Writing Internally For HR Departments

✅ Survey Design Cheatsheet (PNG/PDF). With practical techniques to reduce bias, increase completion and get reliable insights ↓ 🚫 Most surveys are biased, misleading and not actionable. 🤔 People often don’t give true answers, or can’t answer truthfully. 🤔 What people answer, think and feel are often very different things. 🤔 Average scores don’t speak to individual differences. ✅ Good questions, scale and sample avoid poor insights at scale. ✅ Industry confidence level: 95%, margin of error 4–5%. ✅ With 10.000 users, you need ≥567 answers to reduce sample bias. ✅ Randomize the order of options to minimize primacy bias. ✅ Allow testers to skip questions, or save and exit to reduce noise. 🚫 Don’t ask multiple questions at once in one single question. 🤔 For long surveys, users regress to neutral or positive answers. 🚫 The more questions, the less time users spend answering them. ✅ Shorter is better: after 7–8 mins completion rates drop by 5–20%. ✅ Pre-test your survey in a pilot run with at least 3 customers. 🚫 Avoid 1–10 scales as there is more variance in larger scales. 🚫 Never ask people about their behavior: observe them. 🚫 Don’t ask what people like/dislike: it rarely matches behavior. 🚫 Asking a question directly is the worst way to get insights. 🚫 Don’t make key decisions based on survey results alone. Surveys aim to uncover what many people think or feel. But often it’s what many people *think* they think or feel. In practice, they aren’t very helpful to learn how users behave, what they actually do, if a product is usable or learn specific user needs. However, they do help to learn where users struggle, what user’s expectations are, if a feature is helpful and to better understand user’s perception or view. But: designing surveys is difficult. The results are often hard to interpret and we always need to verify them by listening to and observing users. Pre-test surveys before sending out. Check if users can answer truthfully. Review the sample size. Define what you want to know first. And, most importantly, what decisions you will and will not make based on the answers you receive. --- ✤ Useful resources: Survey Design Cheatsheet (PNG, PDF), by yours truly https://lnkd.in/ez9XQAk3 A Big Guide To Survey Design, by H Locke https://lnkd.in/eJWRnDRi How to Write (Better) Survey Questions, by Nikki Anderson, MA https://lnkd.in/eHpzr-Q6 Survey Design Guide, by Maze https://lnkd.in/e4cMp5g5 Why Surveys Are Problematic, by Erika Hall https://lnkd.in/eqTd-7xM --- ✤ Books ⦿ Just Enough Research, by Erika Hall ⦿ Designing Surveys That Work, by Caroline Jarrett ⦿ Designing Quality Survey Questions, by Sheila B. Robinson #ux #surveys

I didn't write Gamma's culture deck in a conference room with a whiteboard. I kept a notebook. Every time someone in our Slack channel praised a teammate, I wrote down what they praised. Not the result - the behavior. I studied engineering. Spent years in finance. But the class that rewired how I build companies was one MBA course: Organizational behavior. How people make decisions in groups. How incentives warp behavior. How the structure of a team determines its output before anyone writes a line of code. That class is why I kept the notebook. One of our engineers had this way of approaching problems she didn't know how to solve. No pretending or deflecting. Just "I don't know yet, but here's how I'll find out." I collected those patterns for over a year. Once we hit twelve people, I brought them to the team and asked: which of these feel authentic? Because until you've been in the idea maze together, you're just guessing at your culture. Most culture decks are aspirational slogans. Ours is a collection of observed behaviors, codified. If you could only write down what you've actually seen your team do, what would your culture deck look like?

Employee engagement surveys are broken.   There, I said it.   Companies spend thousands each year on surveys. Promising insights into how their people feel.   Yet the results are often inaccurate, incomplete, and unreliable.   And why is this?   1. Mistrust of anonymity Employees open up when surveys feel safe. But 45% think HR can track their answers, so they hold back. Reframe surveys as confidential and explain how the data is used.   2. Outdated survey design Generic surveys miss the mark. Every company is different, so should its questions be. Tailor surveys to your culture and goals to get useful insights.   3. Timing matters Annual surveys? Outdated. Engagement shifts all year. Regular pulse checks give a clearer picture.   4. The trust gap Nothing kills engagement like ignored feedback. If employees don’t see change, they stop caring. Share results, communicate next steps, and follow through.   How do we fix it?   - Run shorter, more frequent pulse surveys. - Focus on patterns, not individual responses. - Follow up with action and communicate results.   Employee engagement builds trust. Not simply collecting data.   Are your surveys doing that?

