I have always been honest but decided I’m not taking it anymore. However, this is a good response and I might just do the blank and use the question of asked :/. Thanks for the advice
23 replies (most recent on top)
I did thorough research on this because I got sick and tired of my supervisor pushing me to do it when it is strictly voluntary. The company does NOT promise anonymity, they promise confidentiality. I know this because I saw it somewhere either on the email they send which is why you get a link "specific to you" that you're not supposed to share or it was on the Q&A where it also indicates how it's not mandatory. Both of which I provided to my supervisor especially when asked what it would take for me to reconsider? 100% ANONYMITY!!! not confidentiality.
First few years i thought supervisors were only getting numbers like 2% of the people on your team answered this to this question (because I never left comments) and not actual numbers like anonymouse A answered this way. but once I realized they get the comments too, how would they not know how I specifically answered the questions if the comments are attached and I had just voiced those exact concerns I listed on the survey to them? For that survey I didn't care if I could be linked to the results but it was then that I realized it wasn't necessarily anonymous (but your responses will be kept confidential. That is NOT the same thing!).
Since that year, just to get my supervisor off my back, I simply submitted a blank one. No questions answered, no comments left. Survey will ask if you're sure you want to continue and I click yes. When asked by supervisor if I have completed it, i respond with I have submitted it, never do I say completed or just yes to imply i filled it out. Only it has been submitted. No lies.
To my knowledge, I don't know if they've figured it out (doesn't seem so, so far) or just see that the number of responses don't line up with the number on the team but I've never been told anything. Again, how would they not know when I've complained about the whole thing. Who else would submit a blank survey? Last year was when i put my foot down about not doing it until they guarantee anonymity and not just confidentiality.
Then today, here they come asking again if I completed this spring one yet. My response was if it's like the previous surveys, you know how I feel about it. I didn't get any response like well you can just submit a blank one like you've done before just so I can say 100% of my team has completed it because really, that's all they really care about so they can look good to THEIR boss and to the other departments under the same boss. So in reality it doesn't matter wether you fill it out or not.
For those concerned with having to do it for fear of some sort if retribution when they really don't want to, just submit a blank one. If your supervisor says why did you submit a blank one, THEN you can say how did you know it was me if it's supposed to be anonymous? 🤔
I have not taken the pulse survey. If its anonymous why do I keep getting emails saying they sent me the email with the link and there is still time for me to take it by the 5th? If it were really anonymous they wouldn't know if I did or didn't and wouldn't be sending me emails prompting me to take it.
If you have over 10 direct reports you see the comments otherwise only your PL can see them. They are "anonymous" by all definitions but as a PL you get to learn a person's writing style so its not difficult to figure out. This year we were told to remind everyone at the start and then remind everyone once again near the end. No nagging like previous years because they said it skews the results.
I’m pretty sure I was chosen for the December layoff for my honesty on the last survey. LOL
The comments stating “just don’t do it” regarding the survey should be deleted. Come on people, speak your mind even if it may not make a difference. Isn’t saying what you think the whole point! This shared services concept is such a chaotic jumbled mess. And it was never properly rolled out to the employees, so no wonder some people don’t know what it means, the PL’s don’t even know how to explain it.
Anonymous or not, if the results are unfavorable, it will result in “education” on how to drink more Koolaid. It won’t be one person targeted, it will be everyone at that level. And whatever results are turned in, it will be warped into what upper management wants it to be.
There's so much bad information in here. The reviews are absolutely anonymous. As a people leader I don't get any identifying information with the responses. Sure, I can make guesses, and if you have a distinct writing style and leave comments I'll probably pick up on it, but the company isn't lying about the results being anonymous.
4wop+1qE3tDP7 Without giving yourself away..
Can you give a short list of companies u know that might be hiring? December lay-off here!
As a previous leader... the survey results are provided to each manager or supervisor that has 5 or more employees. They badger you to complete and know that people know it's not anonymous....so they look good. If you complain or are negative then you will be on the next round of cuts. They have the attitude uf you aren't happy then leave. There may be a few good leaders left but I couldn't stay and work as I saw over and over the lack of ethics and empathy. Actions speak louder than words and this company lied to me over and over so I had to move on and trust me..there are better jobs and better cultures.
So really all your saying is that it is not about making needed changes (which we all know will never happen) but that it is and has always been about weeding out who dare says anything that will cause any sort of wave or bring attention to sh---y decisions made by management and above and it's only there to mitigate bad PR. If they truly cared about what employees felt or their input things would have changed years ago. I have been hearing the same complaints for the entire 7 years I have been with this company - today being the most recent day of hearing said complaints from multiple people from multiple LOBs in all different states - THE EXACT SAME COMPLAINTS.
You treat people cr-ppy for so long and your only going to get 2 results - people that have no spine and do whatever they're told while being fed sh-t sandwiches and then you have the people that will call you out on your bullsh-t and give you what your giving.
