We recently worked with a manager who was genuinely puzzled by what was happening on their team. By their own account, they had built a positive environment. Their door was always open. They accommodated personal needs whenever possible. They avoided conflict because they did not want to damage relationships. From where they sat, they were being supportive. But the data from ...

We were asked by a client to conduct a follow-up survey focused specifically on how changes were being communicated across the organization. It had shown up as a low-scoring area, and senior leaders were genuinely puzzled. They had communicated the mission, vision, and goals clearly, consistently, and regularly. They felt that everyone should be clear on those. They also had ...

When we administer a survey for a new client, it is not uncommon to receive an email from an employee that says something like this: “Why should I even take the survey? Nothing ever changes.” That sentence, as discouraging as it is to read, tells us everything we need to know about what happened the last time that organization asked for feedback. Someone gathered the data, re...

We were working with a client on their employee engagement survey when they made an unusual request. They asked if we could change the word “manager” to “coach” throughout the survey. At first glance, it seemed like a small edit. The more we thought about it, the more we realized it was...

A client recently came to us asking for help moving an employee out of the organization. The employee, they told us, was not performing at the required level, and it had become a problem for the team. We asked a straightforward question: what did the employee say when you shared that feedback? The answer was “I haven’t shared it yet. I was waiting for their review.” Then we a...