CATEGORIES: EMPLOYEE SURVEYS
Why You Shouldn’t Aim for 100% Survey Participation
“We are aiming for 100% engagement survey participation across the organization!”
Over the years, we’ve heard clients express this goal. After all, it sounds right intuitively. Shouldn’t we want to receive feedback from every single employee to ensure all voices are heard and guarantee that any conclusions drawn from the data accurately represent how people feel? In reality, the emphasis on achieving a perfect completion rate may not be necessary and may even have some drawbacks.
First, established research shows that 100% survey participation is not essential for results generalizability and data quality. The number of survey responses an organization needs to accurately represent their full headcount is based on sample size, not a participation percentage. In fact, unless you have an organization with fewer than 50 people, even a 90% participation rate is not necessary to achieve a representative sample from a statistical perspective. Understanding this helps to alleviate anxieties around achieving the lofty goal of total employee participation.
For more, see Qualtrics’ Sample Size Calculator
Further, striving for 100% participation can actually be detrimental. In an ideal world, we would hear from everyone, but this does not align with reality. There will always be some employees who simply do not want to take a survey. Regardless of the reason behind this, forcing people to respond can backfire. These efforts can lead to insincere responses, as employees may feel compelled to participate rather than genuinely wanting to share their insights. Additionally, mandating surveys can produce resentment and lead to survey fatigue, which can weaken overall efforts to solicit honest feedback when it is needed most. Forcing people to respond to a survey can also harm efforts of building a culture of psychological safety.
So, what should your goal be when it comes to survey participation? The goal is for every employee to have an opportunity to take the survey.
Your job is to create the best conditions for accomplishing that goal. We believe one of those conditions is voluntary participation. Encouraging voluntary participation fosters a culture of trust and autonomy. People participate because they know their voice matters and they are genuinely interested in contributing to improving the workplace. Our clients who make participation voluntary rather than compulsory reap the benefits of higher participation organically. People typically respond better when given the choice, especially if they see examples of employee feedback influencing their day-to-day work experience.
Instead of aiming for 100% participation, we encourage clients to strive for representative samples across key groups. This helps to prevent certain locations, departments, or other areas of the business from being under-represented in the key survey findings. Approach employee surveying with a spirit of encouragement rather than applying undue pressure.
Madison Hanscom, Ph.D.
Director of People Science
Madison uses her experience in organizational science to diagnose problems and build solutions. With years of experience in applied research, Madison leverages her knowledge in research methods, design, and statistics to develop and administer assessments. She enjoys translating data for practical use and partnering with clients to create better workplaces. Connect with Madison at Linkedin.