When it comes to improving employee engagement, employee surveys play a crucial role. But what type of survey should you use for measuring employee engagement?
Types of Employee Engagement Surveys
Anonymous Surveys
Anonymous surveys do not track any employee data. This means survey responses are not tied to any employee data either.
Employees must provide their own demographic information (for example: department, location, etc.) in their survey response, if HR teams desire such information for improving employee engagement.
Confidential Surveys
Confidential surveys track employee data – but don’t reveal personally identifiable information to HR teams.
This means HR teams can accurately segment employee engagement across departments, locations, etc. However they can’t see personally identifiable information (such as employee name or email) with each response.
Identified Surveys
Identified surveys track employee data and reveal personally identifiable information for each response.
This means information such as employee name and email is revealed to HR teams alongside each survey response .
What to Use for Your Employee Engagement Surveys
The goal of employee engagement surveys is to measure and improve employee engagement (and enjoy the many benefits). So what type of survey should you use for this?
At first thought, it may seem like Identified surveys are the best option as they provide HR teams with the most information.
- However, employee distrust of identified surveys can actually lead to lower response rates and can discourage honest responses.
Does this mean the solution is to use Anonymous surveys? While anonymous surveys can create more employee trust (see Dillman Social Exchange Theory) and lead to more honest responses – they have their own shortcomings:
- They are less actionable, as it’s not possible to segment responses by department, location, etc. And if you rely on employee self-reporting for such segmentation, anonymous surveys can result in less accurate data.
- Furthermore, complete anonymity can also decrease accountability, thereby decreasing motivation to answer thoughtfully and precisely.
For most organizations, Confidential surveys can provide a happy middle ground. They create more trust & encourage more honest responses, while also allowing HR teams to accurately segment responses to get actionable information for improving employee engagement.
- Make sure to convey to employees that your survey is confidential, and encourage them to respond honestly.
- Using a third-party such as Expressingly can help you assure your employees that your surveys are confidential and personally identifiable information (name, email, etc.) is not revealed to your HR team.
