The Survey Results Action Guide

The Survey Results
Action Guide
Purpose
The purpose of this guide is to offer suggestions for Federal agencies
for successfully using their employee survey results in planning and
implementing positive organizational change.
Provided by:
U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board
Office of Policy and Evaluation
John Crum, Ph.D., Director
Anne F. Marrelli, Ph.D., Author
Image(s) Copyright TASK FORCE ImageGALLERY, Image(s) Copyright, NVTech Inc.
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Keys to Success
Get the most from your survey results!
 Accept employee feedback as a gift
 Act quickly
 Select target areas
 Communicate widely and often
 Make it a team effort
 Develop and implement action plans
 Support improvement efforts
 Hold people accountable
 Evaluate and adjust
 Make improvements visible
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Accept Employee Feedback as a Gift Page 6
Act Quickly Page 8
Select Target Areas Page 9
Communicate Widely and Often Page 15
Make It a Team Effort Page 20
Develop and Implement an Action Plan Page 31
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Support Improvement Efforts Page 36
Hold People Accountable Page 41
Evaluate and Adjust Page 43
Make Improvements Visible Page 45
Bibliography Page 47
Survey Action Tool Kit Page 49
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ACCEPT EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK AS A GIFT
 The survey results are a valuable gift
 Surveys create expectations of action
 Reap multiple benefits by using survey data
Feedback is a gift The feedback employees provide in a survey is a valuable

gift—a gift intended to be used rather than stored away.
Surveys are a tool The work begins, not ends, with survey results. A survey is a
tool for meaningful dialogue among the members of an
organization.
Surveys create When your organization conducts an employee survey, it is

expectations entering into a social contract with employees. Feedback is
exchanged for management consideration and action.
When employees provide information, they expect that
management will listen to their input and use the information
to improve the organization.
If survey data is not used, the underlying message to

employees is that leadership doesn’t care about them or their
opinions. Surveys not followed by concrete action can be
demoralizing.
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Accept Employee Feedback as a Gift (continued)
Why use your Using employee survey data sends a message to employees
survey data? that organizational leaders value their input and respect their
time. It builds employee confidence that leadership will take
action to respond to their concerns.
Employee surveys provide valuable data for improving your

organization by identifying strengths and improvement
needs.
If survey data is not used, employees are less likely to respond

to future surveys. It will become increasingly difficult to obtain
information from employees.
Applying the survey data to improve your organization can

provide taxpayers with a substantial return on their
investment. Surveys are expensive to develop and
administer, especially in terms of employee time. If the results
are not used, public dollars are wasted.
Using the survey data demonstrates to Congress and the

public that your agency is making efforts to enhance
organizational performance and results.
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ACT QUICKLY
 Communicate promptly
 The value of a survey is in action
Communicate Once you receive employee survey results, move

promptly quickly to communicate the data and apply it.
It’s important to act while the survey is still fresh in

employees’ minds. When people complete a survey
they are excited about seeing the results and the
possibility of change. They are open to participating in
organizational change initiatives. Surveys energize
people to take action. Strike while the iron is hot!
If time passes with no word about the survey results,

enthusiasm wanes and frustration and disenchantment
build. Employees may begin to see the survey as
another pointless bureaucratic exercise.
Value is in action Survey data is of little value in itself. Its value is derived
from its use in driving positive organizational change.
Time guidelines Communicate the survey results to employees within

one month of receipt. Begin visible action planning by
the following week.
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SELECT TARGET AREAS
 Create a review team
 Identify highs and lows
 Select areas for focus
Who should be Select a group of eight to ten persons to conduct an

involved? initial review of the survey results and identify target
action areas. Usually a one-day meeting is sufficient for
identifying target areas if the participants are given the
survey results to examine before the meeting.
An effective review team typically includes a senior

manager from each division, the HR Director (and the
Chief Human Capital Officer if you have one), and at
least one experienced organizational development
specialist. You may also want to include union and/or
other employee representatives. The meeting should
be facilitated by someone experienced in using survey
data to define organizational improvement needs and
who is skilled in effectively facilitating meetings of senior
managers.
Review by If you have the survey data broken down by agency

subcomponent subcomponent, you will want to review the data
separately for each subcomponent because there may
be major differences in strengths and improvement
needs. In this case, you could have a separate review
team for each subcomponent. That way, you can
target change efforts to the specific areas of need
within each subcomponent.
Begin with a quick In the meeting, first familiarize yourselves with the survey
scan by reviewing how it is organized into sections and
reading through all the questions. This review will
provide you with a good understanding of the survey
content.
Data aids thinking As you work through the survey, remember that data is
an aid for thought, not a substitute.
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Select Target Areas (continued)
Identify highs and Review the results for each survey question and classify
lows it as an area in which your organization is strong, is
doing okay, or needs improvement. Agree on a
definition for each category such as:
 Strong = we have at least 80% favorable ratings
(Note: You would first need to decide what
“favorable” means, e.g., does it mean the
combined responses of “Strongly Agree” and
“Agree” or “Very Satisfied and “Satisfied” or does
it mean only “Strongly Agree” or “Very Satisfied”?
Many organizations consider a favorable rating
as the combination of the top two positive
choices.)
 Doing okay = we have favorable ratings between

50% and 80%
 Needs improvement = we have favorable ratings

below 50%
For survey questions that do not use a rating scale

continuum, you will need to individually define for each
question what constitutes a strength and what
constitutes an improvement need.
You may want to use symbols such as a + to mark strong

areas, a  for okay areas, and a – for weak areas or
colors such as green for strengths, yellow for okay, and
red for improvement needs.
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Employee If possible, check for differences by key employee

characteristics characteristics such as gender, race and ethnicity,
level, and supervisory status. If your agency receives
the raw data for the survey as well as the survey report,
or you receive a report in which the data is broken
down by some of these characteristics, you will be able
to check for these differences. Before the review
meeting, the HR Director or Organizational
Development Specialist can document and organize
these results for review along with the overall results
during the review meeting.
There are often substantial differences among

