When to Share Engagement Survey Results with Managers

Who Gets to Share Employee Engagement Survey Results?
Traditionally, employee engagement survey results are within the purview of the HR team. They carefully gather, analyze, curate, protect, and distribute employee engagement data. The engagement results are then cascaded down through each layer of the organization. Leaders review the survey results and come to their own conclusions about what the data mean and what next steps should be taken to better engage and retain their top talent.

This all takes time — too much time from our perspective.  To make meaningful change, fast moving organizations need to get engagement data into the hands of those who can do something meaningful to engage their top talent.  One of the underestimated benefits of sharing the results quickly is the positive impact it has on psychological team safety and trust in the organization. Employees want to feel like their opinions count and that leaders take their feedback seriously.

Stale Employee Engagement Information
Sadly, almost 50% of managers’ report never getting their team-specific engagement survey results. And even for the half that does receive results, it is often too late to make use of them. The information is no longer timely, and it’s been so diluted from one level to the next that managers feel no real connection or motivation to follow through on what it tells them.

Up-to-Date Technology
Companies that are serious about engaging their employees rely on an up-to-date technology platform to gather, analyze, and distribute employee engagement survey results quickly. No longer do they think in terms of annual engagement surveys but rather in terms of collecting ongoing employee feedback. Employee engagement thus becomes a process of continuous feedback and improvement, not a tedious and overwhelming, once-a-year exercise.

Managers Need to Know
It is not HR alone, nor executive leadership, who can best translate engagement data into actionable steps for improved discretionary effort, loyalty, and retention. Managers are the ones on the front line; they know the individuals on their team, are able to share and gather feedback on the survey results and can solicit meaningful and relevant ideas on how to improve. Managers and their teams should actively work together on how to implement employee engagement survey results.

The Right Time to Share Employee Engagement Information
The best time to share the results of an employee engagement survey is as soon as they have been compiled. If managers are to take timely and meaningful action on what they learn about the engagement of their team, they need to have early access to the findings. These findings form the basis for high quality conversations between managers and their teams. Managers can then be held accountable for listening to their team members, encouraging employee insight and involvement, and empowering their teams to act.

The Bottom Line
We know that higher employee engagement scores correlate to 18% greater productivity, 12% higher customer satisfaction, and 51% less voluntary turnover.  We also know that employees who see meaningful action after a survey are twelve times more likely to be engaged the following year.  Equip your managers to engage their teams as soon as possible.

To learn more about how increase employee engagement, download The Top 10 Most Powerful Ways to Boost Employee Engagement