Fully Managed Employee Engagement Surveys: The Key to Better Employee Insights

Employee surveys are invaluable tools for gauging workplace satisfaction, identifying areas for improvement, and encouraging a culture of open communication. However, deciding on the right method to run surveys can be challenging. Should you manage it internally using online software, use external survey platforms, or a fully managed service? Each approach comes with its own set of advantages and considerations. As an HR leader, your role is pivotal in ensuring that the survey is well-designed, effectively communicated, and promptly acted upon. In this blog, we will explore the fully managed option. However, which route you go will depend upon your resources – people, time, budget and your experience/understanding of the process.

Challenges of Managing Employee Engagement Surveys In-House

Conducting an employee engagement survey internally using online software, is seen as a cost-effective approach, often used by smaller companies but it can have its challenges – these are the key issues facing in-house surveys:

• Resource and Time Constraints: Managing employee engagement surveys in-house often requires significant resources and time, which can detract from other critical tasks. The process is not only time-consuming but also involves a substantial effort from HR teams in designing, deploying, analysing, reporting and presenting the results.
• Data Interpretation Issues: Interpreting the data from employee engagement surveys can be challenging. Without proper expertise, the results may lead to misguided actions that do not align with the organisation’s needs, potentially exacerbating existing issues rather than resolving them.
• Maintaining Anonymity and Trust: A key challenge in conducting in-house surveys is maintaining the anonymity and trust of employees. Concerns about confidentiality can deter employees from providing honest feedback, which is crucial for the accuracy and effectiveness of the survey.

Benefits of a Fully Managed Approach

A fully managed service bypasses the challenges bought up by running a survey in-house.  This comprehensive solution, where every aspect of the survey process is handled by professionals, offers the following benefits:

• Tailored Survey Design: Fully managed services customise survey questions to align perfectly with your organisational goals, industry standards, and specific areas of interest, ensuring the data collected is highly relevant.
• Expertise and Insight: Managed services bring in expert consultants who design the survey, analyse results, and provide actionable recommendations based on their findings.
• Comprehensive Analysis: These services often include detailed reporting, benchmarking against industry standards, and customised action plans to address identified issues.
• Timesaving: With the entire process handled externally, your internal team can focus on implementing improvements rather than managing the survey process.
• Benchmarking Capabilities: Managed services can include benchmarking within sectors or against other companies generally, helping you understand where your organisation stands in comparison and identify areas for improvement.
• Comprehensive Reports: The detailed reports generated by managed services are often more thorough, providing in-depth analysis and clear, actionable recommendations tailored to your organisation’s unique context.
• Improved Response Rates: Expert consultants use proven techniques to increase survey participation, such as optimal survey timing and communication strategies, leading to higher response rates and more reliable data.
• Objective Analysis: External consultants provide an unbiased perspective, which can be crucial in identifying issues that internal teams might overlook or be hesitant to acknowledge.
• Actionable Insights: Managed services don’t just deliver data; they offer strategic insights and practical recommendations that can directly inform your action plans to improve employee engagement.
• Employee Trust: Employees may feel more comfortable providing honest feedback when surveys are managed by a third party, leading to more accurate and candid responses.
• Scalability: Managed services can easily scale to accommodate the size and complexity of your organisation, whether you have a small team or a large, dispersed workforce.

How to Implement Fully Managed Employee Engagement Surveys

Firstly you need to find a service provider for your fully managed employee engagement surveys.  If you have certain things you require from a provider – like budget, translations, accessibility, timing etc. it’s a good idea to mention these first. You should then be able to whittle the list down from there.

Here are a few other things to look out for:

• Experience: Look for testimonials and case studies to see the kind of work they have done previously; how they have helped other organisations and ask about previous experience and references.
• Security: Ensure that the provider prioritises security. Do they have a security management system?  How do they ensure your data is secure?
• Context: Does the provider ask the right questions about your organisation? Are they seeking to learn more about the context within which you are looking to run a survey?
• Personable: You will be in contact with them on a regular basis, so are they approachable?
• Contact: Do they answer your emails or return your calls in a timely manner? That’s a pretty good indicator for the longer term – especially if they are a smaller company.
• Response rates: What kind of response rates do they commonly get for their surveys? How do they achieve them? How do they encourage/assist ALL roles to take part?

Once you’ve chosen the provider they should be able to guide you through the survey process and will let you know what information they need from you throughout the process.

Conclusion:

Choosing the right approach for your employee engagement surveys depends on your organisation’s specific needs, resources, and goals. In-house surveys can be cost-effective and offer greater control but require time and expertise and will, often, produce inaccurate results. However, fully managed services offer professionally designed surveys, with higher response rates, that offer insight and comprehensive analysis ensuring accurate, actionable insights whilst maintaining trust among stakeholders. This leaves HR leaders to focus on implementing the changes that will enhance employee satisfaction and productivity.

At The Survey Initiative, our professional team is here to offer their extensive experience to help you navigate this process smoothly.  Contact us today to learn how we can support you in creating a productive and engaged workforce.

https://hbr.org/2002/02/getting-the-truth-into-workplace-surveys

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