MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.–Google may have some of the world’s most sophisticated technologies and analytics at its ready disposal, but the company is remarkably old-fashioned when it comes to gathering employee feedback.
That’s what credit union leaders discovered when given the opportunity to literally go to Google for answers and advice on how to best know what employees are really thinking and, just as important, better understand how to avoid the mistakes that many organizations make.
Dr. Mary Kate Stimmler from Google’s Listening and Engagement program shared insights on “How to Know What Your Employees are Really Thinking: Data-driven Approaches to Employee Engagement,” as part of a two-day event hosted by Filene. Stimmler works as part of Google’s people analytics team, which is charged with understanding employees and listening at scale.
“Even at Google, where we have such tremendous technology, machine learning and AI, we still rely on something old fashioned: the employee survey,” Stimmler said. “Our goal is to make sure all people decisions are made using data. Some of that comes actively from employees themselves through our surveys.”
Stimmler said it’s those simple surveys that are often the key to some of the bold projects and initiatives Google takes on.
A Half-Million Invites
According to Stimmler, the Internet search giant conducts approximately 15 employee surveys per year, sending more than 500,000 invitations over the curse of a year as it seeks participation.
“The cool thing about surveys is they are free, are scalable and are relatively easy to do,” said Stimmler, making clear there are “both good and bad” surveys.
What makes surveys such a powerful tool, she said, especially for an organization of Google’s size (it has 100,000 employees) is that by its very nature surveys scale. That’s important in a large organization where leaders can’t have hallway conversations with employees, she said, and especially true in an environment in which people are working from home.
The second strength of employee surveys is power or, more correctly, muting it in some instances.
“I know it’s a hefty term, but it can have some detrimental impacts on how we make decisions,” said Stimmler. “As people become more powerful in organizations they are less likely to account for other people’s perspectives. They become myopic. And that’s dangerous in an organization where trying to coordinate hundreds of peoples’ perspectives. More powerful people act more impulsively. That bakes into our mental processes.”
Keeping Power in Check
The third aspect of power that needs to be held in check, according to Stimmler, is people who are in power tend to be a little more self-centered, a little less generous.
“When we think about how power has gone rogue, we ask how could we have stopped that,” Stimmler explained. “One of the things we have learned in organizational science is accountability can help dampen some of the negativities of power. And this is one of the great things about surveys. When we ask people to account for decisions, they are more likely to think through their decisions more thoroughly when accountability is built in. In a survey we can flatten the power dynamic long enough so the feedback can be given without fear. It momentarily levels the playing field.”
Another aspect of surveys drawn from organizational science has to do with perspective-taking, according to Stimmler. She noted that at first blush it seems obvious that if someone is told they must take others’ perspectives into account, they believe they will do so.
“But the research is more complex. Telling people to really think about what other people want can create a kind of overconfidence,” she said. When people are told to simply do their best when it comes to other perspectives, they tend to do better, she added.
“The best thing is not to perspective take, it is to perspective gain,” said Stimmler. “Those who do best are those who bother to get the perspective of the other person.”
How to Run a Great Survey
How can a credit union regularly run great surveys? By taking a number of steps, Stimmler said. “A survey’s findings must be taken seriously in order for others to take it seriously,” she said.
Stimmler said there are two core differentiators between a good and a bad survey. The first key is “safety,” she said, when employees feel comfortable enough to share feedback and to speak up. The second key is believing the survey’s results will be acted upon.
“Confident leaders separate identities from feedback,” said Stimmler.
High Responses Rates Needed
Stimmler said smaller organizations such as credit unions need high response rates in order for the survey to have validity.
“How you can drive response rates needs to be thought through very early in process,” she explained. “With low response rates (the findings) are more likely to be skewed negatively,” as those most likely to respond are those who have a complaint or who are having a bad day.
Stimmler, who said she always stresses the point a survey is not just a questionnaire, it is a leader-driven program with multiple stakeholders, offered these seven steps to taken when designing an internal survey.
- Set the workplace strategy. “This is often misunderstood, but if you don’t know what kind of workplace you are trying to build and what is important to your workplace, you won’t know what to ask about.”
- Design the questions.
- Ensure stakeholders have reviewed the survey (including HR and legal, when applicable).
- Administer the survey. “This is not the place to start.”
- Gather feedback and reporting. “Take a moment to let people know they’ve been heard and here’s what we done.”
- Follow through with any commitments.
- Review the process.
Asking Questions
To ensure a successful employee survey, Stimmler said the following questions need to be asked:
- Has the leader aligned the survey to workplace aspirations?
- Do you have a commitment to communicate back the results to leaders and employees?
- Do you have a commitment to dedicate future resources to address the feedback?
- Do you have a plan for addressing any feedback that varies by demographic.
Stimmler said Google makes resources available for free, including on surveys, at www.Rework.withGoogle.com.