Action Planning

Review (Nov - Dec)

Following receipt of their survey results, managers read their survey results to prepare for a team discussion.

• Review your survey results.
• Select date, time, and location. Prepare your meeting agenda.
• Prepare materials, including a copy of your survey results for each team member.

Survey reports are generated for teams that have five or more respondents to protect the integrity of the survey process and the confidentiality of the participants.
Teams with less than five members (or surveys with fewer than five respondents) should use the results from the next level manager.

What are my team's strengths?

Focus on the questions with high scores. They indicate areas of strength. It's easy to forget to focus on the team's strengths - those things that are already good. You will want to take steps to ensure these items remain strengths. Look for recognition opportunities in the results.

Think about:

What are you and the team doing to contribute to these strengths?

How can you improve on these even more?

What are my team's development areas?

Your natural instinct will be to focus on lower-scoring items. However, your greatest opportunities to improve engagement exist in questions that have a neutral score, "3" or a "4" — meaning it is not consistently achieved.

Think about:

Where might my team experience the biggest increase in engagement?

Is there one item that is affecting the others?

What else do I need to know from my team to explore these areas further?

Are my team's foundational needs met?

Keep in mind that Q1 - Q6 form the foundation of a great place to work. Without a solid base, it will be a challenge to build engagement. These questions address basic and individual needs and will need to be addressed first.

Think about:

Is there a foundational need that isn't being met?

Is there something I can do to impact it?

Is there one thing the team and I could fix that could significantly improve the work environment?

Discuss (Jan - Mar)

Managers meet with their team to discuss survey results, share, and learn how the team views engagement.

• Explain "why" we conducted the survey.
• Review key concepts of employee engagement.
• Share and discuss the survey results.
• Ask your team to name strengths and opportunities for improvement.

Once you are prepared, schedule an engagement discussion with your team. The goal of the team conversation is to distribute and explain the survey results and gain further insight behind the data. Only through discussion will you gain a full understanding of you team's results.

EXPLAIN THE "WHY"

• The survey helps us determine what we are already doing well and opportunities to improve and build a better, more satisfying workplace.
• Gallup defines engaged employees as those who are involved in, enthusiastic about and committed to their work and workplace.
• Gallup refers to the first twelve questions on the survey as the 12 elements of engagement.

DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES

• Team members can have different perspectives on each of the survey questions.
• Talk with your team to learn what each element means to them.
• It is okay if only a few people share their thoughts. Explain that there is no wrong or right answer.

CONVERSATION STARTER QUESTIONS

• Do any of these results surprise you?
• What elements of engagement are strengths? What are we doing that makes this a strong result?
• What areas of engagement are opportunities? What are we not doing that makes this an opportunity?
• What were you thinking about when you answered this (particular) item?
• What would a "5" look like on this (particular) item?

Set Goals (JAN - MAR)

Although you should have your goals set by the end of March, you have until April 30th to enter them into the Gallup portal.

Team prioritizes action items to focus on, sets goals & develops an engagement action plan.

• Prioritize 2-3 key focus areas to explore further.
• Discuss the current state of each of these items.
• Brainstorm action ideas and select the specific actions the team will take for the desired state.
• Create team engagement goals.
• Complete an Engagement Action Plan and establish follow up dates.

NARROW THE FOCUS

Keep it simple. Start with 2-3 focus areas. One item a strength and 1-2 priorities for improvement.

Discuss priorities based on the level of impact that engagement driver will have and how much effort it will take to move the needle.

• Which engagement item could we improve with simple changes?
• Which survey questions have the greatest impact on engagement?
• What were our lowest scoring areas?

IDENTIFY CURRENT CHALLENGES

• Why do you think we struggle in this area?
• What does our team or organization do to help or hurt this outcome?
• In an ideal future, how would this look different?
• Vote, secret ballot, group discussion, etc.

GENERATE SOLUTIONS

• You may want to schedule a separate meeting to generate solutions.
• Brainstorm to think about possible solutions.
• Set ground rules.

Completing an Engagement Action Plan

Survey reports are generated for teams that have five or more respondents and those managers will complete an Action Plan provided in the Gallup Access Portal. (If you receive a report, you will complete your Action Plan in the Gallup Access Portal.)

Teams with less than five members (or surveys with fewer than five respondents) should use the results from the next level manager to complete the Engagement Action Plan. (This template is not in the Gallup Access Portal.) This template is for your records, it is not necessary to send to TCE.

As you define your action plan, be sure to talk with your team about the following:

• Creating an owner for each goal
• Due dates and timelines
• How success will be measured
• Timeline for progress reports

Act (Apr - NEXT SURVEY)

The action plan does not equal engagement. It’s just an outline to follow. Building your team’s engagement level is a process that takes time. It should not start and end with your first engagement discussion or action plan. Setting tangible goals with clear instructions will enable your employees to stay on track and maximize their potential.

REGULAR COMMUNICATION

• The most important part of implementing your employee engagement action plan is regular communication and awareness
• Focusing on engagement every day will help you foster a work environment that creates an environment of belonging.

SMALL ACTIONS DAILY

Engagement efforts don't have to be time consuming.

• What are the top 5 ways you interact with your team each day/week/month? (ex. weekly team meetings)
• Think about how you can influence your team's engagement in each interaction. (ex. Schedule 5 minutes in each team meeting for a conversation around one engagement item)

Evaluate (Quarterly)

Don't just plan and forget about it. Regularly follow up on team goals to recognize progress and achievements.

CHECK-IN IDEAS

Establish 5 - 10-minute regular check-ins with your team to measure success and discuss:

• Did we complete the actions that we said we would?
• Did completing them make a difference?
• Are adjustments necessary to the action plan?
• If the plan isn't working, adjust or discuss alternatives.

CELEBRATE WINS

• Always remember to celebrate your successes and share your progress with your employees.