7 Steps to Successful Action Planning after Employee Engagement Surveys

Does the prospect of extracting survey results that are informative, yet not damaging to morale or management, make your skin crawl? Surprise! Research and first-hand experience with clients reveal that after an employee survey has been conducted, employees are much more interested in SEEING action taken than they are in hearing the results of the survey.

In short: Employee surveys have little or no value if nothing is done to make improvements at the organization -- which is why effective action planning is a critical component of successful employee surveys. Whether or not you choose Insightlink for your employee surveys, we hope you'll benefit from some of the tips our clients get from our Action Planning workbook and form-fillable worksheets.

1. Review your survey results yourself and with senior management - the goal is to understand the main themes, identify the key strengths of your organization and decide the primary opportunities for improvement.
2. Take a breath…and share a short, highlight or bullet-style summary of the results with your employees, both to give them a "heads up" that their voices have been heard and to prepare them for the action planning to follow. You do not need to address all the findings, but don't delay in sharing something meaningful!
3. Name a coordinator (usually someone in HR) who is responsible for the Action Planning process. Remember that actions - not mere words -- are key to success!
4. Set clear and specific goals for improvement at your organization.
5. Create an effective and workable Action Plan to achieve those goals, with a concrete time frame for implementation and personal accountability built into the plan.
6. As soon as possible, communicate select, relevant parts of the Action Plans to your employees -- it not only prepares them for the changes that will be taking place but also emphasizes accountability within the Action Planning process.
7. Monitor and measure progress at achieving the goals in the Action Plans on a regular basis -- and be sure to celebrate successes as they occur!