How We Increased Team Member Survey Participation by 60% (Did I Mention it was Non-anonymous?!)

Feedback is a gift.

The more information you can glean from your team members, the more engaged they will be at work. You’ll start to see more energy, passion, creativity and inspiration on a daily basis.

In fact, highly engaged organizations have double the rate of success than lower engaged organizations, according to Harvard Business Review. More engagement can lower turnover, improve quality of work, and foster an environment of communication and collaboration.

And we’ve seen the payoff of higher engagement at AWeber firsthand.

Over the past couple years, we’ve really focused on improving our culture for our team. One of the ways we did this: 3 to 4 engagement surveys each year.

Within the surveys, team members can offer constructive feedback about benefits, learning and development opportunities, compensation, and leadership.

In just two years, survey participation rate has increased from 48% to 77%!

So what changed over that short timeframe?

The way we embraced feedback.

We didn’t just ask for it — we acted on it.

First, we encouraged the team to share their opinions and suggestions on how to make AWeber the best place to work. Then, we kept communicating that their feedback is a gift — and we treated it like gold.

Each department head was given every piece of feedback so that they could carry the conversations 1:1 with their team members. We began to call team members out for great ideas and suggestions, and asked them to personally help us come up with a solution.

Slowly, we started hearing feedback organically — not just in the surveys. Team members would bring up ideas and suggestions at lunch or in the hallway, and then present them to HR or leadership. Soon, everyone felt comfortable voicing their ideas, thoughts, and suggestions on how to make the AWeber a fantastic place to work.

When we implemented changes and solutions due to feedback, we made it a point to tell the whole team. This showed our team members that we were invested in them, so they felt even more empowered to give feedback!

Here are some of the changes we’ve enacted that came directly from our engagement surveys over the past two years:

• A PTO enhancement to afford more time for our team members to rest, relax and enjoy time with those they love.
• The implementation of a Sabbatical after 10 years. A team member is eligible for a four-week paid sabbatical at 10, 15 and 20 years to pursue a dream. It can be a family trip, learning opportunity, or staycation to work on their home. Upon their return to AWeber, we ask them to share their insights and learnings with the team.
• Wellness initiatives (e.g., onsite yoga, flu shots, nutritionist)
• New community projects (e.g., Adopt A Highway, Habitat for Humanity, Tech Girlz)
• Formal career development opportunities such as mentoring and career paths.
• Leadership development programs

… and so much more!

As engagement increased on the surveys, team members were also more willing to sign their names along with their opinions and ideas. Our surveys became non-anonymous!

Our results have been truly remarkable, but it doesn’t happen overnight.. It takes time to build trust and credibility. Just because you’ve created a survey doesn’t mean you will instantly receive feedback. You need to create an environment that nurtures open and honest conversations. Most of all, you need to listen, reflect, and take action. At the end of the day, your actions will speak louder than your words. Act, act, act on feedback!

Sharing feedback and collaborating to create remarkable experiences.

Here’s our recipe broken down into 5 steps:

1. Encourage team members to share their feedback. You must create and support an environment that is receptive and open to even the most unusual or impractical ideas.
2. Have cross-functional teams work with the feedback and develop solutions. This results in more team members working together that don’t normally, and creates a collaborative and communicative culture.
3. Respond to ALL feedback. Let every individual know that their feedback matters. Don’t send an email. Take a few minutes during your day and let a team member know their thoughts and ideas matter.
4. Ask team members to participate in the solutions. Encourage each member to own his or her idea. Let them know how their idea could benefit the entire team. Then ask them individually if they would like to help develop a formal solution with others. The more vested a team member is in developing the solution, the more vested the total team will be. Organically grown ideas are more accepted and create a higher level of engagement overall. A top-down approach stifles creativity.
5. Communicate what has been accomplished. I can’t stress this enough! Acknowledge those who have helped along the way. Continuously remind your team what programs, benefits and ideas started with their feedback. Write about it in a newsletter, remind them in team meetings, advertise it when you roll out new programs and benefits. Communicate it at least 100 times. Remember, you want your team members to be your advocates and ambassadors. You want them to carry your torch!

We’ve seen a positive effect throughout the company since we have begun acting on feedback and increasing our transparency. When someone’s idea or suggestion is taken seriously and acted upon, others are inspired and excited to contribute in their own unique way.

By being proactive about feedback, our team has met more deadlines, shipped more products, and has had less turnover than previous years. These results have positively affected our company, as well as produced meaningful results for our customers.

When you truly value the feedback you receive, and consistently act on it, you can begin to affect real change and see incredible things happen within your teams and business.

Hope Bear has over 25 years of Human Resources experience in a variety of environments including retail, distribution, manufacturing and technology. Over the years, she has focused primarily on Coaching, Communication, Mentoring, Diversity, Worklife, Engagement and Recruitment at IKEA, Kellogg and AWeber Communications. She holds a B.A in Psychology, M.A. in Human Resources from Temple University and is certified as a Vocational coach from ICA. She has spoken about the correlation between happiness and one’s career at the Anita Borg Conference in 2017, and is a frequent speaker for the Bucks County Chamber of Commerce pertaining to the relationship between wellness, productivity and engagement. Her passion for helping people reach their potential has influenced her career greatly. Regardless of the company, individuals or environment she has seen that a great sense of personal awareness, happiness and confidence positively affect individuals as well as business results.