CHAPTER 2

Where Engagement Surveys Go Wrong

by Jennifer Cullen

Many organizations conduct surveys to gain insight into levels of satisfaction, burnout, and engagement among employees. But serious flaws in how those surveys are designed often lead to bad results. Well-intentioned leaders, following an inaccurate roadmap of where the problems lie, end up wasting time, energy, and resources on the wrong things. For example, they may ask people if overwork is an issue and then try to reduce the load, when the real problem is more psychological.

The answer is not to do away with surveys entirely—they are still a valuable way to learn about employees’ feelings and experiences and to identify challenges that make it tougher for them to do their jobs, ...

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