The Week's Top 10 Employee Survey Comments
We’re nerdy about data. The team at Quantum Workplace loves measuring elements of the workplace experience that are hard to measure. And in the process of doing so, we see the best and worst in people. This week we compiled a short list of our favorite comments entered in verbatim boxes of employee surveys. These are actual comments submitted by actual employees during actual surveys. They are unedited. Some were selected for their genius. Others for their humor. And still others for their utter strangeness. Enjoy:
- “I don't think the Executive team knows how to draft a strategy that will result in success for this company. They are individually very bright, honest people. But the 'plans' that have been shared show a distinct lack of forethought and willingness to work differently. Perhaps they have worked together too long - they seem comfortable, if more than a little competitive with each other, like adult siblings with an uneasy relationship that are forced together at Thanksgiving. They are snippy and passive aggressive towards each other, even in meetings with the whole company. Very uncomfortable to watch.”
- “TEAMWORK is a dirty word these days. Life is made as difficult as possible and its a total blame culture we have - which is ridiculous. Gone are the days where we could rely on our counterparts, instead you have to watch your back all the time. Executives dont want to listen to the lower levels (clearly beneath them) and the total arrogance in the way the lower levels are treated by the Executive levels is utterly DISGUSTING.”
- “less e-mail traffic about non sens topics”
- “My biggest problem is that I have been with the company a long time, at the same position, and have done an excellent job, yet my authority level to make decisions remains the same. There is little opportunity for promotion. The pay raises appear to be about the same for everyone, regardless of productivity. So the company should at least give the persons who deserve it more decision making authority in their position, regardless if it makes other persons in the same position jealous.”
- “Fix our IT Department”
- “Stop special praise for workers who are asked to help on a project and do help - especially if it's part of their job function”
- “Conduct more surveys- thanks!”
- “We have 'core values' posted on the walls that supposedly reflect the culture of the company. However, each department cherry picks which of these to recognize/honor, and even at that, the interpretations vary significantly. Consistency would be nice (switching from one department to another should not feel like changing companies).”
- “This is hard to admit, but I think our desire to be liked and to avoid difficult changes that are needed to improve performance may hinder us. We will suffer poor performance longer than is warranted to preserve relationships. This can be quite frustrating as we deal with the same problems repeatedly.”
- “Goals? There are none. If you want that, you working at the wrong place.”
While we admit the most entertaining comments are often negative—that doesn’t mean that negativity dominates open-end comment sections. In fact, positive and negative feedback are balanced in our database. If these are fun and/or valuable, let us know by commenting or pushing us an email. We’d consider posting a Top 10 list every Friday to this blog.