Workforce Engagement Survey

Engaging the workforce in simple and effective action planning

The purpose of the survey is to help increase Workforce Engagement – the active participation of everyone in the workforce in the management and improvement of safety

Increasing maturity

The survey results provide an understanding of the areas of strength and improvement

This helps to develop an action plan based on a small number of improvement areas

Key principles for good action planning

• Relate the survey results to everyday work – it is the daily interactions and behaviour which generate engagement .

• Focus on a few key improvements.• Focus on what individuals can control.– What can Senior Managers and Site Leaders do?– What can Direct Supervisors do?– What can Safety Reps and What can Workers do?

• Ensure personal as well as group commitments.

Successful action planning involves:

1. Conducting review meetings with Senior Managers, Site Leaders and Safety Reps

2. Relating the survey results and the Workforce Engagement framework to existing initiatives

3. Holding feedback sessions with workers in each team

4. Finalising a worksite action plan / add actions to existing H&S plans at the worksite or company levels

5. Communicating the agreed action plan

1. Review meetings with key groups

• Conduct a series of meetings with key groups (such as Senior Managers, Site Leaders and Safety Reps) prior to feeding back the results on site.

• The purpose of this review is to agree on the feedback and action planning process.

• The purpose is not to ‘filter’ or ‘frame’ the results in any particular way.

• The meetings should familiarise key groups with the results to ensure they can help others in the workforce understand them.

• The outcome of this review is a shared understanding of the way forward.

2. Relating the survey results and the Workforce Engagement framework to existing initiatives • Review the worksite and company H&S plans for existing

initiatives related to Workforce Engagement.• The purpose of this is to link the survey results with efforts

already being undertaken to improve Workforce Engagement.• The benefit of this is to ensure ‘joined-up thinking’ and

‘joined-up planning’. Being able to communicate and involve people in joined up initiatives leads to deeper and faster increases in Workforce Engagement levels.

• Note that existing initiatives don’t have to actually feature on formal plans – some of the best are often informal and local to specific teams.

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3. Holding feedback sessions with workers

• It can be helpful to hold initial briefing sessions to feed the results back to as much of the workforce at once as possible. These briefing sessions should be attended / led by Senior Managers / Site Leaders. Enough briefing sessions should be planned to ensure all groups who participated in the survey get the chance to attend.

• The briefing should clearly communicate how ‘mature’ the results suggest the worksite is on each dimension of the Workforce Engagement maturity framework, as well as key strengths and areas for improvement.

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After any initial briefings, smaller feedback sessions should be held• The results should then be presented to all groups at the

worksite who participated in the survey in smaller sessions.• During these sessions, it is important that the purpose of the

survey is not lost in the survey data.• To ensure this doesn’t happen, a simple summary of the

survey results should be prepared. This summary needs to be in the language and style of the workplace.

Be aware of common barriers to engaging with the resultsSometimes, people won’t engage with survey results as a catalyst for change. This is usually because they believe:• The survey process wasn’t confidential, so any request for

improvement ideas is designed to identify trouble-makers• The survey didn’t measure the right things• The survey results are too complicated to understand• The survey results are too generic• Surveys are generally a waste of time – in their experience,

nothing happens after action planning sessions• There is a lack of trust between the person presenting the

results and the audience

When presenting the results

• Explain the agreed action planning process – what will happen when? What are the immediate next steps after the feedback session?

• Make sure you explain how to understand the results.• Make sure you present all of the data.• Make sure you pause after each section of the report to check

understanding.• Finish the presentation by summarising the results in your

own language. What do they mean to you?

A critical step: Sense-checking the results

• The discussion should then focus on the following questions:– What do you think of the results?– What were the key messages you heard?– Do any of them come as a surprise?• Which ones?• Why do they seem surprising?

– What do we think are our strengths?– What are our improvement areas?

Discuss how better Workforce Engagement comes from personal as well as group actions

SENIORMANAGEMENT

SITELEADERS

SUPERVISORS / FOREMAN

SAFETYREPS

WORKFORCE

WORKFORCE

Hints for having a good discussion

What can help the discussion• Be clear on the purpose of the discussion• Be clear about the commitment of the

senior leadership team to improving Workforce Engagement

• Establish an open discussion by sharing your personal opinion of the results

• Invite contributions from everyone – not just those people who have strong views

• Listen to what people say• Clarify ambiguous statements (“could you

help me understand”)• Thank people for their contributions• Check for consensus (“how do the rest of

you feel”)

What can hinder the discussion• Not providing a clear reason for the

discussion• Talking about action planning as being

something management is implementing• Behave as if you are “going through the

motions”• Judge contributions as good or bad

without checking with other opinions to these

• Interrupt contributions• Defend a particular company position on

topics• “Pass over” unclear points without

seeking clarification• Not actively facilitating a discussion

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4. Finalising a worksite action plan

Level < ENTER STRENGTH HERE >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

How do we maintain our strengths?

Level < ENTER DEVELOPMENT AREA >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

How do we improve our development areas?

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5. Communicate the agreed action plan

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PRESENTATION TEMPLATEConducting Feedback Sessions

The purpose of the survey is to help increase Workforce Engagement – the active participation of everyone in the workforce in the management and improvement of safety

Increasing maturity

We’ve done the Workforce Engagement survey

And here are our result (present results here)

Now we need to discuss these

And develop an action plan

Level < ENTER STRENGTH HERE >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

Level < ENTER DEVELOPMENT AREA >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

Let’s sense-check the results

• What do you think of the results?• What were the key messages you heard?• Do any of them come as a surprise?– Which ones?– Why do they seem surprising?

• What do we think are our strengths?• What are our improvement areas?

All improvement actions should focus on helping everyone to:

We improve engagement with positive behaviours and removing obstacles

Everyone on site has a different span of control

SENIORMANAGEMENT

SITELEADERS

SUPERVISORS / FOREMAN

SAFETYREPS

WORKFORCE

WORKFORCE

So we each do to do what we can to improve

SENIORMANAGEMENT

SITELEADERS

SUPERVISORS / FOREMAN

SAFETYREPS

WORKFORCE

WORKFORCE

Better Workforce Engagement comes from personal as well as group actions

SENIORMANAGEMENT

SITELEADERS

SUPERVISORS / FOREMAN

SAFETYREPS

WORKFORCE

WORKFORCE

What about obstacles?

Removing obstacles

Inadequate processes

Negative engagement behaviours

Plant & equipment in poor condition

Removing obstacles:Negative engagement behaviours• Not sharing information• Not having an ‘open door’ policy• Not making time available for discussions and support• Breaking commitments• Responding to intervention in negative ways• Treating contractors differently to permanent workers• Failing to involve safety representatives• Acting to undermine change efforts• Not always welcoming constructive input and challenge

Removing obstacles:Inadequate processes• Not consulting safety representatives during implementation

and review of processes• Not actively seeking input on how and where processes can

be improved• Failing to review processes to ensure on-going clarity• Having poor communication and information sharing

processes• A lack of coordination in scheduling and shut-down processes

Removing obstacles:Plant & equipment in poor condition• Pressure in capex, operating and maintenance budgets• Poor housekeeping and general condition of plant• Ageing equipment

Level < ENTER STRENGTH HERE >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

So, how do we maintain our strengths?

Level < ENTER DEVELOPMENT AREA >

Personal actions (me) Worksite actions (us)

Workers

Safety Reps

Supervisors / Foremen

Site Leaders

Senior Managers

And how should we improve?