How do I analyze the results – what story do I get from the feedback?

The survey probably asked a lot of questions of employees, so the dashboard is now full of results. How are you going to figure this out?

Don’t worry, you don’t need to become a data analyst overnight or clear your schedule for a week to understand the feedback. Our advice is to follow these steps and, most importantly, engage in a conversation with the employee. That’s when you’ll uncover the real story behind the feedback.

Step 1: Review the response rate
If you have around a 70% response rate or higher, the results will provide a good indication of the overall sentiment. However, if the response rate is relatively low—say, less than half of the employees participated—keep this in mind when interpreting the results. A low response rate doesn’t mean you should disregard the results entirely. The employees who did participate still deserve proper follow-up, and for those who didn’t, it’s worth having a conversation to understand their experience.

Step 2: Evaluate the eNPS
The Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) offers a quick snapshot of how your organization or team is performing. Is the eNPS positive or negative? What’s the distribution of promoters, passives, and detractors? How does the eNPS compare to previous years, to other teams, or to benchmarks?

Step 3: Examine the reasons for recommending or not recommending the organization
In the survey, employees were asked follow-up questions based on their eNPS responses. Take time to read these carefully. What excites the promoters? What areas do passives feel need improvement? Why are detractors dissatisfied? Avoid taking the feedback personally. Instead, look for recurring themes in the responses. What patterns or common threads can you identify?

Step 4: Analyze the priority matrix
The priority matrix balances satisfaction against importance. Focus on the right side of the matrix—this is where the most significant issues for employees are located. What do employees consider to be your organization’s strengths (green spheres)? What do they view as priorities for improvement (red spheres)? Also, pay attention to what’s high in orange, which represents areas with less importance but high potential for improvement. Be mindful of issues that are on the border between orange and red, or green and red.

Now, revisit your findings from Step 3. Do you notice any recurring themes?

It’s also helpful to examine the corresponding satisfaction scores and compare them to previous surveys, other teams, or industry benchmarks.

Example: Communication within the team appears as a red sphere in the priority matrix. This indicates employees are directly asking for improvement in this area. What is the associated satisfaction score? Has it improved, declined, or stayed the same compared to previous measurements? How does it compare with other teams?

By following these steps, you’ll gain a strong initial understanding of the feedback.

Additionally, you could delve deeper into factors like engagement, workload, satisfaction scores, and the responses to open-ended questions. If you have access to results from multiple groups, repeat the above steps and compare the data. Be mindful not to overwhelm yourself with details—there’s no need to analyze every decimal point. The conversation with the employee is where the true insights come to light.

Need help with your analysis? Ask Integron!