The engagement survey is dying. Here’s what’s replacing it
Everyone knows how this goes. First, an email with the survey data cut a dozen ways. A column with green and red scoring against last year, and with your team’s scores versus other parts of the company. It culminates with a flurry of activity, from a slide deck to a town hall and action-planning committees. A month later, nobody mentions it again. And the company doesn’t send the survey again for…
The traditional engagement survey is becoming obsolete, as companies seek more effective ways to drive real change. Jennifer, a division leader at Google and Meta, experienced firsthand the limitations of this annual email survey, which provided static data and left her unsure of how to act on the results. The frustration is that managers and teams already knew the survey outcomes, as it captured what was already being discussed behind closed doors for months.
While measuring engagement is crucial, the industry has failed to create tools that translate results into actionable change. Companies have built an entire ecosystem around measuring employee engagement, but the numbers rarely improve due to a lack of follow-through. Despite the development of pulse surveys, engagement is at an all-time low, with only 31% of U.S. employees feeling engaged and 18% actively disengaged, costing U.S. companies up to $2 trillion in lost productivity.
To address this problem, a new system of action is needed. Senior leaders must prioritize continuous manager and team development, focusing on building trust, setting clear expectations, understanding different working styles, fostering collaboration, and building resilience. With the advent of AI, companies can now gather insights in real-time, aggregate trends instantly, and create personalized action plans for managers and team members.
This shift from surveys to an AI-driven system of action will ensure that companies act on engagement insights in real-time and drive meaningful change.
Written by urgent.news from Fast Company's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
