How to Communicate Employee Satisfaction Surveys

To communicate your employee satisfaction surveys more effectively, notify management first, announce the survey through multiple channels, explain its purpose clearly to staff, follow up with reminders, and close the loop by sharing results and action plans.

Before launching your employee satisfaction survey, how you communicate it to your staff is critical. Clear communication about the survey process encourages participation, which leads to useful data that helps you make better decisions.

Inform senior executives, managers, and employees about your objectives, goals, and intentions before releasing the survey. These conversations should happen before the invitation is sent, separate from the invitation itself.

The goal is to successfully communicate your plans to everyone who will receive an invitation. If you simply send the survey questions without any warning or explanation, participation will suffer.

Below, we explain how to approach announcing employee satisfaction surveys to your team.

First, Notify Your Management Team

Your management staff should be the first people you tell about the survey.

They will be the first point of contact for employee questions and feedback, so it's critical that they understand why you are running frequent employee surveys.

Specify who will have access to the reports, what they can expect to see, and what you intend to do with the results. Share the implementation schedule and how you plan to notify the rest of the organization.

When communicating with the executive team, underline the connection between the survey topic and the company mission. This helps position the employee satisfaction survey as part of the company culture, not a one-off task.

Select a Method for Making Your Announcement

Many companies announce surveys by email alone, but it's worth considering other channels too. Small reminders across multiple channels reinforce the message and help ensure high participation rates from the start.

• Bring it up during team meetings.
• Post a notice on the workplace intranet.
• Publish news in the digital HR tool you use for employee engagement.
• Use group chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams.
• If you're back in the office, hang posters in common areas.

Combining several of these approaches can help guarantee that everyone receives the information.

Consider Your Employees

Before announcing the survey, think about what employees are likely wondering. Your announcement should answer a few key questions:

• Why is my company asking about this survey topic?
• Why is this survey important for company culture and team development?
• Will my responses be kept private?
• Who will see my responses?
• What happens to my suggestions after the survey?
• How will this survey benefit me?

Make a Follow-up Call

While the survey is still open, follow up with your team to remind them of the value of their input. Make sure the HR software you use for the employee satisfaction survey can send automatic reminders to people who haven't completed it yet. Sending reminders once or twice during the survey period is ideal. A personal touch from HR or a senior manager makes reminders far more motivating.

Communication Following the Survey

Always conduct meaningful internal communication to show your team that management genuinely cares about the results of these employee satisfaction surveys. Here are a few steps to take afterward:

Don't Forget to Say Thank You

Your communication duties don't end with reminders and follow-ups. Thanking employees after the survey closes is equally important.

3 Right Will Take 1 Wrong

Share a few key figures and explain what happens next. For example, share 3 areas of satisfaction and 1 area open for improvement in a company-wide email. This lets employees see that teammates across the company share similar feelings, strengthening their commitment.

Post-Poll Analysis

Post-survey data is often shared by category, though the exact approach varies depending on the type, size, and structure of the organization.

An Example of a Multi-Layered Communication Strategy

Company results: Present findings to all staff in a public forum, such as an all-company meeting.

Leader-level reports: Share with senior management first, including external benchmarking where possible.

Team-based results: Look for department, location, or project-based differences, and share each result with the relevant team leader.

Talk About Your Action Plans

Thanks and analysis are great, but employees want to see action too. They expect HR teams and leadership to respond actively to emerging dissatisfaction. Announcing concrete plans and following through builds trust and drives employee engagement.

As a result: employee buy-in and engagement will improve, response rates will increase, and your team will be happier.

Contact our People Experts to learn how to build strong internal communication on the same platform as your Employee Satisfaction Survey, which you can run right from mobile!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to communicate your employee satisfaction surveys more effectively?

Notify management first, announce the survey through multiple channels, explain its purpose to employees, send follow-up reminders, and share results with clear action plans afterward.

Who should be informed before launching an employee satisfaction survey?

Senior executives, managers, and employees should all be informed of the survey's goals and timeline before the invitation is sent out.

What channels should be used to announce a survey?

Use a mix of email, team meetings, intranet posts, group chat tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, and office posters to reach everyone effectively.

Why is follow-up communication important during a survey?

Follow-up reminders, especially with a personal touch from HR or managers, keep participation rates high and show employees their input matters.

What should happen after the survey closes?

Thank participants, share key results such as strengths and improvement areas, provide category-based analysis, and communicate concrete action plans.