employees of disparate gender, race or ethnicity, level,
and supervisory status that are masked if you only
review the data for the agency or subcomponent
overall. For example, in organizational surveys,
supervisors typically provide more favorable ratings than
non-supervisors.
Look for question Typically survey results will cluster so that organizations
clusters appear stronger in some areas and not so in others.
Review how you classified each question and look for
patterns. Are there clusters of closely related items in
which your organization is strong or clusters which seem
to need improvement? For example, there may be
several questions about management communication
with employees and your organization scored low on all
or most of them. Circle these clusters or list the questions
on a flip chart or whiteboard.
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Compare to If you have the results for a previous survey with the
previous surveys same questions, compare the results from the current
and previous survey, question by question. It is
important to check that the survey results are directly
comparable. For example, if missing responses are
included in the response choice percentages in one
survey but not in another, the percentages will need to
be recalculated before the results of the two surveys
can be compared.
Where has your agency made progress? Mark these

questions with a “P”. Where has your agency declined?
Mark these questions with a “D”. Where is there no or
minimal change? Mark these questions with a zero.
The definition of minimal difference will vary with the

question, the organization and its goals, the number of
employees who answered the question, and other
factors but you can define a rough guideline such as
less than 5% so that differences of 5% or more are
considered as a substantial change.
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Select 1 to 3 In what areas is positive change most important to your

Focus areas organization? Select one to three survey areas to focus
your efforts. An area can be composed of a cluster of
several questions on the same topic or a single, stand-
alone question. It should be a homogeneous area for
which you can create one or more specific targeted
objectives for change.
If you select more than three focus areas, it will be

difficult to concentrate your efforts and make
substantial progress. It’s far better to select only the top
priorities and make significant strides than to select
several focus areas and make limited progress. After
you have reached your goals on the top priorities, you
can work on additional areas.
Decide what to How do you decide which areas to focus on? Consider
focus on the following options to determine where positive
change is most critical for your organization.
 Special strengths you want to further enhance,

especially strengths that align with your strategic
plan and will help you meet your strategic goals
 Questions or clusters that have a high percent of

unfavorable responses and that are important for
high performance
 Questions or clusters in which the percentage of

favorable responses has decreased significantly
over time, e.g., more than 5% or 10% from the last
survey
 Areas of special concern in your organization due

to management emphasis, current initiatives,
complaints from employee groups, etc.
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Importance Be sure for each area of focus selected you can answer
these two questions:
 “Why is it important for us to work on this area?
 “What benefits will we derive?”
Actionable Be sure the areas you select for focus are directly
actionable, i.e., within the power of your organization to
change. For example, although the survey results may
show that many employees are not satisfied with their
pay, there may be little to nothing you can do about it.
This would not be a good focus area. In contrast, if the
survey results show that many employees feel that they
are not receiving enough feedback from their
supervisors, the organization can take several different
actions to remedy the situation.
Observable It is recommended that at least one of the focus areas

change you select be amenable to observable, positive change
within three or four months. It’s important to
demonstrate to employees that management listens to
their input and takes definitive action.
Some focus areas will take a year or more for change to

be achieved or to show significant strides. That is fine.
Often organizational problems are complex and require
a series of integrated solutions. For these areas, plan
how to show at least some progress or incremental
change within a few months.
Move forward When the areas to be changed have been decided

quickly upon, it’s time to share the survey results with employees
and involve them in using the data to make positive
changes. Communicating with employees and
working with them to define and achieve specific
objectives are discussed in the next two sections of this
guide.
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COMMUNICATE WIDELY AND OFTEN
 Communicate to all employees
 Use multiple communication media
 Communicate frequently
Surveys are tools for Surveys drive positive organizational change by

dialogue stimulating meaningful dialogue among leaders and
employees about what is working well and what should
be changed. The communication of the survey results
and the ensuing conversations are far more important
than the results themselves because it is the
conversations that lead to effective action.
Communicate to all Communicate the survey results to all employees at all

employees levels and locations. Universal communication sends
the message to employees that management
considers them to be important stakeholders in the
success of the agency.
Candid sharing of all results, both positive and

negative, with a focus on applying the results also
emphasizes the accountability of all employees for
making the agency a good place to work.
Develop a A communication plan will help you communicate

communication effectively and thoroughly so that all employees hear
plan and understand the survey results. A plan will outline
the information to be communicated and how and
with whom it will be shared. It serves as a handy guide
throughout the communication process.
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Communicate Widely and Often (continued)
Plan contents Create a communication plan that includes the

following for each message to be communicated:
 Timeline − when the information will be
communicated
 Audience − to whom the information will be
communicated
 Objective – the purpose of sharing the
information
 Content – the key points to be communicated
 Media – how it will be communicated, e.g., in-
person meeting, e-mail message,
teleconference call, printed memos
A sample communication plan is included in the Tool

Kit section of this guide. A template you can customize
to meet your agency’s needs is also included.
Begin with leaders The first step in communicating survey results is to share
the results with organizational leadership and obtain
their commitment to using the data to improve the
organization. Leaders need to understand the results
so they will be able to present the results to employees
and answer their questions. They also need to make a
firm commitment to allocate time and resources to
apply the results and ensure that they will hold people
accountable for taking action.
Share the survey After organizational leaders learn the survey results, the
results with all next step is to share the results with all employees. The
employees most effective approach is to have the leaders directly
communicate the results to all employees and explain
how the survey data will be used.
When leaders deliver the information, it signals the

value and importance of the survey results. Direct
communication also provides employees with insights
about the thoughts and reactions of their leaders.
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Live meetings Survey results can be communicated to employees in

several different ways. Usually the most powerful
approach is to conduct a town hall or all hands
meeting for employees in an auditorium or rented
ballroom or via teleconference or video conference.
This approach is much more personal than an e-mail
message or printed memo and highlights the
importance of the information. If employees work in
many locations or on different shifts, a series of
meetings can be held to include everyone.
Cascading the If a live meeting, or series of meetings, of all employees

results with top leaders is not feasible, a good alternative is to
have top leaders share the results with managers who
in turn share it with their supervisors and employees.
The managers need to emphasize the importance
placed on the survey results by top leaders and explain
how the data will be used. Employee dialogue needs
to be included in these meetings also.
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Use simple, clear When the survey results are presented by leaders or
formats for results managers, be sure they are presented in a clear, easily
understood format. A good structure is to group the
results into areas of strength, areas for improvement,
and areas that are satisfactory but not notable.
Use simple graphs and charts to present the results.
Focus on highlights It typically works well to distribute to employees a

