Ensure Organizational Readiness

The Guarding Minds at Work survey and Organizational Review provide a very powerful set of tools to assess psychological health and safety at work. They help you identify organizational strengths as well as areas for improvement. But assessment is not enough. Addressing psychological health and safety requires an ongoing investment and commitment of time, similar to other health and safety initiatives.

There are also many free tools and resources available to help support success, but the best solutions come from engagement and collaboration with your employees.  

The phrase “rushing to survey” refers to the challenges created when organizations are not adequately prepared before they engage employees in any type of survey. If you’re not ready to take action based on the employees’ responses, you can increase cynicism and skepticism. This is especially true if your organization has a history of asking employees for their opinions, but not acting on them.

There are several things to consider to ensure you’re not rushing to survey: 

There are several things to consider to ensure you’re not rushing to survey: 

  • Organizational readiness for change

    There may be internal or external factors such as mergers, collective bargaining or a pandemic that make taking action more difficult. In this case, you may want to delay the survey until your organization is ready to take action on the results. 

  • Getting buy-in

    It’s important that leaders see the value of addressing psychological health and safety before the survey happens, to ensure their commitment to take action.

  • Managing employee expectations

    Communicating with staff early and throughout the process can enhance participation and engagement. It also gives employees time to ask questions or raise concerns. 

  • Time and effort

    Estimate the time and effort required to do the assessment, analyze results and effectively implement change.

  • Demands on employees and leaders

    Once the results are in, you’ll want to engage employees and leaders in making changes that improve psychological health and safety at work for everyone. If they have no available time, due to competing demands, this may not be the time to do the survey.

  • Develop a plan for immediate action

    The day you close the survey, you should be prepared to demonstrate your commitment to psychological health and safety changes. This could be as simple as sending out emails, hosting workshops or launching a new initiative. Doing nothing for a week or more may increase employee cynicism. 

For more information on ensuring your organization is ready to begin the survey, see Readiness for Guarding Minds at Work.

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