Continuous Engagement Methods

I've always strived to understand how engaged my teams are in their mission, and what’s getting in their way that I or my leadership team can help remove. At previous companies, we used quarterly or semi-annual surveys. While they did surface issues, the format had limitations: Forced: Long surveys that are often forced, with managers pushing for participation metrics. Untimely: A quarter is too long; feedback suffers from recency bias. One-way: Comments can’t spark conversation, so team-specific issues often go unaddressed. At Cohesity, thanks to the leadership of Rebecca Adams, we use Workday PeakOn for continuous employee engagement, and it’s made a meaningful difference: No pressure: Brief, biweekly surveys with optional participation. 30–40% of the team usually responds because they want to. Timely: Focus areas evolve over time, so we’re focused on what matters now. Two-way dialog: Anonymous conversations let managers respond to comments without revealing employee identity. I’ve learned a great deal through these exchanges, and it’s gratifying when team members choose to continue the conversation openly as trust develops. Our engagement scores aren’t perfect, and as in any real business, not all issues can be solved quickly. However, I’m grateful for the steady pulse and the visibility on issues as they emerge. I highly recommend a continuous listening approach to any leader serious about building a better culture. #EmployeeExperience #Leadership #PeopleFirst #ContinuousEngagement #WorkdayPeakon

Employee feedback is broken. Here's your blueprint for conversations that count: Only 14% of companies conduct reviews more than once a year. It's time to shift towards more frequent performance feedback. Here's how to make it happen: 🔄 Implement Continuous Feedback: • Move away from annual reviews • Adopt monthly or quarterly check-ins • Use digital tools for real-time feedback 📊 Leverage Data-Driven Insights: • Track key performance metrics consistently • Use AI-powered analytics for personalized insights • Share data transparently with employees 🗣️ Encourage Two-Way Communication: • Train managers in active listening • Create safe spaces for honest dialogue • Act on employee suggestions visibly 🎯 Set Clear, Evolving Goals: • Align individual objectives with company vision • Adjust goals as priorities shift • Celebrate milestones and progress 🧠 Focus on Growth Mindset: • Frame feedback as opportunity for improvement • Provide resources for skill development • Recognize effort and learning, not just results 👥 Peer-to-Peer Recognition: • Implement a digital kudos system • Encourage cross-departmental feedback • Highlight collaborative successes 📈 Measure Feedback Effectiveness: • Survey employees on feedback quality • Track changes in performance post-feedback • Adjust your approach based on results These strategies aren't just about better feedback. They're about building a culture of continuous improvement. By making every conversation count, you're not only boosting performance. You're nurturing a more engaged, responsive, and dynamic team.

Annual reviews feel stale and out of touch. Real impact comes from continuous growth conversations—quick, meaningful check-ins that drive engagement, performance, and results. 𝚆̲𝚑̲𝚢̲ ̲𝙸̲𝚝̲ ̲𝚆̲𝚘̲𝚛̲𝚔̲𝚜̲ 𝟭. 𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗹-𝗧𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗙𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗥𝗼𝗰𝗸𝘀 No more waiting a year to course-correct. Immediate feedback means employees can improve now, not later. 𝟮. 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗦𝗼𝗮𝗿𝘀 Frequent chats show employees they’re valued and supported. Engaged people = better work. 𝟯. 𝗚𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗥𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁 Ongoing updates keep goals aligned with shifting business priorities. No more outdated plans. 𝙷̲𝚘̲𝚠̲ ̲𝚝̲𝚘̲ ̲𝚂̲𝚝̲𝚊̲𝚛̲𝚝̲ 𝟭. 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸, 𝗥𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸-𝗜𝗻𝘀 Weekly or biweekly. Keep it short but impactful. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: “What’s one thing that’s going well? What’s one challenge I can help with?” 𝟮. 𝗙𝗼𝗰𝘂𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘄𝘁𝗵 Balance tasks with career development. Help employees level up. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: Suggest a new project to build leadership skills. 𝟯. 𝗖𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗯𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗪𝗶𝗻𝘀 Catch someone doing great work? Call it out right away. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: “I loved how you handled that client issue—great thinking!” Small Moves, Big Payoffs 𝟭. 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗗𝘆𝗻𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗰𝘀 More trust, less drama. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: Weekly chats reveal overlapping tasks. Fixing it clears confusion. 𝟮. 𝗕𝗼𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗱𝘂𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗶𝘁𝘆 Fast feedback keeps work on point. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: Early tweaks to a project saves hours of rework later. 𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 Happy employees stick around. Fewer replacements = big savings. 𝘌𝘹𝘢𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦: Regular check-ins drop turnover by 15%, keeping star players in the game. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗼𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗲 Frequent conversations aren’t just nicer—they’re smarter. Start with a 10-minute check-in this week. Watch how small changes spark big results—for your team and your business.