I personally am not taking my time to give feedback good or bad when I know it makes no difference and it's a waste of my time. I have no hope for this company whatsoever. It's a complete dumpster fire. Especially when salaried are making out on bonuses and incentives off my hard work and I am being left with zero reason to to do better. The second I find another position I am out - or they can let me go whichever comes first.
As someone who has received survey results before the can assure you that it’s not hard to figure out who says what. Feel free to be honest and direct but understand it’s not anonymous. And yes, the negative feedback gets a lot of attention. It’s not so much to figure out who said what, but in order to truly understand the issue you have to understand the source and their motivations for saying whatever they said.
I'd still complete the survey and add specific ideas/thoughts as a bullet point in the comment section something like:
- Nepotism runs deep within regional healthcare analytics team
- merit raises/bonus are below our peers
- layoffs impact employees - if you are going to layoffs, provide atleast 6 months of severance
This is YOUR opportunity to send THEM whatever you are thinking - whether they act or not, doesn't matter - YOU spoke up and that's what MATTERS.
My former manager explained to me the level of anonymity in these:
- Every response is lumped together at the grade level of the respondent.
- You're the only Grade L under your people leader? They know what you wrote. You're 1/8 Grade L's? It's a lot harder to decipher.
You have far more to lose than gain by being honest.
Can we just not do the survey? I know they will know who did not complete it (so I feel you’re danged if you (truthfully) and danged if you just don’t at all) I would really rather not even engaged truthfully I have lost any f* at this point.
It only works if all of the team is honest. Otherwise they can split it out by so many factors they can find out who it is. They can filter based on age range, s-x, team, time with the company, etc. so they will find out who if it is a single or small group of people.
They are “anonymous” to the company, but I’m sure they can request to see who submitted what.
But they don’t need to ask, because they can tell by the writing style, use of words, and the sentence structure. Think about it, you contact them via teams and emails daily, so they know how each of you writes. That’s how they can tell, plus most people write things from their point of view on what happened to them.
This is how everyone should fill out the surveys. First, write everything from a third parties point of view (always as an outsider looking in) and put peoples names, “the way management treats John is unprofessional (even if you are John)”. Second, use ChatGPT or an AI site to rephrase or rewrite what you wrote. That way they have no way of telling who wrote what by reading it.
I honestly wouldn’t be surprised, if this survey doesn’t have a comment section.
Don’t respond. Just don’t do it. Your leaders will email and talk about percent submitted but just…don’t.
There is nothing anonymous about it.
Take it from a person that spoke the truth and suffered the consequences for what I wrote and who I wrote it about. Tortured by that Supervisor for a very long time, I left to another team to get away from that sup and they let her move to be my supervisor and she was very sneaky to make me miserable and lied a lot and made my life a living he-l . I made much less than people that came in the door and I had been with that company for a very long time I would get raises maybe a percent when it should’ve been way more because I excelled I was making a whole lot less ( percentages over 20 percent less) then what other people were making That came to light later .They are no longer with the company but I’m still here , ( ptsd from it , afraid to say or do anything I try to stay invisible) the truth is those surveys are not confidential trust and believe, so if you want to keep your job, or not be tortured mentally do not say anything that will create the world I dealt with and still do mentally.
I don't believe these are "completely anonymous." I'm sure they have a way of teacking which I.P. address it came from.
That being said, I do plan on being somewhat honest about the complete lack of transparency (where's the WARN Act notice?!) and how tasteless it was to announce layoffs in a frickin' NFL stadium, the lack of any kind of employee appreciation (no kca, no pay for performance, and some employees got pretzels for their Christmas "Bonus" (I didn't even get that), the total lack of training when we are moved to other markets (i.e. my primary state doesn't process duals but when we were moved to a duals state for a push day, ZERO training was given. We were told the director veteoed it and said we can figure it out, and unrealistic CPH expectations. I have 3 interviews next week and am probably not giving 2 weeks to Centene because I'm tired. I'm tired of being overworked, underpaid and feeling unappreciated. How many of us worked MONTHS of mandatory overtime last year and we don't even get a thank you?
If it's not a company-wide initiative, nothing will change, no matter how you respond. Even the areas your department scores low on will at-most create a group to address those low-scoring sections. Perhaps you'll even create a plan to improve them. You can doctor it up in a Powerpoint, present it to Sr Management, and fist-pump when they all agree your plan is the proper course of action! You'll create a Confluence page that others can click on. It'll say last modified by [your name]. You might even get a kudos from a VP (if tech) or a Chief Plan Officer (if at a smaller health plan). In the end, it won't change.
Source: Me/Guy who wasted time volunteering for one of those groups.
I would be honest but then we just have a department town hall, which includes a slideshow of our responses, telling us why our opinions are wrong. Pulse surveys are a waste of time and for the company to create a fake action plan, that is never followed up on, to make themselves feel better.
Everyone needs to be honest on it. Nothing will change unless we stand united