Why many engagement surveys just waste everyone’s time

With all the fervor inside organizations about employee engagement surveys, how many employers ever stop to take a deep, serious look at why they’re conducting them?

More to the point, why should they consider not conducting them?

It’s counterproductive to ask for someone’s opinion if you don’t have a sincere interest in responding to what they say, so don’t conduct an engagement survey unless you plan to do something meaningful with the information your employees give you.

Employees want to know that you are not simply conducting a survey so executives can give the appearance that “they care.” If people feel you’ve falsely raised their hopes and wasted their time in asking for their opinions without a plan of action based on what you learn, they are unlikely to participate next time around or give thoughtful responses if they do.