Employee Engagement Survey Names: How to be creative

What is an employee engagement survey?

Before we get to how to be creative with employee engagement survey names lets go through what is an employee engagement survey. Employee engagement is the extent to which team members feel committed to the company, recognize their contribution to the company and are passionate about their jobs. The simplest and most common way to measure this is through the employee engagement survey. There is a growing trend for companies and organizations to name their employee engagement surveys. Why? It has been suggested that naming your engagement survey captures employee attention, encourages participation and creates a more individualized brand which tailors the survey and the actionable plans (post-survey) to the organization.

The Employee Engagement Survey: A Brief Introduction

What is the employee engagement survey?

The employee engagement survey is a comprehensive questionnaire usually containing around 50 survey questions considering a range of workplace factors. Historically, engagement surveys have focused on the level of employee satisfaction under the presumption that happy employees are more productive and are more likely to remain with the company. However, more recent research from Helpside has outlined employee engagement as a better determinant of productivity, performance and satisfaction. As such, employee engagement surveys now examine a wider ranging number of aspects pertaining to the employee’s role, work environment and involvement with the organization.

The employee engagement survey provides companies with easily interpretable data from which they can create an actionable plan for areas of improvement. The employee engagement survey should not be considered a suitable alternative to an actual employee engagement programme.

What benefits does the employee engagement survey bring?

Employee engagement surveys help organizations identify the strengths of their workforce from which they can build on to gain a competitive edge in the market. They also help organizations to recognise their deficiencies, allowing them to create actionable plans from where they can improve and develop their workforce to best suit them. Engagement surveys not only help to build an idea as to where the strengths and weaknesses of your workforce lie, they also allow you to measure then fluctuations in engagement as you implement initiatives, strategies and organizational goals.

Employee engagement survey names: How to do it right?

Consider these steps when naming your employee engagement survey:

1. Create Meaning

When naming your survey ask yourself, "Does the name relate back to the survey and will it convey meaning?" A name should relate to the company or the employees explicitly or implicitly. Will employees be able to relate to, and understand the meaning behind your survey better if an appropriate name is used?

2. Capture attention

Capturing attention is an imperative issue when creating a name for your employee engagement survey. You don’t want your survey to be ignored, disregarded or completed passively, as this will produce erroneous and possibly detrimental data when implementing targeted initiatives.

Capturing your employee’s attention means that your employees are more likely to be drawn to the survey, completing it with accurate answers.

3. KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid!)

Don't rely on some convoluted, long, arduous or complex title. Instead, make sure the name is easily pronounceable and easily understood. This name should be used again and again, especially if you want to adhere to Guideline 5 below. It may also want to be used on an international scale. Any unnecessary level of complexity leads to negative implications on potential uptake and engagement with the survey.

4. The branding element

Consider the wider branding. Will the name integrate well into the organization's own name, colour scheme and logo? It is advisable to think of a name that will integrate relatively seamlessly with the pre-existing branding. Creating a name which integrates well will also help create a longevity element to the survey.

5. Make it re-usable

Is the name re-usable? Can you use it for years to come in your engagement surveys? It will be confusing for employees if the name for the employee engagement survey continuously changes.

Choosing an appropriate name for employee engagement shouldn’t be overly difficult, but at the same time it shouldn’t be rushed. Consider these steps when choosing your employee engagement survey name. Try to make them have meaning, capture attention, simple, integrative qualities with branding and a longevity element.

If you're interested in this topic specifically, you might like: The Employee Engagement Survey: A Guide.