How the right questions can lead to exceeding financial targets and retaining talent
Employee surveys are a tried-and-true method for employers to ‘listen’ to their employees, but they are ineffective if they ask the wrong questions, the data is not analyzed properly, or the employer does not take action based on the results.
Getting – and responding – to feedback from employees can be beneficial to businesses in a variety of ways. It can improve profitability, employee engagement, and customer loyalty as well as foster innovation and increase adaptability.
Employee listening is seen as a direct path to better business performance, when done correctly. In fact, organizations with mature listening programs are six times more likely to exceed financial targets and seven times more likely to retain talent, even during times of high attrition.
Lattice, a talent management suite that powers high-performing cultures, has released six new specialized survey templates co-developed with Hone, HRSG, LifeLabs Learning, livingHR, Peoplism, and PuzzleHR. These highly targeted templates can uncover deeper insights into specialized topics that are closely tied to employee engagement and growth, including manager effectiveness, change management, DEIB, and more.
More nuanced questions
Lattice says employee engagement surveys are one of the most effective ways for people leaders to understand and act on the needs of their employees, enabling a deep dive into feedback on a wide range of topics that can offer a holistic view of the employee experience. However, often surveys will end up uncovering challenges around more specialized topics such as DEIB or change management, which ultimately require more nuanced questions to get at the actionable insights that will drive positive change.
“The reality is that the current economic environment, changing business needs, and employee sentiment will continue to present new challenges for people leaders to navigate. Surveys built to support specific HR needs are critical in being able to respond with agility,” says Dave Carhart, vice-president of Lattice's People Strategy Group. “Targeted surveys, when done right, can allow you to dig into a particular focus area and draw out the depth and nuance of understanding required to drive tangible organizational change.”
Each new survey template follows survey-methodology best practices and includes administration guidance and customized action steps for leaders to implement to improve their scores in specific areas. The new templates address a number of critical areas including:
- Performance Management (developed with Hone)
- Career Pathing (developed with HRSG)
- Manager Effectiveness (developed with LifeLabs Learning)
- Change Management (developed with livingHR)
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (developed with Peoplism)
- Learning & Development (developed with PuzzleHR)
“Employee surveys should absolutely be used proactively by any people leaders or HR teams that are looking to develop a better understanding of the employee experience within their organization and address areas of concern or emerging trends quickly and effectively,” says Carhart. “The reality of the modern workplace today is that the economic environment, changing business needs, and employee sentiments will continue to shift at a rapid pace, creating new challenges for HR to navigate. Surveys built to support specific HR needs are critical in being able to respond with agility.”
Lattice's employee engagement offering enables people leaders to constantly collect feedback with engagement, onboarding, exit, Pulse, and eNPS surveys. Results from each survey are then automatically analyzed to surface key themes and recommended action steps to improve employee experience and build culture.
Lattice has made questions from five of the surveys available free in Lattice's Resources for Humans Templates Library.
