He says results must be shared with everyone from the most senior people to the most junior.
"It's about holding those in management positions to account as far as any workplace changes that were found to be needed are concerned - to make sure that the changes are made."
Hudson uses the Hewitt Engagement Survey. Rogers says he feels bringing in a third party to conduct the survey can be more effective than a "do-it-yourself" one.
"It gives a higher level of perceived confidentiality, so you're more likely to get accurate results. The employees won't be thinking that someone internal is tweaking the results."
Research showed that it took a few years for these surveys to show their worth - and there came a point when they lost efficacy.
"The first year is about getting the results and starting to act on them, the second time you do it and act on it, the outcome tends to be stronger year after year, until a certain point."
The organisation must be taking it seriously and really looking at the questions they are asking, and perhaps tweaking them.
"Over a longer time, employment surveys can lose their effectiveness. Past five years they can lose their way. At Hudson we have decided not to do one this year. We are consolidating the changes we have already made and focusing on the things that have come out in the past years.
"So although we are not doing one this year, we are still focusing on increasing staff engagement."
Senior Gallup consultant Robyn Reilly said research showed that if employee engagement was low, the sustainability of the company's performance was jeopardised.
Even if an organisation was strong, if employee engagement was low, the employer was not getting emotional and psychological connection to the job or the organisation.
This might not affect the company immediately, but it affected discretionary effort and innovation - so it would definitely have a problematic long-term effect.
She said that in the 1980s Gallup measured employee satisfaction, using 100+ questions. But research with Fortune 500 companies found an emphasis on this did not necessarily improve performance or outcomes, and 60 per cent of companies felt they were worse off after completing the survey.
"We decided to find out what questions really mattered. We had a look at the most successful workplaces and tested thousands of questions on their employees.
"We wanted to know what made people more engaged at these businesses and how it affected the organisation as a whole - what was it that was making these organisations so successful?"
Gallup concluded there were 12 things that were most important for employees to perform at their best.
"Usually with these polls there are 60 to 70 questions -- we were surprised it came down to just 12 items."
Employees are asked to respond to the questions on a scale from 1 to 5. Examples of some are: "In the past year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow. In the past six months, someone at work has talked to me about progress"
Employees needed to feel their work is important, so they were asked: "At work my opinions seem to count."
Every three years Gallup takes another look at how the survey is working, and over and over again the 12 questions have proved to be the right ones to be asking, Reilly said.
"These link to such things as safety, absenteeism and productivity - all strong indicators of employee engagement.
"For example, if there is a lot of absenteeism in an office, that's a good indicator that engagement is low and productivity will be affected."
Gallup's survey had a hierarchy of needs.
"People need security - they need to know what's expected of them and have the materials they require to do a good job," she said.
Employees wanted the opportunity to do what they do best every day and feel that their job is important. It was also really important that people felt there was an opportunity to learn and grow - this was vital for staff retention and innovation.
It was important for companies to note that these things could be controlled and influenced at a workplace level - and that managers were vital in this process.
"The team manager can influence engagement within the team and needs to be given the tools and resources, and development to do this."
Reilly said that if an organisation was considering doing an engagement survey to merely tick some boxes, it should simply not do it.
"Asking people for feedback sets an expectation that you will care about what they say and that you will do something or enable them to do something that will make a difference. Quite simply, the report needs to be shared and reported down to team level."
Companies who did the survey should use the information across the organisation in a systemic way.
"Engagement is not simply about a survey and measures, but a key strategy for organisational performance and growth."
A survey had to fit within a broader company strategy, with results providing opportunities for tactical actions at the team level, and the identification and sharing of best practices within the organisation.
Reilly said it had been found that about 70 per cent of variance in employee engagement came down to the manager.
"The talent of the manager to manage is vital. The perception of the manager by his or her team is really important."
In New Zealand, managers were often the ones who had been in the company the longest and had the most experience.
But unfortunately this did not always mean the person was best for the position.
Of do-it-yourself surveys, such as the ones that can be accessed through Survey Monkey, Reilly said people using them should be careful of asking questions without knowing what they were leading to and why they were asking them.
It was common for companies using such surveys to use leading questions - one which suggest the answer - which could lead to cynicism and distrust.
"It's so important to be asking the right questions - in the end the surveys are about improving the bottom line," she said.
"A good survey takes into account research and behavioural economics. It's about understanding the emotional economy and being able to look at what drives what people do.
"A survey should be about helping employees find the magic at work - for them to feel valued and confident. The survey is the starting point, but remember, it does not replace ongoing conversations. A manager needs to talk to people."