Your culture is the invisible force that shapes how people feel about your brand. And it starts with your leadership — → The way you hire and train → How you embed values into your work → The processes you deploy → The way you demonstrate who you are …these subtle cues convey so much about your brand. Because in a world of copycat products and services… …culture is your secret weapon. It's the DNA that can make your company so special. Here's how to harness it: ↓ 1️⃣ Live out your values Don't just write your company principles on a mission statement and forget about them. Embody them. And actively reward team members who embody them. At Motto, we recognize when someone demonstrates our values through kudos, performance, bonuses, and other recognitions. Whether it's showing radical candor or going the extra mile, we celebrate it. 2️⃣ Rally around a Big Idea Every company worth remembering has a Big Idea that clearly and concisely defines their reasons for existing. Express this in big ways — how your company operates as a whole — and in small ways. For example, the way you end team meetings. We sign off with "Do big things" to remind everyone they're here to do exceptional work. 3️⃣ Embed your values in hiring Your job postings and career page should reflect your culture’s transparency and values. We, for instance, outline each step of our hiring process upfront. This helps us proactively recruit candidates who align with our values and can handle our high-performance environment (while screening out those who can’t). 4️⃣ Proactively invest in growth Each of your employees is an asset. Give team members chances to learn and teach others what they’ve learned. On Friday, we give one hour for our team to take classes and share their knowledge with the team. It builds their skills *and* confidence in leadership. 5️⃣ Use failure as fuel When you hit a wall, always see it as a chance to innovate and bounce back even greater. Embed this into your company DNA more than anything else. Your culture isn't just internal. It shows up in every interaction with customers, partners, and the public. So, nurture it carefully. The culture you nurture today is the brand you have tomorrow.

A few years ago, I tried to convince a CEO we should run an employee survey. He looked at me and said, “Why? So we can create a colorful PowerPoint about feelings and then do absolutely nothing with it?” Honestly… fair. He’d seen the movie before: -100+ questions -Good participation -Beautiful charts -Zero change -Collective employee eye-roll At the time, I was determined to prove a survey could be more than a corporate ritual we perform between budgeting season and the holiday party. Here’s what I learned: An employee survey isn’t about asking questions. It’s about deciding what you’re actually willing to hear. And what you’re willing to do about it. Our first draft survey was… ambitious. We asked everything. Engagement. Benefits. Leadership trust. Office snacks. Probably the emotional impact of the expense policy. It was thoughtful. It was thorough. It was also completely unfocused. The CEO asked me one question that changed everything: “What decision will this data help us make?” Silence. We weren’t clear on what we really wanted to learn. We were going through the motions because “good companies run surveys.” So we scrapped it and started over. Instead of starting with questions, we started with intent: -Where are we guessing instead of knowing? -What’s getting in the way of great work? -What are we actually prepared to fix? -What might surprise us? We cut the survey nearly in half. We removed vague questions like, “Do you feel valued?” (valued… by whom? For what?) We replaced them with sharper ones: -What’s one process that makes your job harder than it needs to be? -What does leadership think is working well - but isn’t? -If you could change one thing in the next 90 days, what would it be? The difference was immediate. Participation went up. Comments got specific. Patterns were clear. Within 60 days, we eliminated a clunky approval process, clarified decision rights, and fixed a communication gap that had been frustrating half the company. Nothing revolutionary. Just listening - and acting. And that’s what changed the CEO’s mind. Employees don’t expect perfection. They expect evidence that their input matters. What I took away from that experience: -Don’t ask a question you’re not prepared to act on. -Fewer, sharper questions beat longer, safer surveys. -Specific beats sentimental. -The real work starts after the results come in. -Over-surveying is annoying. Under-listening is fatal. Now, whenever someone says, “We should run a survey,” my first question is: “To learn what?” Because the power isn’t in the form. It’s in the intention behind it. Sometimes tweaking just a few questions doesn’t just change the data. It changes the conversation.