printed summary of the results for all questions but to
present and discuss in the meeting only the areas of
greatest strength and areas that most need
improvement. If previous surveys were conducted, also
compare the differences over time and discuss the
areas that improved and the areas that declined.
Describe focus Describe the focus areas chosen and explain why they
areas were selected as top priorities.
Explain next steps Describe the next steps for how and when the data will
be used to address the focus areas. For example, a
recommended sequence of steps include:
1. Form an employee team for each focus area
2. Collect additional information as needed to
identify the underlying issues
3. Develop specific objectives for each focus area
4. Develop an action plan for achieving each
objective
5. Implement the action plans
6. Evaluate the actions taken and revise them as
needed.
This sequence of steps would be described to

employees along with an estimated schedule.
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Request volunteers Ask for volunteers for each team. Explain that not
everyone who volunteers may be asked to join a team
because the teams will be balanced to represent each
division and relevant employee characteristics.
Describe the characteristics deemed important for the
issue such as supervisory status, level, type of
occupation, etc.
Emphasize that all employees have a role in using the

survey data to promote positive change. Effective
organizational changes require the commitment and
support of all employees, not just the few who lead the
effort. Those who are not team members may initially
contribute by sharing their concerns and ideas for
action planning. Then, as appropriate, they can
actively participate in implementing the action plans.
Time is of the Remember to move quickly in sharing the survey results

essence with employees. It is best to communicate the results
within one month after they are received.
Follow-up Follow up the initial employee meetings with frequent

communications additional communications describing the objectives
for each focus area, the action plans, and then the
progress of the plan implementations. The
communications will be optimally effective if they
come from leaders.
These follow-up communications can be delivered

through a variety of media including:
 Staff meetings
 E-mail messages
 Printed memos
 Posters
 Intranet bulletins
 Voice mail bulletins
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MAKE IT A TEAM EFFORT
 Involve all employees
 Form teams
 Select the best solution
 Develop SMART objectives
Involve employees Employee commitment and involvement is a key

ingredient for successful organizational change. People
are much more likely to support solutions that they
played a part in creating.
If possible, involve employees at all levels and locations

in applying the survey results. As noted above, when
the survey results are communicated, ask for volunteers
to participate on survey teams. Encourage all
employees to offer suggestions and comments through
a physical or online suggestion box, meetings with team
members, e-mails, or staff meetings.
Make participation Make it a privilege to participate in applying the survey

a privilege results. Present it as an exciting and rewarding
opportunity to have an important role in shaping the
future of the organization and making it an even better
place to work. When you call for volunteers, make it
clear that this Is a high visibility project that will benefit
both the employees and the organization. If feasible,
provide incentives for participation.
Name the teams It’s helpful to give the teams a title or acronym that is
easy to say and remember, e.g., ESAT (Employee Survey
Action Team), Survey Warriors, PSI (Problem Solvers Inc.).
Focus the teams It’s usually most effective to form teams that focus on
just one of the areas that you have identified for
strengthening. Thus, if you have chosen two areas to
work on, you could form two teams; if you chose three
areas, you could form three teams.
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Make It a Team Effort (continued)
Team composition When you select team members from among those
who volunteer, consider the employee characteristics
that are important for the team’s focus area. In many
cases, you will want to have representation from each
division and each job level or occupation with a mix of
employees, supervisors, and union representatives as
appropriate. For other issues, it will also be important to
ensure both genders and most racial/ethnic groups are
included. For some issues, age, years of work
experience or other employee characteristics should
also be considered.
You will also want to ensure that the people selected for
the team have good interpersonal skills and a record of
meeting their commitments.
Team leader A team leader should be selected who has successful

experience in leading teams, is well organized, has
strong analytical abilities, and has a record of
consistently meeting schedule and deliverable
commitments.
The team leader is responsible for scheduling and

conducting team meetings and serving as a project
manager for developing and implementing an action
plan. The team leader should also be accountable for
communicating obstacles and resource and support
needs to management.
Executive Each team should have an executive champion who

champion provides visibility for the team’s work, resources, and
encouragement and holds the team accountable for
results.
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Management The team should also have a sponsoring manager who

sponsor provides input from the management perspective,
works with the team to resolve any problems or
obstacles, and serves as a liaison with the executive
champion. The manager reviews and approves action
plans, monitors their progress, and addresses
implementation problems that are outside the team’s
scope of authority.
Team meetings The team should meet on a regular schedule. Weekly

meetings are suggested because they maintain group
momentum and move the action forward quickly. Bi-
weekly meetings can also be productive if the team
members perform tasks in the interim between
meetings. Monthly meetings are typically insufficient
because it takes too long to make progress.
Team The executive champion and management sponsor

responsibilities should be present at the first team meeting. They
should explain the team’s focus area, why it was
selected as an organizational priority, and then define
the team’s responsibilities. These responsibilities will
probably include the following:
1. Review in detail the survey data related to the
focus area
2. Identify possible reasons for employee responses
based on the team members’ experiences
working in the organization
3. Determine if additional information needs to be
collected and collect it
4. Define one or more specific objectives for the
focus area
5. Develop an action plan to achieve each
objective
6. Implement the action plans
7. Evaluate the success of the action plans.
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Explore underlying After the executive champion and management

issues sponsor have explained the focus area and defined the
team’s responsibilities, they will typically leave. The
team members will continue the meeting by reviewing
together the survey data related to the focus area. The
team should discuss possible reasons for employee
responses.
There are usually several alternative interpretations for

each survey question. For example, for a question such
as “I have trust and confidence in my supervisor,”
employees may have been thinking many different
things when indicating they disagreed with this
statement. Just a few of numerous possibilities are:
 I’m not sure who my supervisor is.
 I rarely talk with my supervisor so I don’t know if I
can trust him or her.
 My supervisor says one thing and does another.
 My supervisor lies to me.
 My supervisor’s first priority is himself.
 My supervisor doesn’t care about me.
 I’ve never seen my supervisor in a situation in
which trust was an issue.
 My supervisor plays favorites.
Multiple The goal of the discussion is to identify several