Are you really listening? Or are you just collecting data? For several years now ( particularly since Covid) I’ve been writing about the limits of traditional engagement surveys. Recent research reinforces this shift. In The next competitive advantage in talent: Continuous employee listening, McKinsey & Company make a clear case that annual engagement surveys are no longer sufficient in fast-moving organisations. Published in 2023, and even more relevant now, as organisations operate with less stability, more change, and higher leadership load. Some of the points that stand out: 1. Annual surveys miss fast-moving risks and emerging issues. 2. Frequent, lightweight pulse listening gives leaders usable, timely insight. 3. Free-text comments often surface what leaders didn’t know to ask. 4. Trust is built when employees see feedback turn into visible action. What strikes me most is how closely this mirrors what I see in practice. Many organisations don’t struggle because people aren’t engaged. They struggle because leaders don’t listen often enough, or respond clearly enough for engagement to convert into performance. The organisations that get this right don’t treat engagement as the goal. They focus on: ✔ leaders setting the tone through behaviour. ✔ onboarding that makes expectations explicit. ✔ clear, frequent communication. ✔ investment in leadership capability. ✔ continuous development, not one-off initiatives. Engagement then becomes momentum, not something that looks good on a slide but changes very little.

Annual surveys are dead and ABN AMRO realized it the hard way —by watching engagement data arrive months too late, after the damage was already done. ABN AMRO replaced their once-a-year surveys with a 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐥.  Every month, they ask a representative group of employees one core question: Would you recommend this place to work? Plus—open-ended feedback on what’s working and what’s not. Over 𝟏,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡 are analyzed using NLP models like TF-IDF, Word2Vec, and SVM. That means 150+ themes clustered and tracked—𝐢𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞. And the impact: 1. Spot issues before they spiral 2. Build trust through transparency 3. Align HR insights with quarterly leadership decisions They didn’t just collect data. They turned feedback into fuel—for culture, strategy, and trust. 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞. Fast, actionable, employee-led. Not a dashboard no one opens, 10 months too late. When employees feel heard and see change—HR becomes a driver of transformation, not just measurement. #PeopleAnalytics #EmployeeEngagement #HRTech #Leadership #ContinuousListening #FutureOfWork

❓ Is it time to ban the annual engagement survey? I see so many companies that make a big hoo-ha annual engagement survey, wait months to analyse results and make action plans and talk about it with employees, then often by the time they're ready to act on the data guess what, it's time for next year's survey! And round and round we go on the endless cycle. Each year fewer employees complete the survey because they don’t see the point. Nothing changes. What's the alternative? It’s time to move away from “let’s listen once a year” to “let’s listen regularly”. Here are some practical ways you can do this: ➡️ Pulse checks: Short, frequent surveys to check for employee understanding and sentiment ➡️ Social listening: Pay attention to what employees are talking about in your internal comms channels ➡️ Focus groups: Facilitated conversations with employees to gather deep, rich insights on a particular topic ➡️ Mobile-first feedback: Meet frontline workers where they are with surveys designed for phones, not desk computers The trick is to be intentional and to build listening into your everyday employee experience, not treating it as an annual event. Smart companies are moving beyond the "survey them once and hope for the best" approach. Tools like Employee Insights by Workvivo by Zoom are designed to make continuous listening part of your regular employee engagement strategy, with surveys that appear naturally in employees' daily workflow. Is it time to ban the annual engagement survey? Tell me in the comments 👇