By Colleen McLintock

Surveys are invaluable for gathering insights, identifying improvement areas, and making informed decisions. At Omnicor, our OD team is privileged to partner with many clients who utilise our survey platform to gather crucial feedback. These clients invest significant resources, and the team works hard to design an accurate questionnaire and analyse all the data. However, if not managed effectively, surveys can lose their impact, resulting in disengagement and frustration among respondents. We received this feedback today from a respondent who is feeling frustrated and asked to be removed from a survey.

“Because feedback is ignored and suggestions are not acted upon, I will not participate in this survey. Providing solutions feels like a waste of time and energy when they are not considered. This exercise seems insincere.” (paraphrased)

I get it. It is incredibly frustrating to provide feedback and nothing changes. This sentiment highlights the importance of using survey feedback to maintain trust and engagement.

Six Steps to Prevent Surveys from Losing Impact

  1. Acknowledge Feedback Promptly: Ensure that respondents receive timely acknowledgements of their input. This can be done through automated responses or follow-up communications that express gratitude for their participation and outline the next steps.
  2. Communicate Actions Taken: Share the actions taken based on survey feedback with respondents. Transparency about how their suggestions are being implemented fosters trust and demonstrates that their opinions are valued. Manage expectations and share the issues that cannot be quickly resolved.
  3. Leadership Accountability and Implement Change: Actively work on implementing the feasible suggestions provided by respondents. Prioritise actions that address the most common or critical issues raised. The survey’s sponsor needs to take the feedback, listen, and make the required changes.
  4. Close the Feedback Loop: Communicate the outcomes to the respondents after implementing changes. Highlight specific improvements made due to their feedback and the positive impact of these changes.
  5. Engage in Continuous Improvement: Use survey feedback as part of a continuous improvement process.
  6. Lastly, using a change methodology is essential as it helps provide a systemic approach to implementing both the survey and feedback, which will be sustainable.

Reach out to Colleen to learn more about Omnicor’s comprehensive approach when implementing surveys: colleen@omnicor.co.za