Maximizing Your Employee Engagement Surveys

Elizabeth Veliz, MBA, SPHR

President/CEO

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Objectives

• Effectively market employee surveys to drive maximum and record-setting participation rates yielding valid and actionable data

• Implement post-survey processes that allow HR to design and implement programs in response to the changing and evolving needs of the organization

• Deliver a strong value-proposition to the C-Suite connecting employee engagement to organizational performance

• Strategically implement and utilize employee survey data to evaluate organizational effectiveness, and impact organizational strategic planning process and human capital management decisions

A Quick Poll

How many of your organizations administer some form of

employee survey – satisfaction, engagement, stay, exit, new hire,

etc?

How many of you have seen actual change that resulted in

improved organizational performance as a result of the

survey results?

Employee Engagement

What is it?

What’s the big deal?

Why all the hype?

Employee Engagement -Defined

“…the willingness to invest discretionary effort on the job.” – Hay Group/Towers Watson

“The emotional commitment the employee has to the organization and its goals.” – K. Kruse HBR Contributor

“…when employees come to work with a greater sense of purpose other than their paycheck and benefits.” – Elizabeth Veliz, MBA, SPHR

Employee Engagement

HOT TOPIC!!!!

Employee Engagement is in the

News!!! It’s everywhere…

The Harvard Business Review

Gallup Study

Over 2/3 employees disengaged

Over 58% of those are actively

disengaged

The cost?

Over 350 billion dollars in lost

productivity!!!

But wait! There’s more!!!• Towers Watson: Operating Margins

• Low engagement: <10%

• Traditional High engagement: >14%

• Sustainable engagement: >27%

• Towers Watson: Employees likely to leave

• Low engagement: 40%

• Traditional High engagement: 24%

• Sustainable engagement: 18%

• Gallup: • 22% higher productivity/double the rate of success for the organization

• 48% fewer safety incidents

• 41% fewer patient safety incidents

• 41% fewer quality incidents

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Data begs the question:

How do we measure employee engagement in our organization??

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Current State

• Rumors

• Employees tell us

• Gut feeling

• We know our people

Tools

• Surveys

• Focus Groups

• Roundtables

• MBWA

• 1:1 Interviews

• Direct Observation

Survey Data

• Work Climate Assessments

• Organizational Study

• Employee Opinion

• Employee Engagement

• Employee Satisfaction

• Onboarding/New Hire Surveys

• Exit/Stay Surveys

In-House vs Outsource

• In-House• Pros

• Affordable – SurveyMonkey $300 Annual Subscription

• Your time

• Customized questions

• Cons• Lack of benchmark comparison to industry

• The “trust” factor

• The “TIME” factor

• Lack of back end reporting/action planning technology

In-House vs Outsource

• Outsourcing• Pros

• Experts manage the whole thing from end-to-end

• Most have benchmark data (industry, job, company size, etc)

• Proven, valid questions • Technology to support/track action planning

(accountability)• Confidentiality

• Cons• Oftentimes you don’t own the data• Cost – ($17 - $40 per participant)

Participation

What is the best method of driving maximum participation in employee engagement surveys?

a. Coercion

b. Incentives/Bribes

c. A strong Marketing plan

Case Study Part I

• Large Hospital System Southeast US• 12,500 Employees/20+ Locations

• Marketing Plan• Branded the survey

• Recruiting employees as survey ambassadors

• 92% system-wide participation

Participation-Other Surveys

• Onboarding/New Hire• Immediately after training• Kiosks• As part of new hire checklist• 30, 60, 90 day check-in

• Exit Surveys• Upon resignation• Outsource the survey• Follow up email

Participation-Other Surveys

• Stay or Retention Surveys• Throughout the year

• Random sample of employees

• Targeted group based on performance or other concerns

Post Survey

• Communicate the results – Yes, even if they are HORRIBLE

• DO SOMETHING with the results

Lack of public action will lead

to less participation in future

surveys and an adverse impact

on employee engagement!!!

Case Study Part II

The results were DISMAL

Case Study Part II

• Results posted on

intranet/reviewed in Town Halls

• System, Organization, Division

• Results Review Meetings

• Held by every single manager with

results to share

• Employee ambassador co-facilitated

the meeting where possible

• Department results posted in

employee only access areas within

the department

Case Study Part II

• Post Survey Action Planning Sessions

• Over the course of 3 months

• Department head plus 10% of the direct

reports

• Facilitated sessions with coaches

• 1 hour of problem-solving/goal-setting training

• 6 hours of action planning on top 2-3

items

100% supported by CEO

Case Study Part II

• Action plan follow up

• Plans entered into vendor’s tracking system

• Monthly review of progress by HR

• 3rd Monday of the month’s Executive Hot Meeting – HR presented progress

• Executives held accountable for progress in their divisions

• Part of monthly one-on-one meetings with Administrators, Directors and Managers

Case Study Part II

• Engagement Scores compared to KPIs

• Trending to see impact of engagement

• Action plans identified significant systemic issues driving nurse engagement down

• Re-designed proposed recognition program based on feedback from the survey – cost savings

• Re-design of re-supply process on medical units – cost savings

• Development of leadership who needed it

The value of this data…

• Strategic planning sessions

• Development of goals/objectives

• Feasibility of decisions made at the top

• Can it be done

• Do we have the resources on the front lines

• Is the skill set available and ready to be used

• Course Correction Opportunities

Case Study Part III: Results

• Increased Employee Involvement

• Improved KPIs – Clinical Quality Indicators, Infection Rates, Bundle Utilization

• Increase in Patient Satisfaction Scores

• Increased employee engagement by over 400% in one survey cycle

The C-Suite

• Data• Trend analysis

• Return on Investment

• Cost/benefit

• Breakeven

• Case Studies• Gallup

• Towers Watson

• HBR

The beginning…

…of any employee engagement strategy begins with data

Questions