Employee engagement surveys help organizations assess the exact engagement needs of their workforce and the impact of various initiatives. There are different types of engagement surveys, anonymous employee engagement surveys have become more popular than others.
Anonymous employee surveys are those that do not tie the responses provided by the participants to a specific employee.
Organizations conduct these surveys in a way that the responses do map to individual employees.
Experts believe that this is the best way to get honest feedback from employees about the various engagement initiatives.
They provide organizations with actionable insights and a more accurate view of how the employees perceive the organization.
This is because these surveys enable participating employees to express their views and opinions honestly and fearlessly.
Most organizations opt for anonymous employee surveys as a tool for assessing the success of their engagement initiatives.
Among the various reasons behind the popularity of these employee surveys, the most important ones are as follows:
1. Better response rates
2. Assurance of actionable data
3. Enhances confidence of employees
Experts feel that anonymous surveys tend to have a better response rate as compared to open surveys.
This is because employees are not afraid about their identity being known if their responses are unfavorable to the organization.
They can thus express their concerns and opinions without fear of being reprimanded or punished for the same.
The data and information received through anonymous surveys are generally quite accurate and honest.
Hence, this makes it easier to identify the shortcomings in the organization’s engagement strategies and take appropriate and timely action.
Moreover, the organization can get innovative ideas to overcome these challenges, which the employees would normally keep only to themselves.
The ease of expressing their ideas and opinions and seeing the organization taking appropriate action helps enhance the self-confidence of employees.
They feel assured about their competencies and capabilities and this helps them improve their performance further.
They are also more likely to communicate their views directly to their peers and superiors personally shortly.
There is no denying the fact that anonymous surveys work in helping organizations improve their engagement policies and strategies.
They help accurately assess the employee pulse concerning their level of engagement and motivation.
Anonymous surveys help in boosting the engagement levels of the employees within an organization.
Even disengaged employees participate in these surveys as it provides them with a platform to register their complaints and grudges.
So, these surveys can prove effective in re-engaging disengaged employees.
These surveys can improve the accountability of both managers and employees within an organization.
They provide the employees with a platform to share their concerns, ideas, and even grudges.
Hence, this helps in releasing the sense of resentment they might be feeling towards the organization.
They thus feel less stressed and become more cordial and cooperative towards their coworkers.
Anonymous surveys prove highly effective in improving the overall employee retention rates as compared to regular HR surveys.
This is simply because they provide an opportunity for employees to be heard by the management.
As the management takes effective steps to address the concerns of the employees, their satisfaction and engagement levels improve significantly.
This, in turn, has a deep positive impact on the overall employee retention rate.
Anonymous employee engagement surveys can prove a great tool for organizations to get a genuine and clear understanding of employee needs and concerns by creating a high level of confidentiality and trust.
Lead author: Sagar Chaudhuri, the Co-Founder and CEO of HiFives. He is an HR Tech Evangelist with over 25 years of corporate and entrepreneurship experience. In the past, Sagar has worked with companies such as Genpact, Infosys, and ICICI Bank, in leadership roles. He has an engineering degree from IIT Kharagpur and an MBA from IIM Lucknow. Connect on LinkedIn
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