How to Change Employee Behavior
Change is difficult for most people, regardless of title or position. Upper management may not see the need to share the feedback results, especially if the data are not as positive towards them or the organization as they believe it should be. Rationalization becomes rampant. Management may believe your employee opinion survey caused employees to think negatively about the organization. The survey is not a cause, but a means to record and document what employees are already thinking.
Change begins when the individual chooses to change. It does not begin when the organization says people should change. As a result, upper management needs to thank employees for their feedback, acknowledge the feedback results, and identify what they intend to build upon and what they will change, based on the input from their employees. If management chooses not to share their data and implement action plans based on the data, what effect does this non-action have on those employees who provided the feedback? How have employees benefited? How has the department and organization benefited? Has upper management reinforced employees' beliefs that perhaps this was just another exercise in sham participatory management?
When you ask for feedback, be prepared for the results. When you receive it, whether you like the results or not, be prepared to identify what you intend to do as a result of what you learned.
