Culture & Engagement Insights

3 Simple Strategies to Increase Your Survey Response Rates

Surveys play a key role in making and confirming business decisions because they encourage honest feedback and information.

But (not to anyone’s surprise), getting a high response rate is rare. In fact, according to Forbes, most employee related surveys only receive about a 30-40% engagement rate. It’s safe to say that people aren’t big fans of filling out questionnaires. The danger of a low response rate is that it may not accurately represent the views of your target population.

So, how do you encourage individuals to participate in your survey? Throughout the article, we’ll discuss three key strategies that have been proven to help organizations increase response rates.

#1 Get the right people involved 

Before launching your survey, it is important to get the right people involved. One of the most important players to serve as a voice of encouragement is your leadership team

Did you know that at illumyx we see the highest level of participation when this leaders are actively engaging and encouraging members of the organization to complete the survey

Things your leadership team needs to know:

  • Purpose of the survey – Your leadership team needs to not only be aware of the survey, but also speak to its purpose. 
  • Details of the survey – More likely than not, people are going to have questions. Make sure your leadership team is knowledgeable of the following: when the survey is, where it will be held, and who to go to for any questions

#2 Have a clear communication timeline

Like any major project, it’s important to have a clear communication plan in place before the go-live data. For surveys in particular, this involves creating a pre, during, and post survey communication timeline. 

Here are the major communication topics to prepare for each phase of the survey:

Pre-Survey 

  • Send out intro emails to everyone participating in the survey
    • 2 weeks before having a C-suite level leader send out an organization wide-communication 
    • 1 week before have department managers reiterate the purpose of the survey
  • Have face-to-face conversations with team about the purpose of the survey and to answer any questions 

During Survey 

  • Inform organization of the sender of the survey 
  • Managers and executive leaders continue to mention the survey and the importance of participating 

Post-Survey

  • Directors and Officers to send out a thank you email for participating. This communication will include final participating rate and any future opportunities 
  • Announce winning teams 

#3 Repeat, repeat, repeat

Wondering how to improve your survey responses? It’s all about repetition. Healthy adult brains need to be exposed to an idea or a message 5 to 9 times before it sticks.

Here are a few key talking points to repeat more than once (both formally and informally):

1. The importance of investing in the people-side of the company

2. What we hope to understand from the survey

3. Our survey participation goal (add in some incentives to get them excited)

4. The logistics of the survey – how long it will take, how it is collected, and when it is due

Dan Ritter

Dan Ritter

Dan is a data geek with a passion for computational social science and its applications in the workplace. Dan has never been a fan of the left-brain vs right-brain dichotomy–he is a dedicated "all-brainer." He believes in the power of data to help us better understand human behavior at scale, and also that a healthy dose of humanity is required to accurately interpret data and apply insights with wisdom and tact. In his free time, Dan enjoys wilderness camping with his family, reading, and tinkering with anything that can be taken apart. A lifelong learner, he holds a BA in Education, is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Data Science, and enjoys adding to his collection of certificates for fun.
Dan Ritter

Dan Ritter

Dan is a data geek with a passion for computational social science and its applications in the workplace. Dan has never been a fan of the left-brain vs right-brain dichotomy–he is a dedicated "all-brainer." He believes in the power of data to help us better understand human behavior at scale, and also that a healthy dose of humanity is required to accurately interpret data and apply insights with wisdom and tact. In his free time, Dan enjoys wilderness camping with his family, reading, and tinkering with anything that can be taken apart. A lifelong learner, he holds a BA in Education, is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Data Science, and enjoys adding to his collection of certificates for fun.
Max Kresch

Max finds creative problem solving deeplyfulfilling is highly disciplined in his approach to research. He brings an advanced mathematics background to illumyx with significant experience in machine learning techniques, computer programming, and complex statistical analysis.

 

Max has experience working on complex Department of Defense projects and he recently transitioned his career into social science research. An erstwhile lecturer on data science at the University of Wisconsin, Max is gifted at communicating complex topics in easy-to-understand ways. Max assists the team in survey analysis and reporting and provides oversight on research design and analysis.


