The Role of Employee Engagement Surveys in the Return to Growth

The Business Week/ Bloomberg research article, “The Role of Employee
Engagement Surveys in the Return to Growth”, details the deleterious
business effects of short employee engagement surveys. Most engagement
surveys focus on “characteristics” and data generalization rather than
influenceable “components” and actionable data at the group level. This is
much like the difference between having a picture of a fleet of cars rather
than complete diagnostics of each car’s mechanical condition. As a result,
many organizations are stuck in a meretricious cycle of extrinsic car
shining while intrinsic engagement fuel levels and emotional maintenance of
individuals within small groups deteriorate. Business energy is failing.

The article further implies that “one thing you need to know” surveys are
partly if not wholly responsible for the disengagement and declining
productivity crisis in the US.
An excerpt: “The engagement surveys used today typically only provide a read
out on the levels of employee engagement within critical workforce
populations, enabling organizations to understand where there might be
future retention or productivity issues, but not producing the types of
actionable insights that aid in addressing them.”

Scarlett Surveys’ unique AER Employee Engagement Survey and improvement
system measures all 15 drivers of engagement, each driver with its own index
and diagnostic battery of questions. AER provides actionable data for each
manager so employee engagement and business operating levels can be
structurally improved at each group level. AER enables managers and leaders
to become skilled in knowing what employee experiences and management
behaviors emotionally endear employees to want to go above and beyond in
every aspect of their work. The result is high, sustainable engagement
levels, high productivity, talent loyalty, innovation and business growth.