Employee engagement surveys powerful tool if used properly

Many well intentioned mergers, acquisitions, change programmes and new business ventures have fallen on rocky ground simply because not enough thought was given to their execution. File photo / NZ Herald

Just as the popular song lyrics suggest- It ain't what you do (it's the way that you do it - success in most things depends as much on how we do them as it does on what we actually do. This is especially true of organisational life.

Many well intentioned mergers, acquisitions, change programmes and new business ventures have fallen on rocky ground simply because not enough thought was given to their execution. Stu Havill, a senior consultant with Australasia's leading workplace and employee engagement survey specialists JRA, suggests that this is especially true when it comes to running employee engagement surveys. "Some organisations decide to measure employee engagement merely as a 'box ticking' exercise and don't really put much thought into how best to launch, run and communicate the results of their survey. Nor do they put much focus on how best to make changes as a result of what gets learned. [Conversely], many organisations carefully plan, communicate and monitor the implementation of their employee survey and then use the results to make positive and effective changes." Havill points out "the starting point for these organisations is first to ensure there's a clear link with organisational objectives and everything else flows from there".

One success story is Kiwibank, a sponsor of the 2011 JRA Best Workplaces Survey and a client of JRA. Catherine Taylor, Group manager of people and business services for Kiwibank, highlights some of the critical success factors instrumental in maximising the investment made in measuring employee engagement. "First, make sure the CEO is on board and survey communication should come from them - employee engagement is not an HR process, it's a key business imperative so visible support from the top is critical. Also, make sure you inform all employees as to the purpose of running the survey, the benefits to them and what will happen with the results."

JRA is running the 2011 JRA Best Workplaces Survey in association with the New Zealand Herald and sponsored by the New Zealand Chambers of Commerce, Kiwibank and HainesAttract. The survey runs from June 1 to August 31. Registrations are now being taken.

www.bestworkplaces.co.nz