Does Action Planning Create More Harm Than Good? Common Challenges in the Practice of Action Planning After Employee Surveys

Abstract

Despite the popularity of employee surveys in practice, there has been little research to determine how leaders and managers can effectively take action based on survey results. Without a foundation for evidence-based practice, many organizations rely on action planning processes where individual managers are tasked with developing plans to improve attitudes and perceptions among their subordinates. Although action plans are easy to quantify and monitor, it is unclear whether they are useful for creating change. Action planning is often rated as least favorable among other aspects of employee survey programs. Managers may lack the capability to actively change the causes of dissatisfaction among their subordinates. At worst, managers may grow to perceive action planning as a meaningless, box-checking task. This potentially acts to demotivate and demoralize managers while also increasing pessimism toward future surveys. This article provides several suggestions to avoid these potential pitfalls when designing and implementing employee surveys.