Every organisation I talk to runs an engagement survey. And every organisation I talk to already knows it isn't working.

They don't always say it out loud. But when I say it in a meeting, people nod. Sometimes they laugh, the kind of laugh that means finally, someone said it. So let's say it.

Everybody measures engagement. Almost nobody shifts it.

The engagement survey goes out. People answer. The results come back as a slide deck, a heat map and an action plan with words like "communication" and "wellbeing" on it.

Then nothing reaches the person at the desk. Nobody sits down with them and says, here's what we heard, and here's what happens next.

The insight sits on a slide. The person who answered never finds out it mattered.

The engagement survey is now costing you something

This is the part we don't talk about enough.

Every round of asking without a visible response teaches people that speaking up changes nothing. So the next round, they say a little less. They play it safe....