trends.

So much harder to do if you're segmenting results. It's making it harder to analyse, harder to understand decisions, and harder to make plans following, unless you have the resources.

In my experience, a comprehensive approach to feedback surveys involves analyzing both the big picture and demographic trends. To identify strengths and areas for improvement, it's crucial to grasp the overall feedback landscape. Given that People Managers often spearhead implementation, ensuring their understanding and acceptance of data ownership is imperative. Equally important is recognizing the value of qualitative feedback. While quantitative data answers the "what" of results, qualitative insights delve into the "why," offering essential context. This dual approach enriches result interpretation, strengthening subsequent action plans for enhanced effectiveness.

Effective communication of survey results involves several crucial aspects: High-Level Summary: Furnish a concise summary of the survey results to convey key findings succinctly. Areas of Strength and Opportunity: Clearly delineate the identified Areas of Strength and Areas of Opportunity, offering transparency on positive aspects and areas for improvement. Alignment with Employee Value Proposition: Map the identified areas to the Employee Value Proposition, ensuring a connection between survey results and the organization's value proposition to employees. Define Actionable Steps: Establish a clear path forward based on the feedback, outlining actionable steps and strategies to address identified areas for improvement.

Timely Feedback and Action Plans: Once the survey results are in, provide timely feedback to each department. Encourage department heads to work with their teams to create action plans based on the survey findings. Follow-Up Surveys: Schedule follow-up surveys at regular intervals to track progress and assess the impact of changes implemented as a result of the initial survey. Continuous Improvement: Use the insights gathered from department-specific surveys to continuously refine and improve HR policies, practices, and overall employee engagement strategies. By customizing employee engagement surveys to each department's unique needs and challenges, you can gather valuable insights that will help improve engagement, productivity.