MANY organisations in Zimbabwe and elsewhere conduct employee-engagement surveys simply because it is on the annual calendar.
Once the survey is completed, the results are shared in a PowerPoint presentation, a few action points are noted and everyone moves on.
Then the same process repeats the next year. The problem is that this approach turns one of the most valuable tools for improving organisational performance into a meaningless ritual.
Employee-engagement surveys, when done correctly and consistently, can transform an organisation. But when they are done as a tick-box exercise or skipped altogether, they provide no value. Here is how to do them right, and what to do with the results.
The real purpose of the survey
An employee-engagement survey is not about collecting opinions or running an annual routine. It is about understanding what drives motivation, commitment and discretionary effort within your organisation. It is a diagnostic tool that reveals what helps or hinders people from giving their best.
Too often, organisations treat surveys as a way to “measure happiness.” But engagement goes beyond satisfaction. It reflects how deeply employees connect with the organisation’s mission, how much they trust leadership, and whether they see a future for themselves within the company.
Start by being clear about your purpose. Are you trying to identify what drives productivity? Are you looking to understand why turnover rates are high? A clear purpose guides the design of your survey, ensuring the results are actionable.
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Design questions that measure
Once the purpose is clear, design your survey questions around core engagement dimensions such as leadership effectiveness, trust in management, communication quality, recognition, growth opportunities and alignment with company goals.
Keep the questions simple and based on scientific research. Avoid vague or emotionally loaded wording.
Benchmark your survey against reliable standards or previous internal results to track progress over time. A well-designed survey enables you to determine whether the organisation is improving or declining in specific areas that matter for its performance.
Most importantly, ensure employees trust the process.
Communicate that responses will remain anonymous and will be used to improve the workplace, not to single out individuals.
When employees believe their voices are genuinely valued, they respond honestly and that honesty is what gives you the data you need to improve.
Why skipping a survey is a mistake
Some leaders say, “We will skip the survey this year — things are fine,” or “There is no point doing it now because things are bad and the scores will be low.” Both statements are errors in judgment.
Skipping an engagement survey because you fear poor results is like avoiding a medical check-up because you might get bad news.
The goal of diagnosis is not to confirm that you are healthy; it is to find what needs attention, so you can take corrective action.
The same applies to organisations. Data may not always look good, but it is what helps leaders understand what needs fixing.
Employee-engagement data becomes powerful only when collected consistently over time.
A single survey gives you a snapshot. Several surveys give you a trend.
It is those trends that show whether leadership decisions, culture initiatives, or policy changes are moving your organisation in the right direction. Without that continuity, you are wasting the organisation's resources on useless one-off surveys.
From data to insight
Collecting data is only the first step. The true value of an engagement survey comes from what happens after the results are in.
Unfortunately, many organisations stop at reporting overall engagement scores. They present averages but fail to dig deeper.
Conduct a detailed analysis to identify patterns and pain points by department, supervisor, or demographic group. Look for differences between high-performing and low-performing teams.
Then link your engagement results to business outcomes such as productivity, turnover, absenteeism and customer satisfaction.
This is where you uncover the real value of employee-engagement surveys.
For example, if departments with higher engagement also have lower absenteeism or better customer ratings, you have evidence that engagement is not a soft issue; it is a driver of hard business outcomes.
Closing the feedback loop
Once the analysis is complete, share the findings transparently with employees.
Hiding bad results destroys trust. Instead, communicate clearly what the data shows, including both its strengths and weaknesses and outline the steps management plans to take.
Develop clear, actionable plans at every level of the organisation.
Assign ownership for each action and set timelines for review. The follow-through is what convinces employees that their input matters.
When they see visible improvements based on their feedback, they become more engaged and more willing to participate in future surveys.
Then, track progress over time. Compare current results with past surveys to see what has improved and what has not. Engagement is not something you “fix” once; it is something you continuously measure, learn from and improve.
Nguwi is an occupational psychologist, data scientist, speaker and managing consultant at Industrial Psychology Consultants (Pvt) Ltd, a management and HR consulting firm. https://www.linkedin.com/in/memorynguwi/ Phone +263 24 248 1 946-48/ 2290 0276, cell number +263 772 356 361 or e-mail: [email protected] or visit ipcconsultants.com.
