Over the last decade, the workforce has been changing at a rapid pace. From the technology we use to the demographics of workers and the way we communicate, these changes have impacted almost everything about the way companies operate – including how to motivate and retain talent – something that has become critical to the bottom line.

According to Gallup, disengaged employees have 37 percent higher absenteeism, 18 percent lower productivity and 15 percent lower profitability. And despite a rising focus on employee satisfaction and engagement, today's workforce is feeling burnt out. Deloitte's survey of 1,000 full-time US professionals found that 77 percent of respondents said they experienced burnout. In a hot job market with historically low unemployment levels, organizations are seeing their talented employees frustrated and leaving for other opportunities.

Companies who find themselves with retention rates that aren't improving, tense work environments or disengaged workers are likely not hearing their employees. The reason? It might be outdated engagement strategies. While the annual satisfaction survey can be useful for high-level strategy, board meetings and the c-suite, engagement scores can stagnate using this approach. There are more effective ways to survey the broader landscape of a company using continuous listening. As our workplaces diversify and we meet the needs of new generations, methods of surveying employees must evolve, too.

Surveys are a useful tool for decreasing burnout and dissatisfaction. Giving employees an outlet to voice their concerns, and importantly, for managers to act upon those concerns can result in employees who feel happy, valued and are more likely to do better work. Before we change how we survey, however, we must change how business and HR leaders think about employee surveys.

Here are three steps to consider before your next employee survey.

1: Identify your problem or objective

Before installing a survey or even a cadence and larger strategy, business leaders should ensure there is strong alignment on the problem you and your team are trying to solve and the metrics you are looking to uncover. A lack of alignment can lead to broad, sweeping questions that are unlikely to produce tailored results that drive actionable insights and ultimately company-wide change.

Often, companies conduct long and generalized annual or biannual surveys. If managers measure employee experience infrequently, the surveys may not be as complete, as employees either forget to report an observation they had months earlier or report it inaccurately. To combat this, create a survey cadence to solicit feedback more regularly through continuous listening and frequent action.

That's just the start. Even if surveys are conducted regularly, whether monthly or quarterly, it doesn't guarantee accuracy. More effective surveys are available on a 24/7 basis and in the places that employees access most frequently, whether that's in a break room or on an intranet homepage. If employees know they can file a concern or takeaway at any time, and understand exactly where and how to do so, the quality of the feedback will improve.

Finally, it's crucial to deploy a text-analytics engine that can analyze results and consolidate them into digestible reports. When companies fail to use these tools, they immediately limit the survey's potential. Results are only useful if we have the tools and infrastructure that can translate them into actionable feedback.

2. Test managers' theories

Managers within different departments have their own hypotheses about company morale. Those ideas are formed throughout the days, weeks and months spent with colleagues in the same department, working day-to-day on projects. Yet managers may not know what employees experience cross-departmentally, creating a disconnect across the institution. For example, if a manager is asked why resignation numbers are up, he or she may draw different conclusions than managers in other departments.

Consequently, managers' lack of companywide understanding can lead to survey questioning that fails to touch upon the core problems of the company. Forty-eight percent of employees think surveys are not an accurate reflection of reality. That's far too high of a number.

Testing hypotheses by asking questions through broader groups enables managers to understand more about employee sentiment across departments. This can only be done if there is enough data to draw these conclusions, which can mean surveying more frequently and improving access to surveys. More feedback can result in a better understanding of the company as a whole.

3. Design your survey to yield actionable insights (and act on them!)

Of all the steps, yielding actionable insight is the most important step.

Conducting surveys shouldn't be a formality; it should be something HR leaders actively do to learn about your workplace. Tailoring surveys is only half the battle; you must also be prepared and willing to act on the answers. For example, if you're going to ask about compensation and annual review structures, you need to be prepared to do something about it.

Lack of managerial action is one of the biggest problems with employee surveys. Only 8 percent of employees strongly agree that their employer takes action on survey results according to Gallup. This leads to employees feeling undervalued and ultimately results in a decline in the quality of their work.

Designing your survey to drive actionable insights can ultimately lead to improved participation, more specific results and a healthier workplace. The impact of positive employee surveys can echo across an entire organization. But in order to achieve this, managers should put in the effort to design surveys with their employees' best interests in mind, then act upon their feedback.

The bottom line is that happier employees not only improve workplace retention but also impact your company's success. It's time to throw out the outdated survey and bring in methods that will actually help you hear what employees have to say–and act on it.

Melissa Arronte is a solutions principal at Medallia.

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3 steps to creating an effective employee survey

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