A father of two with a passion for music. In his free time, you’ll find him at a local park with his kids, cruising on his rollerblades, or jamming on his guitar with one of several bands he plays in. 

Max Kresch, PhD

Senior Data Scientist

Andrew Fleck

Andrew (Drew) Fleck, PhD, is a results-oriented organizational leader, certified executive coach, behavioral scientist, consultant, and entrepreneur. Drew is driven to add value to peoples’ lives by helping them become more self-sufficient. No matter what role he plays, he focuses on helping clients build strategic foresight into their organizations. He is a natural collaborator who looks for opportunities to partner and build-up others’ skill, knowledge, and confidence.

 

Drew is highly pragmatic and objective with a unique ability to think clearly under pressure. We can thank the US Air Force for that trait.  His studies and practical experience make him an expert in leadership, learning, organization design, organization development, innovation, and entrepreneurship. Over his career, he performed a number of strategic roles that aligned him with his love for travel and learning about different people and cultures.  He has a reputation for transforming organizational systems from a reactionary transactional approach to a proactive strategic approach.

 

Drew started his career in High Tech, but has since worked across a variety of industry and government sectors. Drew holds Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Human and Organizational Systems from Fielding Graduate University and a Master’s in Management and Organizational Behavior from Silver Lake College.

Andrew Fleck, Ph.D.

Chief Behavioral Scientist

Kristy Krautkramer

Kristy is a highly organized, strategic thinker and planner. She helps bring focus and levity to the nerd kingdom at illumyx. Committed and caring are two words that describe her best and she has endless energy to support projects and causes she believes in. Her background in music, teaching, and finance brings greater efficiency and harmony to illumyx’ processes and team interactions.

 

Kristy leads operations for the illumyx team, specializing in administrative functions that include finance, HR, and employee onboarding. Her love for order and accuracy frequently find her leading qualitative analysis projects for illumyx.  A former educator, Kristy has a Master’s degree in Education from St.Norbert College.  


Kristy is the mother of four boys. She often unwinds by hosting large gatherings for family and friends, having a good laugh, enjoying a glass of wine (or a swig of tequila), and diving into niche romance novels.

Kristy Krautkramer, M.A.​

Business Specialist & Qualitative Research Analyst

Dan Ritter

Dan is a data geek with a passion for computational social science and its applications in the workplace. Dan has never been a fan of the left-brain vs right-brain dichotomy–he is a dedicated all-brainer. He believes in the power of data to help us better understand human behavior at scale, and also that a healthy dose of humanity is required to accurately interpret data and apply insights with wisdom and tact.

 

Two of his favorite quotes sum up his approach to work:

 

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion,” W. Edwards Demming

 

“...people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel,” Maya Angelou.


In his free time, Dan enjoys wilderness camping with his family, reading, and tinkering with anything that can be taken apart. A lifelong learner, he holds a BA in Education, is currently pursuing his MS in Data Science, and has amassed a growing collection of certificates from fine institutions around the country.

Dan Ritter

Director of People Analytics

Steve Utech

Steve’s life mission is to unlock the mysteries of complex human interactions to make people’s work and personal relationships more meaningful, productive, and satisfying. All things niche and complex are food for his ADHD brain. He’s a geek at heart with irreverent humor, but also has a deep love of people. An experienced leader in the areas of culture optimization, organizational effectiveness, and team development, Steve is the visionary and founder of illumyx.

 

His background in both the hard sciences and the art of family dynamics allows him to take a behavioral and systematic approach to organizational change and transformation. He has worked with Fortune 1000 organizations and executives in a variety of sectors to help them optimize their culture and achieve results. Steve holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Denver in Colorado and a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Minnesota.

 

An adventurer at heart, Steve spends his free time exploring nature with his 4 kids and anyone up for testing their limits. He enjoys rock climbing, backpacking, and finding brief moments of rhythm out on the dance floor.

 

Above all, he enjoys seeing people grow and develop by giving them the freedom to explore and try new things. As someone once put it, “Steve makes it safe to be dangerous”.

Steve Utech, MSW

Founder, CEO, and Director of Consulting​

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