perspectives possibilities and determine how to identify which are
most likely. It is important to not take a question on its
face value or immediately assume you understand the
meaning of employee responses. Consider many
perspectives.
It’s critical to accurately identify the reasons for

unfavorable employee responses so that a solution that
truly addresses the underlying issues can be devised. If
a strength is the areas of focus, it’s important to ask the
question, “What are we doing right?” and therefore
should keep doing.
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Questions to For a problem area, ask the question, “What is the

consider – source of our deficiency in this area?” Consider these
problem areas factors and others:
 Inadequate knowledge or skills
 Inadequate authority
 Lack of information
 Inadequate or outdated equipment or other
resources
 Insufficient staff
 Poor work flow
 Lack of time
 Inadequate funds
 Conflicting demands
 Organizational constraints
 Rewarding not to do it
 Punishing to do it
 Doesn’t matter much if we do it
 We don’t care enough about it
Questions to For areas of strength, ask the question, “What is the

consider – strength source of our strength and how can we draw more
areas deeply from this source?” Consider these factors and
others:
 Motivated people
 Continual improvement culture
 Learning organization
 Open, trusting culture
 Strong supervisor-employee relationships
 Clear performance expectations
 Strong knowledge and skills
 Good project management
 Service orientation
 Strong sense of mission
 Employee empowerment
 There are clear consequences for positive and
negative behaviors
 Peer pressure for high performance
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Collect more data After discussing the possible reasons for employee
responses, often a team will decide that they need to
collect additional information to accurately interpret
employee responses and make the best use of the
survey data. There are several possible approaches to
expeditiously collecting this information. Here are some
suggestions:
 Team members meet with their work units to
request their input. This can be done in 30
minutes or less by simply asking colleagues to
explain why they think employees may have
given the response and discussing the possibilities.
 More formal focus groups can be conducted

with a structured protocol of specific questions to
be answered.
 Team members can each interview a few

employees to ask for their perspective.
 Employees in the work unit can be asked to share

examples of their related experiences by
responding to an e-mail request, completing an
online form, or simply jotting down examples on a
piece of paper.
 For questions related to supervisory behavior,

employees can be asked to anonymously answer
three questions:
1. What do they want their supervisor to START
doing?
2. What do they want their supervisor to STOP
doing?
3. What do they want their supervisor to
CONTINUE doing?
A wealth of insight can be obtained from the

answers to these three simple questions. A bonus of
this method is that a summary of the responses can
also be given to the supervisor as upward feedback
from their employees. Many supervisors will be
surprised to learn what their employees say.
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Multiple When a team collects additional information, it is

perspectives important to obtain the information from several
different relevant sources to expand the perspective.
For example, when focusing on a question regarding
supervisory behavior, it is critical to solicit input from
employees, supervisors, and managers.
Reach a After the additional information is collected, the team

conclusion will review and discuss it, interpret it, and arrive at
specific conclusions. For example, if the team’s focus
question is “I have trust and confidence in my
supervisor,” the team may conclude that the underlying
reason that many employees disagree with this
statement is that supervisors and employees have not
developed strong working relationships. Perceptions
could be that supervisors do not talk with their
employees very often and infrequently discuss the
employees’ work with them.
Identify solutions After the underlying causes for the problem or strength
are identified, the team brainstorms and then discusses
possible approaches to take. Often good ideas will be
contained in the additional information collected from
employees.
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Compare the Discuss these questions to select the best solution for
solutions your organization:
 Which approach is likely to be most effective?
 Which approach promises the most benefits for
the least cost in resources of people, time, and
money?
 What are our constraints for investing time,
money, or people in this approach?
 Which approach are we best equipped to try?
 Do we have the knowledge, skills, or abilities
needed for this approach? If not, can we quickly
develop or acquire them?
 Are there ethical, legal, or organizational
constraints?
 Can we support this with enthusiasm
 What obstacles might we encounter? How much
effort would it take to surmount these obstacles?
 What have we tried before? What worked? What
didn’t work?
Integrated When considering solutions, it’s important to keep in

solutions mind that stand alone acts of improvement such as a
leadership retreat, training event, or a job aid will not
lead to sustainable positive change. Solutions should be
part of a management system in which all the related
pieces are aligned and complement each other.
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“Can Do” Attitude If there seem to be serious obstacles to doing what the
team thinks needs to be done, ask what is stopping you.
If the team can’t do it, who can? Enlist their help.
Focus on what CAN be done. It may not be possible to

immediately make large scale changes, but all
organizations can begin with small, incremental, well
planned changes that lead to major improvements
over time.
Select the best Rank potential solutions in terms of effectiveness and

solutions potential limitations. Select the best overall approaches
with a strong chance of success.
The top solutions should be discussed with the

sponsoring manager and executive champion.
Agreement needs to be reached about which solution
will best serve organizational needs.
If a selected solution will change working conditions for

some groups of employees, it may be necessary to
discuss the proposed solution with union representatives.
Define SMART The next step is to develop specific, concrete objectives

objectives that transform the chosen solution into operational
terms. The acronym “SMART” is a good way to
remember the vital elements of a good objective.
 Specific – the objective should be clear and
concrete, stating in behavioral terms what will
happen
 Measurable – the achievement of the goal can
be measured and evaluated
 Achievable – the organization has the
capabilities to actually accomplish the objective;
it is practical
 Relevant – achieving the objective will make a
significant positive difference for the organization
 Time-bound − specific time parameters are
included
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Example of SMART For example, the team that selected trust and
objective confidence as a focus may develop several specific
objectives for promoting behaviors that they believe
over time will develop stronger working relationships
between employees and supervisors and build trust.
One of their objectives could be: “Beginning in March

2008, every supervisor will meet at least every two weeks
with each employee for an individual update meeting
to discuss the employee’s work and development
progress and other work-related issues as needed. The
supervisor will document the meeting using the Update
Meeting form provided.”
Non-example of An example of a poorly written objective is:

