These days it’s easy to ask your employees for their opinions. But that doesn’t mean they’ll give you genuine answers or even answer at all. Here’s some help for increasing participation and getting more use out of employee surveys.

Technology has made it easier for companies to solicit and compile the opinions of a workforce, whether it’s by asking questions through e-mail, using an Internet service like SurveyMonkey, or by using internal survey software. But the age-old problem remains - making sure everyone participates and gives you info you can actually use.

The key to getting decent responses is designing a decent survey. That starts with the questions asked - good questions will get good answers. Too often, questions are designed by management and tailor-made to elicit positive responses. To curb that problem, assemble a small group of employees to pitch ideas for survey questions along with management.

Next, you’ll need to communicate effectively to keep participation high. If it’s a big project, like a yearly overall satisfaction survey, that may a chunk of time for employees to complete, send out an e-mail beforehand to let them know it’s coming. Also, make sure people have enough time to get it done. For example, if you’re using an online survey, a good practice is to keep it active for three or four weeks. Send out weekly reminders asking people to get it done and re-explaining how important their input is.

And finally, you might think about adding some face-to-face feedback to your online survey. Encourage managers to informally ask employees for their thoughts on certain subjects whenever they have a chance, or set up focus groups of randomly selected employees to meet with management and toss ideas around.

Tags: electronic feedback, Employee surveys, HR software, SurveyMonkey