Does Action Planning Create More Harm Than Good? Common Challenges in the Practice of Action Planning After Employee Surveys

Abstract

Despite the popularity of employee surveys in practice, there has been little research to determine how leaders and managers can effectively take action based on survey results. Without a foundation for evidence-based practice, many organizations rely on action planning processes where individual managers are tasked with developing plans to improve attitudes and perceptions among their subordinates. Although action plans are easy to quantify and monitor, it is unclear whether they are useful for creating change. Action planning is often rated as least favorable among other aspects of employee survey programs. Managers may lack the capability to actively change the causes of dissatisfaction among their subordinates. At worst, managers may grow to perceive action planning as a meaningless, box-checking task. This potentially acts to demotivate and demoralize managers while also increasing pessimism toward future surveys. This article provides several suggestions to avoid these potential pitfalls when designing and implementing employee surveys.

Effects of Action Planning After Employee Surveys

“…First, even though OUs entered action plans into the online tool, this does not mean that all action plans were rigorously implemented. Hence, it is possible that action plans were developed and their implementation was started, but they were not followed up on and completedan issue common in practice (Brown, 2021). Unfortunately, we were not able to examine how exactly the action planning meetings were conducted.…”

“…Second, even though managers receive some introductory training on using employee survey data and conducting action planning, this process can be difficult to master without extensive training or additional support, as for example that of consultants who help managers and employees make sense of the data (Brown, 2021). The literature on 360° feedback or other feedback processes that include subordinate ratings commonly recommends proper training for managers in the process and/or additional support through consultants, and yet this is often neglected in practice (Vukotich, 2014), similarly as it is with employee surveys (Hinrichs, 1996).…”

Following Up on Employee Surveys: A Conceptual Framework and Systematic Review

“…Even though there are many books on the topic, the employee survey process remains challenging, and many organizations fail to harvest the full benefits of this common human resource practice ( Brown, 2021 ). Depending on the organization, different change agents or organizational actors might be responsible for the implementation of the process (e.g., internal or external consultants/survey practitioners, human resource administrators, or managers), which creates ambiguity and the difficulty of finding the best implementation strategy.…”