SMART objective “Supervisors and employees will meet on a regular
basis.”
Notes on The team may develop one or several objectives to

objectives address the focus area, depending on the issues
uncovered and their complexity.
Objectives should not include specific percentage

increases on the next survey. The goal is to change
organizational behaviors, not survey ratings. When
survey ratings become the focus, the importance of
changing behaviors is lost. Also, if ratings are the focus,
executives and managers may try to take actions they
believe will increase the ratings but that do not address
underlying problems.
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Inform Before moving further, be sure to inform stakeholders,

stakeholders those who will be affected by the planned objective, of
the objectives and give them an opportunity to
comment either through a meeting or in writing.
Not everyone will agree with the objective and, in some

cases, there may be strong opposition. Consider
possible underlying reasons for any objections and
either revise the objective or educate the dissenters.
Support from the executive champion and the
management sponsor will be important in addressing
opposition. Remember that there will rarely be an
objective that pleases everyone. What is important is to
do what is best for the organization. Sometimes
courage is required to move forward.
30
DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT AN ACTION PLAN
 Determine how to measure success
 Develop a step-by-step plan
 Implement the plan
Action plan To ensure your objectives are achieved, it is helpful to

contents develop an action plan for each. The plans can be
simple but need to include these seven elements:
1. A brief description of the focus area
2. The objective
3. How the accomplishment of the objective will
be measured
4. The specific actions that will be taken to achieve
the objective
5. The resources needed
6. The due date for each action
7. The person(s) responsible for each action
A sample action plan and template is included in the

Tool Kit section of this guide.
Focus area Describe the focus area concisely and clearly in terms
of a positive outcome. A phrase or a sentence usually
suffices. For example, “Facilitate the development of
trust by helping supervisors and employees build
stronger working relationships.”
Objective List the SMART objective you developed. For example,

“Beginning in February 2008, every supervisor will meet
at least every two weeks with each employee for an
individual update meeting to discuss the employee’s
work and development progress and other work-
related issues as needed. The supervisor will document
the meeting using the Update Meeting form provided.”
31
Develop and Implement an Action Plan (continued)
Measurement Briefly explain how you will determine if the objective is

achieved. If appropriate, set a baseline to measure
improvements.
For example, (1) “Each supervisor’s manager will talk

with the supervisor during their own bi-weekly update
about the meetings the supervisor has conducted with
employees over the past two weeks and review the
Update Meeting forms completed by the supervisor for
those meetings. The manager will submit a record of
the meetings conducted by supervisors to his or her
manager the last week of each quarter.”
(2) Each manager’s manager will talk with the

manager during their own bi-weekly update about the
meetings the manager has conducted with supervising
employees over the past two weeks and review the
Update Meeting forms completed by the manager for
those meetings. The manager’s manager will submit a
record of the meetings conducted by supervisors and
managers to the executive the last week of each
quarter.”
32
Action steps To create the action plan, divide the selected solutions
into discrete, concrete steps. The action steps should
include tasks that will surmount any identified potential
barriers to implementation. List the action steps in the
sequence in which they will occur.
For example, the action steps to achieve the objective

of bi-weekly update meetings could be:
1. Develop brief training programs to help the
supervisors learn how to conduct update
meetings and help the employees to get the
most out of the updates
2. The Division executive meets with all employees
to inform them of the new practice
3. Supervisors and managers participate in the
training
4. Employees participate in the training
5. Supervisors schedule the update meetings with
each employee on a regular, bi-weekly
timetable
6. The update meetings are held and the update
forms are completed
7. Each supervisor’s manager talks with the
supervisor during their own bi-weekly update
about the meetings the supervisor has
conducted with his or her employees over the
past two weeks and reviews the completed
Update Meeting forms.
8. The last week of each quarter managers submit
a record of all the updates to the executive.
33
Think small and When you develop the action steps, think in terms of
meaningful how you can create opportunities for small but
meaningful accomplishments that will add up to
important changes. If the team can immediately “fix”
small things, employees will feel that the time spent
responding to the survey was worthwhile and their
input is valued.
As small achievements accumulate, employees see

that positive change is indeed possible and can
visualize more positive differences in the future. Success
generates more success and creates an optimistic
mindset open to still more change. Resistance is
weakened and supporters emerge.
If your organization tends to be risk adverse and cherish

the status quo, incremental changes are often more
palatable. There is less risk and upheaval involved so
employees feel more comfortable.
Resources Consider the resources needed to accomplish each

step. The resources may include time, people,
materials, tools, training, authority, or information.
In the bi-weekly updates example, the resources

needed are the time of supervisors and employees to
participate in the updates, training, tools (the update
form), and authority (the Division executive
communicates that the updates are a required Division
practice).
Due dates Set a due date for each action step. Make it realistic
but aggressive.
34
Accountability Assign accountability to one or more individuals for the

on-time completion for each action step. Remember
that all employees are responsible for creating an
excellent work environment and involve employees as
much as possible. More information on accountability is
included later in this guide.
Implementation The employees designated as accountable carry out

their assigned responsibilities to implement the action
plan. Team meetings should continue during this
implementation period. Members should report
progress at each meeting. If the expected progress is
not being achieved, the team should work together to
develop a solution. Information on measuring progress
is provided in the Evaluation section of this guide.
35
SUPPORT IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS
 Visible commitment
 Communication
 Provide resources, coaching, and recognition
Visible A key ingredient in successful, sustained organizational

commitment change is providing support for improvement efforts.
Visible commitment by leadership is essential.
Employees are watching their leaders closely to see if
their actions align with their words.
Clear Leadership needs to make it crystal clear that the

communication improvement effort is an organizational priority and they
stand behind it 100%. This message is best
communicated in an all hands meeting or a series of
smaller meetings. This meeting follows up the first
meeting in which the survey results were shared and the
intent to improve was announced. Now, leaders
explain the specific objectives, introduce the teams
who will be working to achieve each objective, and
share the action plans. Each employee’s role in
achieving the objectives should be emphasized, be it
direct action or cooperation.
Time Allow team members and others assigned action plan

accountability the time required to accomplish their
tasks. In some cases, employees’ usual assignments will
need to be reduced.
Maintain the high priority of the action plan. Avoid

revising priorities so that the change activities are forced
into “as time is available” status. Providing adequate
time is essential to success.
36
Support Improvement Efforts (continued)
Encouragement Frequent communication about action plan progress

will demonstrate leadership’s continued interest and
boost the confidence of the employees working the
action plan.
The executive champion and sponsoring manager

should frequently check in with the teams on their
progress and provide encouragement and assistance
as needed.
Knowledge and Be sure everyone involved in implementing the

