The Employee Survey: Handle with care

Abstract

Employee surveys have become a popular management tool because of their ability to provide actual and quantative information about employees’ unbiased views under conditions of confidentiality. The corollaries of these qualities are often overlooked — for the individual employee a survey can be a frustrating, isolating experience underlying his powerlessness against a large organization. This makes it important that surveys should be undertaken for clear and comprehensible reasons and should be properly followed up. The article discusses some common misuses of the survey and their likely consequences, and then describes five major applications in which surveys can be of great value, under the headings of information, monitoring, diagnosing, consultation and change.