5 Benefits of Using Team Surveys to Power Your People Strategy
Team surveys are an under-utilized tool for informing your people strategy. In this era of data-informed businesses and sophisticated methodologies for surveying your customer base, employers often forget about a rich source of valuable information right under their noses — their people. A good survey helps you gather information about the state of your workforce, gives people an outlet for expressing perspectives, and can be an excellent basis for kickstarting a strategic planning or team building process. Here are a few of the important benefits that team surveys can bring to your team and organization:
ESTABLISHING BENCHMARKS: If you are looking to invest in skill training and leadership development for your team (a great idea!) you need to know where your team falls right regarding skill levels, training needs, and future goals. You can only create a plan for where you’re going if you know where you are starting.
BOOSTING ENGAGEMENT AND RETENTION: Teams that never have the opportunity to air their perspectives can quickly become siloed, and in the worst cases, begin to suffer from low morale and disinvestment. Let your people know that their thoughts and perspective matter and are crucial to the future of the organization -- and then actually DO something with the information.
IDENTIFYING GAPS: A good survey can reveal any hidden gaps in communication and goals. Leaders may think that the organizations’ mission, strategy, and purpose are obvious to everyone working for them — but that may not be the case. Surveying your team is an excellent opportunity to determine if there’s a need for clarification and/or increased communication from leadership.
MANAGING HYBRID OR FULLY REMOTE TEAMS: With dispersed or hybrid teams, it’s especially important that you put effort into establishing the state of your workforce. A survey, alongside excellent communication practices, will ensure that you aren’t making assumptions about team members that you may not see every day. Furthermore, using all tools available to solicit employees’ opinions is crucial with a team that’s reliant on communication technology, instead of water-cooler chat.
ENCOURAGING ONGOING DIALOGUE: Surveying your team hopefully lets them know that you are investing in honest dialogue, and intend to seriously engage with the information that the survey reveals. While survey responses should be anonymous, this is still an opportunity to follow through with team and individual meetings so that everyone knows they are playing a valuable role in shaping the organization’s people strategy.
I don’t know a lot of people who get excited about taking or administrating surveys, and I understand why. They can feel irrelevant and ineffective if they aren’t used for furthering dialogue and driving real change. When they are perceived as a “check-off” exercise by management, they can actually harm team morale and engagement. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Our consultants can help you craft a team survey that gets to the core information you need, and yields rich, actionable data to enhance your people strategy. Contact me today to get started!
Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to grow leaders, build teams and drive results through great people strategy. Contact us to get proactive about expanding your company’s potential, and stay up-to-date with our latest news and leadership development updates here.