Company culture is not words on the website. It's how people feel on a Sunday night. Simon Sinek once said: "Customers will never love a Company until the employees love it first" And research confirms that 👇🏽 The 100 best companies to work for beat the market by 3.36X (FTSE Russell) That's why when I work with companies on their brand strategy, it's also about their culture. How do we cultivate a strong culture? Here are 7 components: 1/ Purpose ↳ WHO do you serve and WHY? ↳ Why do you exist beyond making money? ↳ This is where everything should emanate from. 2/ Principles ↳ Start with a set of 3-5 core values ↳ Define key behaviors for each ↳ "Encourage quiet people to speak" vs. "Inclusion" 3/ Systems ↳ Audit process and technologies ↳ Change any to encourage using principles ↳ Want people to be ok with failure? Reward it. 4/ Stories ↳ Capture examples, actual behaviors ↳ Write them as stories to exemplify principles ↳"Jack saw his team struggle and he stayed to help" 5/ Lexicon ↳ Collect phrases that are unique ↳ Use them to live the principles, start from leadership ↳ Netflix uses "sunshining" to air a mistake 6/ Traditions ↳ How does the company purpose come to life? ↳ Create an event people can participate (not required) ↳ Nasa has an annual pumpkin carving contest! 7/ Artifacts ↳ The most easy to spot and most tangible ↳ What can be a physical embodiment of a principle? ↳ Medtronic gives mission medallions to each employee When you cultivate a culture people can thrive in, it will attract the best talent and the best customers. It starts from the inside out. Agree? Make your mark, live your legend 🤘🏽

Designing a survey might seem straightforward, but there are some common pitfalls you need to avoid to ensure you get unbiased and accurate data. Let’s look at the top 6 survey design mistakes and how you can steer clear of them. 1. Ask about the right things: Don't bombard your respondents with too many questions. Keep it short and focused on what's crucial for your research. If you don’t absolutely need the information, leave it out. Avoid asking questions that respondents can’t answer accurately or that you could find the answers to elsewhere. 2. Use neutral, natural, and clear Language: Avoid biased or leading questions. Use straightforward, familiar terms. For example, instead of asking, “We are committed to achieving a 5-star satisfaction rating. How would you rate your satisfaction?” simply ask, “How would you rate your experience?” 3. Don’t ask respondents to predict behavior: People aren’t great at predicting their own future behavior. Rather than asking how likely they are to use a product, ask about their recent behavior. For instance, “Approximately how many times did you use this product in the past 7 days?” provides more reliable data. 4. Focus on closed-ended questions: Surveys are primarily for quantitative data, so rely on closed-ended questions. Open-ended questions can add qualitative insights but should be used sparingly to complement your quantitative data. 5. Avoid double-barreled questions: Double-barreled questions ask two things at once, which can confuse respondents. For example, instead of asking, “How easy and intuitive was this website to use?” split it into two questions: “How easy was this website to use?” and “How intuitive did you find this process?” 6. Use balanced scales: Make sure your rating scales are balanced to avoid bias. An unbalanced scale like “Excellent, Very Good, Good, Poor, Very Poor” can skew results. Instead, use an equal number of positive and negative options, such as “Excellent, Good, Neutral, Fair, Poor.” Have you encountered any of these survey mistakes before? Or maybe you have additional tips to share? Share your thoughts and experiences in the comments below! 👇

Survey Design Best Practices: How to Write a Good Questionnaire 1. Clarity: Make questions easy to understand. * Be specific: Ask precise questions, not general ones * Avoid jargon: Use common language, not technical terms. * Keep simple: Ask one thing per question. * Avoid ambiguity: Use clear words with single meanings. 2. Flow: Organize for a smooth survey experience. * Start easy: Begin with simple, engaging questions. * Be engaging: Keep respondents interested with varied questions. * Group topics: Keep related questions together. * Important early: Ask key questions before fatigue sets in. * Keep short: Only ask what's necessary. * Set expectations: Tell people how long it will take. * Use skip logic: Let people skip irrelevant questions. * Demographics last: Ask personal details at the end. 3. Relevance: Ensure questions matter for your research. * Know audience: Tailor questions to who you're asking. * Serve purpose: Each question should help answer your main question. * Plan analysis: Think about how you'll analyze answers. 4. Objectivity: Avoid leading or biased questions. * Avoid bias: Don't suggest a preferred answer. * Space evenly: Make rating scale options feel equal. * Randomize: Mix up multiple-choice order. 5. Look & Feel: Make the survey visually appealing and easy to use. * Visually appealing: Use good design. * Clear navigation: Make it easy to move around. * Progress bar: Show how much is left. 6. Question Structure: Design effective question formats. * Limit open-ended: Use sparingly as they take more effort. * Appropriate data: Choose question types for the data you need. * Mutually exclusive: Make multiple-choice options distinct. * Keep simple: Use clear wording in all questions. * Include n/a/neutral: Offer options for "doesn't apply" or no opinion.