Skills objectives has the knowledge and skills they need to
participate effectively in the change. For example, in
the action plan for the bi-weekly update objective, an
important step is providing training to both supervisors
and employees so that they are prepared to
participate productively in update meetings.
Information Information is often an important part of change

solutions and needs to be built into the action plan. For
example, if the focus area is improving communication
between organizational leaders and employees, an
important action would be to inform employees of
existing and planned communication channels.
Tools In many cases, employees will need new or upgraded

tools to effectively implement the desired change. If
these are not provided, the initiative may fail. Tools may
include equipment such as computers or scanners,
software, job aids, or other devices. In the bi-weekly
update example, the update form is a job aid that will
facilitate dialogue in the meetings between supervisors
and employees.
37
Coaching The executive champion and management sponsor

can increase the chances of success by:
 Encouraging employees to try out new ways of
working and interacting that align with the
changes and helping them see the changes as
a great opportunity for development.
 Assisting the team in responding positively to

unexpected events and working around
obstacles.
 Coaching the team through adjustments in the

action plan if the emerging solution is proving
unworkable.
Monitor progress Each action team leader should report on the team’s
progress and any obstacles faced to the sponsoring
manager. Problems or potential problems can then be
promptly addressed by a change in the action plan,
revised work assignments and priorities of team
members, additional communication by management,
or other means.
Recognition Recognition of progress both fuels motivation and

communicates that the improvement effort is important.
Organizational leaders need to acknowledge the
accomplishments of everyone involved, both those
accountable for the action plan and those who
supported it through their participation.
Communicating successes to all employees signals the
value the organization places on goal achievement
and the importance of the improvement.
Simple words of praise or a thank you note are fine for

small steps. Celebrations for major milestones are an
excellent morale booster.
38
Two-way It’s important for the champion and sponsor to listen to

communication employee concerns and respond with reassurance,
information, direction, or action.
Listen to the underlying concerns, not just the surface

messages. For example, if supervisors say they don’t
have time to conduct update meetings, are they really
saying they are not comfortable conducting these
meetings? Are they saying they don’t think the meetings
are important? The supervisors may need some
coaching in conducting the meetings or they may need
to be told that these meetings are a critical part of their
job responsibilities and will be included in their
performance appraisals.
Resistance to Fear and anxiety are a natural and common response

change to change. An atmosphere of openness is vital to
coping with resistance and addressing the needs of
people affected by change.
Employees at all levels may be concerned over a real

or perceived loss of power, prestige, flexibility, or a
comfortable status quo. They may be anxious about
new job requirements or increased demands on their
time or uncertain about the intention of the change
and how it will affect existing work structures and
relationships.
Resistance can take many forms including negative

attitudes, active or passive refusal to participate in the
change, reduced productivity, decreased work quality,
increased absenteeism, political maneuvers, or even
outright sabotage.
The key is to recognize the possibility of resistance and

be prepared to deal with it effectively, quickly, and
compassionately.
39
Post Be sure to plan how to provide the organizational

implementation support mechanisms that will ensure the continuous and
support consistent effectiveness of the improvement once it is
implemented. Sometimes, after the initial flush of
success, the support provided by an organization
diminishes and the good results correspondingly
diminish.
The support needed to keep the solution functioning

smoothly may include close oversight, dedicated staff
time, materials, well-maintained equipment or software,
close coordination with other groups, periodic refresher
training, or any of a wide range of other support needs.
For example, after implementation of the biweekly
update plan, it is important that managers continue to
routinely check that supervisors are indeed meeting
biweekly with their employees.
40
HOLD PEOPLE ACCOUNTABLE
 Publish action plans
 Implement meaningful consequences
Accountability is Holding people accountable for results is absolutely

key essential for positive organizational change. People
must know what they need to do, when they need to
do it, and that there will be positive consequences for
meeting their commitments and negative
consequences if they don’t.
Publish action Post the action plans and keep them updated so that
plans target dates are widely known and accomplishments
can be noted by all employees.
Publishing the survey action plans on your agency or

division intranet site is a great way to motivate people
to accomplish the actions on schedule. The action
plans could also be distributed in paper to employees or
posted on bulletin boards. Publicizing the action plan to
your customers or the public at large on the agency
web site also makes accountability clear and sends the
message that you are working to improve.
Assign To hold people accountable, you have to be clear on

accountability who is accountable, what they are accountable for,
and what positive or negative consequences can be
expected as a result of carrying out the action plan(s).
For each item in the action plan, assign a specific
person who is accountable for carrying out an action or
ensuring that others carry out that action.
Implement Accountability exists only when there are meaningful

consequences consequences for fulfilling or not fulfilling responsibilities.
Follow through is vital. Make it clear at the outset for
everyone involved in the action planning and
implementation process that the survey work is valued
and is considered as an important part of their work.
41
Hold People Accountable (continued)
Reward Recognize and reward achievements in a manner

achievements commensurate with the level of achievement.
Recognition could include a handwritten thank you
note from a manager or executive, taking the
employees out to lunch, a certificate or plaque, small
awards such as movie passes, a celebration party, a
more flexible work schedule, an especially desirable
assignment, time off, team leadership, a monetary
award or salary increase, a higher performance rating,
a valued development opportunity, or other rewards.
Negative For those who do not accomplish their assigned

consequences responsibilities, there should be negative consequences
appropriate to the level of inadequate performance. It
should be made clear to the employee that the
consequence is a direct result of the employee’s failure
to successfully accomplish the assigned task(s). Before
deciding on a negative consequence, managers need
to check with their Human Resources office on the
allowable options.
A note about line The survey results and the action plans belong to line
ownership employees and managers, not to Human Resources. It is
line management who must be held accountable for
the survey action plans.
To help ensure widespread buy-in and ultimately,

positive results, a cardinal rule is to make sure that the
use of the survey data is clearly the province of line
management rather than Human Resources. Line
management should communicate the survey results,
interpret the results, identify focus areas, and oversee
the creation, implementation and evaluation of the
action plans. The role of Human Resources is to
recommend direction, offer technical guidance, and
provide support for action planning.
42
EVALUATE AND ADJUST
 Monitor progress
 Make adjustments
Monitor your The survey team’s job is not over once the action plans
progress are developed. The team should still oversee progress
and make adjustments where necessary. During regular
team meetings, plan time to evaluate the progress you
have made on the improvement action plans. Have
each team member responsible for a task report on the
progress made thus far and the progress expected by
the next team meeting. Include this information in the
minutes of your meeting.
Discuss what is working well and what is not. Figure out

how you could make your improvement efforts more
effective or efficient. Offer advice, assistance, and
encouragement to each other. Apply a little group
pressure to team members who are not meeting their
commitments.
In reviewing the team’s progress, consider these issues:

