Executive Review Of Results

Your organization has several options for the analysis of data and feedback to the executive leadership. You or the survey consultant can do the following.

Prepare a written report with an analysis, identification of strengths and weaknesses, a selection of important issues to address, and recommendations for actions.
Give a stand-up presentation with overheads or slides covering the same ground as above. A copy of this presentation and accompanying notes, in outline form, would be more cryptic and sketchy than a full written report but can be just as effective. Conduct a workshop with an executive team in which a stand-up presentation, as described above, is combined with group problem solving to articulate relevant business strategy, identify issues, prioritize them, and develop actions to be implemented and monitored. The survey consultant can do a preliminary analysis of the results and then participate in a work session with you and others at your organization to prepare them to conduct the presentations. Your organization can select one method or combination of the above. The choice will rest on recommendations from the Steering Committee, cost and time considerations, and understanding what works best for your organization. Our recommendation is option three, a combination of stand-up presentation and executive workshop.

There is a great deal of anecdotal information to suggest that the effective use of survey results is inversely related to the length of written reports. The longer the report, and the greater the detail of the analysis, the less likely anything meaningful will come out of the process.

There are several options as well for the order of presentation to the executive team. There is no one right way. The method chosen should be consistent with how your top executive manages the organization. For example, we might present first to the top executive alone, then to a convocation of the direct reports. Other organizations prefer the direct reports or business unit heads get the presentations before the top executive.

We recommend that there be a one-on-one review of results for each executive who reports to the top executive, as well as a one-on-one review with the top executive. Then, we recommend there be an executive team review, coupled with an executive workshop, where the key issues for your organization are identified, where the initial plan of action is established, where the plan for rolling out the remaining results is reviewed, and where the follow-up evaluation is scheduled.

The combination of early delivery of results, one-on-one meetings with executives, a group meeting, and executive workshop usually leads to a very receptive audience for constructive action. This is true even if some of the information is difficult to hear in the initial stages. The survey consultant can provide considerable insight into the data and propose alternatives for action. However, it is critical for the executive group to play an active role in the interpretation, bringing their knowledge of the your organization's current situation and strategic direction to the selection of issues to work on, and specific actions for improvement.