Is there a better way to hear from employees than just anonymous surveys? One company says ‘voice sessions’ are one solution

Anonymous engagement surveys have become a standard for gauging employee experience, but not everyone is enamored. 

Employees, particularly Gen Z workers, don’t trust that their answers are confidential and refrain from giving candid feedback to avoid possible retaliation. Even if answers are honest, poll questions are often too broad and lacking the specificity needed to get quality information. And companies seldom take enough action after getting the survey results. One Reddit user recently went so far as to say that employee engagement surveys are “in their flop era.” 

In an attempt to address this issue, professional services and workplace research firm Seramount introduced a tool for clients to use in addition to traditional surveys. The firm offers to conduct anonymous “employee voice sessions,” or EVS for short. Clients, particularly larger companies, typically use EVS along with a traditional survey. The company says the survey captures a broader scope of employee sentiment, while the EVS can help leaders dive deeper into worker feedback.

Here’s how it works: Employees at an organization can sign up for an online session based on a range of dates and times, and as many as 300 workers can join a single session. A moderator then verbally asks questions to the group, and employees respond by writing their responses in a chat. All workers can see their fellow attendees’ responses, but everyone has an anonymous username. To protect workers on small teams, Seramount recommends combining departments together so that answers are not easily identifiable. 

Moderators also ask follow-up questions via audio, based on whatever employees answer, allowing Seramount to gather more nuance or context. For example, a worker may write that the job perk that keeps them most engaged is “flexibility.” The moderator can then ask attendees what aspects of flexibility are most important to them, such as taking time off or hybrid work arrangements. 

Seeing how other colleagues respond to the same questions can make offering feedback feel less intimidating than answering an engagement survey on one’s own. “When you can share and realize that many of your colleagues are actually experiencing the same realities that you are in their work, in their life, suddenly you feel less alone, less targeted, less isolated,” says Laura Sherbin, managing director of consulting at Seramount.

The sessions are aimed at getting “deeper and next-level” data, she says. “It’s not just a question of, ‘Are you engaged or not?’ It really is getting into the drivers of that engagement, understanding what’s working.” 

Seramount fully moderates and analyzes the session results, meaning an employer cannot get access to specific answers, and the employer is not included in the live session. Instead, CHROs receive a report with aggregated results. 

“The fact that there is that broken link between the data and the company provides a lot of safety in the eyes of employees,” says Sherbin.

Paige McGlauflin
paige.mcglauflin@fortune.com
@paidion

Today’s edition was curated by Emma Burleigh.

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