Make it clear that the survey can be completed on company time, and make sure all supervisors support
this. (We have seen complaints in employee comments when this is promised but one or more supervisors do
not support it.)
Make sure employees understand their responses will be confidential. Support your statements to the
best extent possible, e.g., "Your questionnaires will be received directly by the research firm doing the
tabulations. Nobody in our organization will see your ratings and comments."
Let employees know how many people have responded at various points in time.
Establish an overall response rate goal and give all employees "something extra" if the goal is reached.
Send reminder messages.
When the results come in, let the employees know what they were. This will help the next survey's
response rate.
Act on the results. This also will help the next survey's response rate.
