Expanding the Value of Diagnostic Instruments

Expanding The Value Of Diagnostic Instruments

Survey Follow-up

We recommend that organizations develop a comprehensive follow-up plan after every enterprise-wide survey administration. This plan will assist each company to more fully take advantage of the opportunity presented by the survey to strengthen its overall management, leadership, peer, or team practices. We believe that three important steps be taken to facilitate each company’s efforts to assist its employees to increase their effectiveness and improve organizational performance.

First, we recommend that the company prepare a communication piece to employees expressing appreciation for their participation in the survey and indicate that actions are underway throughout the organization to analyze the feedback and to prepare plans that, when implemented, will strengthen the organization, make it more responsive and increase the overall effectiveness of the company’s management team. As part of this communication, you may want to provide an overview of the survey findings as a means of reinforcing the company’s strengths, its commitment to performance improvement and its responsiveness to the needs of its employees.

Second, we recognize the important role that senior management can play by actively participating in the survey effort. Their continued participation in the process will reinforce important company values and signal all those receiving survey feedback that they are expected to improve the practices profiled in the survey. We recommend that the company’s senior managers communicate that the action plans will be reviewed and the results achieved will be measured. We believe that this follow-up step will cause survey participants throughout the organization to be doubly motivated to develop sound plans and take the steps required to implement them successfully.

Third, we have found that a critical step in ensuring that the action plans are successfully implemented is to communicate to the entire population receiving survey feedback that 1) their plans will be reviewed by their immediate supervisor and 2) they will be expected to report on the results they achieve. If all the participants understand that their action plans are to be reviewed, they will take special care to make sure that their plans are comprehensive and well thought-out. Our experience suggests that this review has a positive impact on the quality of the action plans prepared. If those receiving focused feedback understand that their implementation efforts will be measured, they will be further encouraged to take actions to demonstrate meaningful improvement in their performance.