Presenting The Results

When an organization conducts an employee or customer survey, goals or objectives have been determined. We recommend that these goals be shared with the survey participants. With the completion of your survey, especially an employee survey, the company needs to let participants know about the results of the survey, if respondents are not told the outcome of the survey, they will be less likely to complete future surveys and will feel that their input was never really valued in the first place.

The reasons to share the results are similar for both employee and customer surveys, but how the results are shared requires different processes. In an employee survey feedback session the employees in the organization are the participants in the session. Customer surveys sessions have two separate feedback sessions: one with customers and one with employees.

When determining what to share with employees, regardless of the survey type, you must consider where their interests lie. You can always share an overview of the results and the key discoveries of the survey. It is also important to talk about specific work group results. For instance, a particular report can provide different groups with specific feedback about their performance and where to develop action plans.

Clarifying the Results for Action Planning

Feedback sessions are also useful for gaining a deeper understanding of the survey results (both employee and customer). Feedback sessions for employee surveys are conducted with the groups that completed the survey. This helps reduce misunderstandings, and allows you to gather more information about the source of problems and how best to solve them. Although employees don't have the information to explain why a customer responded a particular way, they do have insight into potential organizational causes for customer responses and how the organization might eliminate the source of various problems, when they are involved in customer survey feedback groups.

To clarify results with customers, we recommend groups that bring together a cross-section of employees from different departments and a sample of survey participants to review survey results and brainstorm for action planning. These groups provide a platform for direct interaction with customers regarding survey results, and an opportunity for customers to influence directly organizational decisions. When these groups are conducted on a consistent basis, with a changing group of customers and employees, it is possible to move towards a truly customer driven organization and head in a profitable direction.

A final step for both employee and customer surveys should be to publish a review of the survey results and the corresponding action plans being implemented. Oftentimes this is done through a company newsletter or your preferred line of communication. This allows customers and employees to feel ownership in shaping the company, which can lead to an increased sense of loyalty.
 
The Value of Feedback Sessions

It may be time to examine the feedback process if your survey is not living up to expectations.  Companies should not skip this step. Whether conducting an employee or customer survey, it is always important to share the results and use the information to develop and implement change. This will generate positive attitudes towards the survey process from employees and customers and will build a stronger, more profitable organization.

Our consulting team works with you to make sure that the results are understood and any contradictions are cleared up. The result, clarity that can be acted on to make the right decisions.