 Timeliness − Is the plan on track? Are milestones
being met?
 Effectiveness – Does it appear that the planned
actions will work? Are there signs of potential
problems?
 Unanticipated consequences – Are the actions
creating new problems or other undesirable
consequences?
If your action plan just doesn’t seem to be working,

discuss how you can revise it. You may need to take
another approach and begin again.
43
Evaluate and Adjust (continued)
Measure As part of the action planning process, you decided

achievement of how and when you would measure achievement of the
your objectives objectives you defined. At the times you specified for
each objective, apply your measures and discuss the
results.
If you achieved your objective, it’s time to celebrate as

a team! Your celebration could be a treat shared at a
team meeting, a potluck lunch, going out to breakfast
or lunch together, or an exchange of gag gifts. Choose
a celebration that will be fun for all of you.
Don’t forget to document the lessons learned.
If you did not If you did not achieve your objective, figure out why.
achieve your Discussing the questions below will help.
objective  Did we select a valid, accurate measure of
achievement?
 What factors interfered with our plans?
 Were interfering factors beyond our control?
 If not, what could we have done better?
 Was the objective unrealistic?
 Do we need to modify the objective?
 Did team members fulfill their commitments?
 What lessons did we learn?
Your team will find it useful to document your answers to

these questions so you can use this information in
planning other improvements.
After you have determined why you did not achieve

your objective, discuss your conclusions with the team
champion and sponsor and with them decide whether
to maintain the objective as is and continue working on
it, revise it and try again, or drop it entirely and work on
another priority for improvement.
If you decide to retain the objective or revise it, discuss

what you can do to ensure you meet your objective this
time and prepare another action plan.
44
MAKE IMPROVEMENTS VISIBLE
 Highlight success
 Highlight management responsiveness
 Share accomplishments and lessons learned
Highlight success Make accomplishments highly visible by publicly

thanking the survey teams. Thank the responsible
employees and communicate to everyone how the
work will improve the organization. Use the good results
as an opportunity to discuss the value of a continuous
improvement mindset.
The public announcements of success and expressions

of gratitude can take place at staff meetings or at large
scale events. There are many ways to make an event
special such as hanging posters thanking the team
members, decorating the room with balloons, ribbons,
or flowers, serving refreshments, distributing awards, or
giving a slide presentation of the team at work. It is also
a good idea to have colleagues share how the change
has positively impacted them or their work. If
appropriate, team work products can be distributed for
all to see.
Emphasize Survey work presents a great opportunity for managers

responsiveness to demonstrate that they listen and respond to
employees’ feedback. When changes in the
organization are made based on the survey feedback
and resulting action plans, be sure to tell employees
and the public, if appropriate, that the actions are
being taken because of the survey.
The organization should get full credit for using the

survey results. Sometimes organizations make changes
based on survey results but don’t tell employees. The
employees may believe nothing happened in response
to their input and become cynical. Emphasize the
organization’s responsiveness.
45
Make Improvements Visible (continued)
Share lessons Share lessons learned as well as successes. Help others

learned to learn both from what worked well and what did not
work well. Sharing learning demonstrates a deep
commitment to improvement. It sends the message that
both mistakes and successes are part of the change
process and helps others avoid problems in the future.
Share the wealth Share both accomplishments and lessons learned with
other organizations in your agency, with other agencies,
and external professional colleagues. This can be done
at all levels. Managers and executives can discuss the
teams’ experiences with their peers. Supervisors and
team members can talk about their discoveries and
experiences with their colleagues. All can make
presentations or write articles for professional
associations. Doing so enhances the reputation of both
the agency and the Federal Government at large.
Build on success When the teams’ objectives have been achieved, build
on success by choosing another issue raised by the
survey and work it through the same discussion and
action planning steps. Each effort you make to improve
effectiveness will bring you closer to achieving your
potential as a high performance organization.
46
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The sources consulted in preparing this guide are listed below.
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as an intervention for change. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.), Organizational surveys: Tools
for assessment and change (pp. 41-66). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Burke, W.W. (2006). Organizational surveys as leverage for organization

development and change. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.), Getting action from
organizational surveys: New concepts, technologies, and applications (pp.
131-149). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Chaudron, D. Master of all you survey: Planning an employee survey.

Retrieved Oct. 1, 2007 from http://www.organizedchange.com/survinc.htm.
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Harrison, S. (2007). The manager’s book of decencies: How small gestures

build great companies. New York: McGraw-Hill.
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Los Angeles: Hughes Electronics.
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Johnson, S.R. (2006). Preparing and presenting survey results to influence
audiences. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.), Getting action from organizational surveys: New
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technologies, and applications (pp. 1-30). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
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Nadler, D.A. (1994). Setting expectations and reporting results: Conversations

