The Real Value of Employee Engagement Surveys? What Happens Next.

Author: Natalie Foley

From Listening to Action: A Real Client Journey 

How well do you really understand your employees' experience of working in your organisation? And, perhaps more importantly, what do you do with that information once you have it?

These were the kinds of questions that prompted an organisation to partner with the JVR Africa Group in 2024.

The client wanted to gain a better understanding of the organisational culture and employee experience across the business. They wanted to identify differences in how employees experience the workplace, highlight gaps between the desired and existing culture, and identify opportunities to improve communication, collaboration, employee morale, and overall engagement.

Together, we set out to turn employee feedback into meaningful insights that could inform the organisation's people strategy.

An initial employee engagement survey was conducted in 2024 to establish a baseline of employee perceptions and identify key areas for improvement. Following the implementation of targeted interventions, the survey was repeated in 2026 to assess changes in employee engagement and determine the impact of these initiatives. The follow-up survey also aimed to identify emerging trends, changes in the organisational environment, and any new or ongoing areas requiring attention to inform future priorities and action planning.

The findings from the 2024 survey:

The first survey gave the organisation a clearer picture of its employees' experiences and highlighted opportunities for improvement.

But gathering feedback was only the first step. What mattered next was how the organisation responded.

Using the findings to guide its priorities, the organisation introduced several initiatives aimed at strengthening communication, development, recognition, and employee voice.

What Was Done?

The organisation responded to employee feedback through several initiatives.

Employee Voice

Focus groups, employee feedback sessions, survey action plans, and increased leadership engagement were introduced to give employees greater opportunities to share their views.

Communication

A mobile communication app was developed to improve access to company news and information and strengthen connections across sites.

Training and Development

The organisation invested in development initiatives, apprenticeships and learnerships, career development discussions, money management, and supervisor development.

Recognition and Appreciation

Recognition programmes, employee awards, and greater visibility of recognition through internal communication were introduced or strengthened.

Two Years Later: What Had Changed?

In 2026, JVR returned to conduct a second employee engagement survey.

The aim was to understand how employee perceptions had evolved, identify areas of progress, and highlight any challenges that still needed attention.

While overall engagement remained relatively stable, the findings revealed some encouraging improvements, alongside important opportunities for continued development.

What Remained Strong?

Employees generally understood how their work contributed to the organisation’s vision, strategy, and goals. Feedback was also experienced as frequent and effective, while the organisational environment provided employees with the tools, policies, and conditions needed to do their jobs effectively.

These strengths were protected and built upon, as they provided an important foundation for sustainable engagement.

What Improved Between the Surveys?

Recognition & Praise improved, with the largest increase between the two surveys. The improvement indicates that employees are becoming more aware of formal recognition programmes and there has been some improvement in perceptions of receiving praise.

There were also positive changes in aspects of Wellbeing & Resilience, including perceptions of transparent communication, organisational care for employee wellbeing, and the effectiveness of manager feedback.

These results suggest that the actions taken after the first survey are beginning to make a difference.

How We Can Continue To Improve

The second survey also highlighted areas where further action is required.

Recognition & Praise

Despite being the area with the biggest improvement, Recognition & Praise remained the lowest-scoring driver. The next step is therefore to make recognition more frequent, personal, and meaningful—not only through formal awards, but through everyday leadership behaviour.

Employee Voice

Employee Voice remains an important development area. The opportunity is to strengthen listening mechanisms, employee forums, and focus groups, while ensuring that employees see what happens as a result of their feedback. Closing the feedback loop will be critical.

Manager Intent

This highlights the importance of continued investment in leadership capability, particularly around fairness, consistency, communication, role modelling, and inclusive leadership.

Resilience & Change Readiness

As organisations continue to navigate change, leaders need to provide early, transparent communication and practical support to help employees understand and adapt to change.

What Should Happen Next?

The next stage should focus on deepening and embedding what has already started, rather than introducing too many new initiatives.

Priority actions could include:

• Making recognition part of everyday leadership behaviour.

• Strengthening employee listening and ensuring feedback leads to visible action.

• Developing managers to lead with fairness, consistency, and empathy.

• Improving communication and support during periods of change.

• Continuing career development, mentoring, learning, and leadership development.

• Using regular pulse surveys or focus groups to track progress between full engagement surveys.

The goal should be to move from initiatives being available to employees consistently experiencing the intended change.

From Insight to Impact: The Power of Leadership Commitment

The journey from 2024 to 2026 is one of progress, learning, and continued opportunity. The results also demonstrate that engagement requires ongoing attention. The most important lesson is that the value of an engagement survey is not the score—it is what the organisation does with what it hears.

The first survey identified the priorities.

The organisation responded with targeted actions.

The second survey shows where progress has been made.

The next step is to sustain that progress and address the remaining gaps.

This is how an engagement survey becomes a business improvement tool: listen, act, measure the impact, and keep improving. The real value of an employee engagement survey isn't simply knowing how employees feel. It's knowing what to do with that information.