COVID-19 Employee Survey Tips

Launching a COVID-19 Employee Survey can help your business prepare for a post-coronavirus world. In this uncertain time of mandatory lockdowns, social distancing, and global disruption, it’s important to make sure your employees feel heard and supported.

Conducting a COVID-19 Employee Survey can help with that.

Earlier this month, the New York Times reported that building owners and company leaders are already beginning to prepare for the time when the shelter-in-place orders are lifted and people start heading back to the office. And those in the thick of planning suggest that the post-pandemic office might look radically different.

What will tomorrow’s workplace look like? How are your employees feeling about returning to work? Does your team feel supported during these uncertain times? Are your employees work from home (WFH) wellness needs being met? What kind of technical support does your team need as they settle into their new WFH lifestyle? What will your employees expect from you as they return to work?

Are you ready? Are your employees ready? Conducting a COVID-19 Employee Survey can help you decide!

If you have more questions than answers, it’s time to launch an employee survey program. Surveys are a great way to check-in with your team, alleviate anxieties, and develop targeted strategies for moving forward. An employee survey can also help your business start preparing to bring your employees back to work in a safe, productive, and inclusive fashion.

A poll conducted by SurveyMonkey found that 86% of employees said it was appropriate or completely appropriate for their employer to send them surveys in the current environment.  27% of those surveyed thought they should be getting more surveys from employers!

So let’s get started.

5 Tips for Conducting a COVID-19 Employee Survey Program

Identify Your Priorities – COVID-19 Employee Survey

Each survey should have a specific set of priorities. If you need to create several different surveys about different topics and send them out over the next few weeks, that’s fine! Your employees want to hear from you and they want to be heard.

Determine Your Audience – COVID-19 Employee Survey

Decide which survey topics are most important for your company during this time of COVID-19. You’ll want to make sure that you have a clear goal in mind for each survey. We recommend focusing each survey on a single subject.

To gain a broad perspective, consider deploying a mix of company-wide, management-level, and department-level surveys.

Develop a Timeline – COVID-19 Employee Survey

Nothing gets things done like a deadline! Maybe it’s just us, but we think the world is changing pretty quickly. Your timeline should be realistic while acknowledging the urgency of developing a strategy based on your employees’ input.

Emphasize Confidentiality – COVID-19 Employee Survey

To help ensure honest, unbiased answers — and high levels of participation — make sure that the survey results are anonymous. If possible, explain what measures you’ve taken to protect the identities of your survey respondents.

Create a Communication Plan – COVID-19 Employee Survey

As with so many things, communication is critical. SurveyMonkey recommends creating a pre-survey and post-survey communication plan. We think that’s pretty solid advice.

At the very least, send a company-wide announcement to let your employees know you’re kicking off a survey campaign. Talk about why you’re doing it, how you’ll use the information, and why you need them to participate. Don’t forget to share your timeline and let your team know how they can access the survey!

To help ensure the message is heard by everyone, use all available communication channels — Slack, email, all-hands virtual meetings, and employee-only social channels are all great ways to get the word out.

After you’ve collected the survey data, be sure to share the general results and let your employees know what you’re planning on doing with their feedback.

We’re here and we’re in this together. We want to hear from you! Tell us what you’re doing to help prepare your workforce for life after COVID-19.

Copyright 2020