In the News
In research, sometimes less is more
24 October 2023
Based on the GIGO principle (Garbage In, Garbage Out) Echo calls for a considered approach in securing internal feedback where less is more, not wasting people’s time and focusing on acting on results.
In conversation with Andrew Saunders, Sandra Macleod speaks on the impact and importance of review culture in an interview for Work. Magazine.
“I’m in favour of less is more,” Sandra says. “Where we have been able to advise companies [on their employee surveys] quite often, we’ll say: ‘Could you reduce the number of questions, because you’re not going to do anything with the answers to about three quarters of them anyway, so why waste people’s time?’”
Instead of asking every question they can think of, companies should decide on about a dozen questions they really want to ask – and, crucially, on whose answers they will be prepared to act on. Because seeking feedback and then ignoring or hiding the results is worse for engagement than doing nothing at all. “That’s the other problem – people get asked for their opinion, but then the findings aren’t shared,” says Macleod. “Or if they are, no changes are then implemented. Those are both good ways to disincentivise people.”
For more valuable insights on review culture, be sure to read Andrew Saunders' full article in Work. Magazine.
Work. Magazine is an exclusive magazine for CIPD Chartered Fellows.
