Do Not Look Back

You Are Not Going That Way!

When it comes to the pursuit of Employee Engagement what does the direction you are looking have to do with it? 

From an employee survey perspective looking back and looking forward have a lot to do with employee engagement. We find that a lot of employee survey companies only want to look back to find out how you got where you are. It is true that if you suffering from turnover, low productivity, low morale and there is an air of discontent in your workplace, looking back gives you some historical perspective to better understand what may have gone wrong and what might not be working. We find employees have a very good sense of where they stand and how they feel and when asked they will share these thoughts and opinions with you. Most often we find they appreciate being asked and are happy and motivated to tell you (as long as they are confident their anonymity is completely protected). And there is a chance you may shudder to discover you have what we politely refer to as 'areas of concern'.

We strongly recomment that you commit to knowing the level of employee engagement in your organization  to ensure you are healthy because as we explain here,  ignoring any 'areas of concern' will cause greater problems over time.

But we also find there is a lot of evidence that shows there is great value in asking employees about the future too.

In other words, where do they see your organization going? Do they feel you are moving in a positive or a negative direction?

And the reason this is important is because you are measuring momentum. If your employees tell you they feel they are moving forward in a positive way, that you have positive momentum, it is possible that they may give you some negative feedback about their opinions working for you, but in this way you can get the big picture and a clear sense of where you stand. In contrast, you could get positive responses from employees about their own specific jobs but you could also discover that as a company you are nosediving.

Either way, measuring perceived momentum gives you a clear sense of where you stand and the overall direction your employees feel you are moving. Employees, and people in general, like to feel they are a part of positive momentum. We all like to feel we are moving in a positive direction, so it is important to know that about your own workforce. If you find out they feel you are moving in a negative direction, it might be time to re-evaluate your mission, vision and values to see where you have fallen off track and what impact this is having on your organization as a whole.

It is also important to be aware that not all employee survey companies bother to measure this momentum but we feel it is a critical measure when you are evaluating employee engagement and job satisfaction which is why it is an integral part of every employee engagement survey we conduct.

Once you do an employee survey, we believe the only reason to look back is to see how far you have come!