When talking about data quality in research and insights, there's one crucial component that's often missed: Engagement. When survey participants aren’t engaged, the ripple effects are real: ❌ Increased dropouts and straight-lining ❌ Higher research costs and lower ROI ❌ Damage to trust and your team’s reputation After managing hundreds of insights communities, I know one thing for sure: the key to great engagement is an interesting, relevant and even fun survey experience. So, how do you create surveys that participants want to take? 1️⃣ Make it mobile-first. Most participants respond on mobile, often during quick “micromoments.” Surveys should be designed for small screens, not just adapted to them. At Rival Technologies, we help brands keep surveys short and sweet — our average LOI is just 4 minutes. And no one's complaining that they don't have enough data! 2️⃣ Design conversational surveys. - Avoid being too clinical. You're writing a survey, not a test. - Write in a friendly, human tone. - Use clear, natural language. Think of the experience as a conversation, not a task. 3️⃣ Add a little fun. Depending on your brand, elements like GIFs, emojis, and memes can help bring surveys to life. They make the experience more relatable and engaging. 4️⃣ Use the right tech. Engagement is not just about the words you use. In fact, the actual technology matters. Look for features like: 🤖 AI tools that support conversational survey design 📋 Dynamic message cards that make it easy to pre-program appropriate responses 🙌 Profile variables that help build insights without repetitive questions Engaged participants = higher data quality = better insights. #Insights pros: How are you improving data quality in 2025? #mrxpros #marketresearch

We hit $82 million in revenue by year 3. My team was stabbing each other in the back daily. On the outside, Quest looked like a success story. 57,000% growth in 3 years. Inside it was chaos. The problem? We had no culture system. Just hope that good people would act good. (Spoiler: that didn’t really work.) People stabbing each other in the back daily. Employees blaming everyone except themselves. Meetings that solved nothing because no one would tell the truth. I was putting out fires instead of building a company. Every day felt like damage control. When I started Impact Theory, I was determined to do things differently. Culture fit became non-negotiable. Today, I won’t even meet with a candidate who hasn’t read and agreed to our culture document. Our culture doc filters out the emotionally weak before they can create chaos in the organization. Here are 7 steps to create your culture doc: 1. Define Your Non-Negotiables Our example: "Gossip, politics, and backchannel bitching will not be tolerated." Your version: Write down the 3 behaviors that will destroy your team if left unchecked. 2. Set Clear Expectations Our example: "We expect radical candor. Your ideas will be challenged. You will challenge others. No one is above criticism." Your version: Tell them exactly how communication works at your company. 3. Include the Hard Truths Our example: "We are not promising a safe space, free of challenges. We are promising exactly the opposite." Your version: Scare away people who want easy. Attract people who want growth. 4. The Self-Starter Requirement Our example: "Once you know the company goals, don't wait for direction. Identify problems and solve them. Standing still is a cardinal sin." Your version: Define what initiative looks like at your company. 5. The Accountability Standard Our example: "We believe your life is an exact reflection of your choices. No excuses. No blame. Point all ten fingers back at yourself." Your version: Make it clear that ownership is non-negotiable. 6. The Results Focus Our example: "We hold everyone accountable for results. Your title offers no protection. You'll be expected to make progress with or without managerial feedback." Your version: Set the standard that results matter more than effort. 7. The Growth Mindset Our example: "We expect you to develop your skills daily. Success is rented, not owned. Rent is due every day." Your version: Establish continuous improvement as the baseline. Every hire either makes your culture stronger or weaker. There's no neutral. Want the exact framework I use to build teams that scale without the chaos? I'm breaking it down in our next leadership workshop for entrepreneurs doing $1M - $10M who are tired of running a company that feels like a house of cards. Join us here: https://buff.ly/2Sr8tPr