with top management. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.), Organizational surveys: Tools for
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In S.E. Condrey (Ed.), Handbook of human resource management in
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employees, customers, and other key stakeholders. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.),
Organizational surveys: Tools for assessment and change (pp. 88-166). San
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culture. In A.I. Kraut (Ed.), Organizational surveys: Tools for assessment and
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Toolpack Consulting at www.toolpack.com.
48
TOOL KIT
 Communication Plan Template
 Sample Communication Plan
 Survey Action Plan Template
 Sample Survey Action Plan
49
COMMUNICATION PLAN
Timeline Audience Objective Content Media
50
SAMPLE COMMUNICATION PLAN
Timeline Audience Objective Content Media
11/26/07 Managers  Share survey results  Review & discuss the Meeting
 Obtain survey results
commitment to  Identify review team
action members
12/4/07 All  Executive shares  Review survey All Hands
employees the survey results highlights meeting
 Solicit volunteers  Identify focus areas
 Explain next steps Printed
 Employees break summary of
into small groups to results
discuss
 Q&A
 Request volunteers
12/11/07 All  Disseminate team  Explain action teams Division
employees action plans  Share each team meetings
plan
 Explain role of each
employee
12/19/07 All  Report team  Describe the E-mail
employees progress progress made, any bulletins
1/3/08 changes to the
plans, and the
impact on
employees
1/7/08 All  Announce  Announce plan All Hands
employees implementation of implementation meeting
plans  Explain how the plan
will be implemented
& what it means for
employees
 Recognize team
members & others
 Celebrate success
2/7/08 Supervisors &  Executive reminds  Emphasize value of Meeting
managers supervisors & the change
managers of their  Review supervisors’
role in supporting & managers’ role
the change  Discuss any
obstacles & how to
resolve them
2/7/08 All  Executive reinforces  Emphasize value of E-mail
employees value of the the change bulletin
change  Encourage dialogue
 Remind employees
of their role
Each All  Progress report  Inform employees of  E-mail
quarter employees  Encouragement continued progress bulletin
& encourage  Posters
continued support
51
SURVEY ACTION PLAN
Date:
Focus:
Objective:
How progress will be measured:
Resources Person(s)
Action Needed Due Date Accountable
52
SAMPLE SURVEY ACTION PLAN
Date: December 10, 2007
Focus: Facilitate the development of trust by helping supervisors and employees build
stronger working relationships.
Objective: Beginning in February 2008, every supervisor will meet at least every two
weeks with each employee for an individual update meeting to discuss the employee’s
work and development progress and other work-related issues as needed. The supervisor
will document the meeting using the Update Meeting form provided.
How progress will be measured:

(1)Each supervisor’s manager will talk with the supervisor during their own bi-weekly
update about the meetings the supervisor has conducted with employees over the past
two weeks and review the Update Meeting forms completed by the supervisor for those
meetings. The manager will submit a record of the meetings conducted by supervisors to
his or her manager the last week of each quarter.
(2) Each manager’s manager will talk with the manager during their own bi-weekly
update about the meetings the manager has conducted with supervising employees
over the past two weeks and review the Update Meeting forms completed by the
manager for those meetings. The manager’s manager will submit a record of the
meetings conducted by supervisors and managers to the executive the last week of
each quarter.
Resources Person(s)
Develop brief training programs to Staff support for 1/4/08 Keisha Brown –
help the supervisors learn how to preparing training supervisor
conduct update meetings and the materials & job training
employees to get the most out of aids
the updates Jon Lee–
Funds for materials employee
training
About 40 hours for
each program
The Division executive meets with all Meeting space & 1/7/08 Ron Bertoia
employees to inform them of the sound system coordinates
new practice meeting
One hour time for
each employee to Maria Diaz
attend presents
All employees
attend
53
Resources Person(s)
Supervisors and managers Training space 1/25/08 Keisha Brown
participate in the training delivers training
Flip charts &
markers All supervisors &
managers
LCD projector & attend
screen
Guide for each

participant
One hour time for

each participant
Employees participate in the Training space 1/25/08 Jon Lee delivers
training training
Flip charts &
markers All employees
attend
LCD projector &
screen
Guide for each

participant
One hour time for

each participant
Supervisors schedule the update Group calendars 1/28/08 All supervisors
meetings with each employee on a
regular, bi-weekly timetable
The update meetings are held and Update forms Bi-weekly All supervisors,
the update forms are completed beginning managers &
About 30 minutes 2/4/08 employees
per meeting
Each supervisor’s manager talks Update forms Bi-weekly All managers
with the supervisor during their own beginning
bi-weekly update about the About 60 minutes 2/4/08
meetings the supervisor has per meeting
conducted with his or her
employees over the past two weeks
and reviews the completed Update
Meeting forms.
The last week of each quarter Documentation Each All managers

managers submit a record of all the log quarter
updates to the executive. beginning
3/08
54

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The Survey Results

U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board

Office of Policy and Evaluation

John Crum, Ph.D., Director

Anne F. Marrelli, Ph.D., Author

Image(s) Copyright TASK FORCE ImageGALLERY, Image(s) Copyright, NVTech Inc.

 Accept employee feedback as a gift

 Select target areas

 Communicate widely and often

 Make it a team effort

 Develop and implement action plans

 Support improvement efforts

 Hold people accountable

 Evaluate and adjust

 Make improvements visible

Act Quickly Page 8

Select Target Areas Page 9

Communicate Widely and Often Page 15

Make It a Team Effort Page 20

Develop and Implement an Action Plan Page 31

Hold People Accountable Page 41

Evaluate and Adjust Page 43

Make Improvements Visible Page 45

Survey Action Tool Kit Page 49

Feedback is a gift The feedback employees provide in a survey is a valuable

Surveys create When your organization conducts an employee survey, it is

If survey data is not used, the underlying message to

Employee surveys provide valuable data for improving your

If survey data is not used, employees are less likely to respond

Applying the survey data to improve your organization can

Using the survey data demonstrates to Congress and the

Communicate Once you receive employee survey results, move

It’s important to act while the survey is still fresh in

If time passes with no word about the survey results,

Time guidelines Communicate the survey results to employees within

Who should be Select a group of eight to ten persons to conduct an

An effective review team typically includes a senior

Review by If you have the survey data broken down by agency

 Doing okay = we have favorable ratings between

 Needs improvement = we have favorable ratings

For survey questions that do not use a rating scale

You may want to use symbols such as a + to mark strong

Employee If possible, check for differences by key employee

There are often substantial differences among

Where has your agency made progress? Mark these

The definition of minimal difference will vary with the

Select 1 to 3 In what areas is positive change most important to your

If you select more than three focus areas, it will be

 Special strengths you want to further enhance,

 Questions or clusters that have a high percent of

 Questions or clusters in which the percentage of

 Areas of special concern in your organization due

 “What benefits will we derive?”

Observable It is recommended that at least one of the focus areas

Some focus areas will take a year or more for change to

Move forward When the areas to be changed have been decided

Surveys are tools for Surveys drive positive organizational change by

Communicate to all Communicate the survey results to all employees at all

Candid sharing of all results, both positive and