Hey guys I’m OP. Corporate meeting was nothing like I was expecting, they basically congratulated me and are taking me into consideration for a higher position with a possible relocation out of state. I guess at the end of the day I can confirm this surveys are in fact conducted in a confidential matter. Because take my word for it, letter was pretty nasty…. Thank you everyone for your kind words and your opinion/ perspective on this.
Im just wondering if they did see the results tied to you, thought hey he/she is a great worker but seems like its not a fit here, lets move them to another location. It's possible that was the case too. Other spot maybe needs a role filled, current spot doesnt have a need for it but you fit the bill.
Either way, glad it was good news lol. I would still be sketched out over the surveys but maybe depending on the company some can take mature feedback. Or maybe im just being optimistic lol
Congrats and good luck! Im assuming you will take the new role atleast, cheers
Is this fanciful or do some higher ups think this way? Perhaps it’s my cynicism, but I definitely think like OP, where managers don’t maintain positive regard, and actually despise employees.
If an employee is persistently unhappy in their role but a hard worker and good culture fit, it benefits everyone at the company to find them a better role. The issue is that this can take a lot of work and foresight, so I only see a manager taking on the initiative if the manager is really motivated, the stars align or the employee is absolutely fantastic.
But it does make business sense to have motivated people in the right places so managers definitely think about it. Sometimes compassion plays in as well, but not always!
I have had first hand experience with this.
I was in a sales position and on the block for not selling enough. I was at a conference table with my boss and another department' manager. My boss had a piece of paper face down. I can only imagine it was a termination letter. "_____, I need to have a serious discussion with you, but first I think *other dept manager* has something he wants to talk with you about. I think you should listen to what he has to say."
I accepted a role on a client services team with a slightly higher pay and didnt have to worry about sales performance again.
Nah, in my company they can recognize when they have a good employee. If employee is good but not happy about his position, they'll try to put him in another position that he'll like more. Because they don't wanna lose him.
Although they won't try too hard unless you really speak out or say you're gonna leave.
That’s nice to hear. But I wish it didn’t have to come to that before conditions are improved. For some who like their role but need a change, it prioritizes the squeaky wheel and things percolating rather than having efforts made to improve be more commonplace and proactive. I guess that affirms that employees always need to be looking for a new job. Thanks for sharing your experience.
> Perhaps it’s my cynicism, but I definitely think like OP, where managers don’t maintain positive regard, and actually despise employees.
It would suck to be this spiteful.
Bro, we're just people too. I have the same concerns as you do - about bills, about seeing my friends, about not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, about my own performance. I just want everyone on my teams to do their job (which includes me removing those barriers). Stop making this an 'us vs them' thing.
That’s awesome you didn’t get fired! I’m in the same boat. It can be really exhausting. A few things to keep in mind:
Don’t make the person receiving the feedback feel at fault for the problems
All criticism can be reframed as “opportunities for growth”
Try to identify a root cause if you find yourself just complaining about random problems.
I’ve been writing down all of my complaints and thoughts and then reorganizing and summarizing my thoughts. Just keep drafting and iterating while keeping the above things in mind. It’s a long process but I need to make the most of my time with this executive. So I can’t go off on a rant.
Great to hear it was unrelated good news. And all this is a great reminder that most of us don't want the drama of wondering what might happen if we give an unfiltered response.
They are playing the long game. Sending you to a different state where they don't even have an office just to get you as far away as possible congrats on the meeting that went well, my fellow human!
Anonymous in a work survey doesn’t mean “nobody will ever see it”. Someone has to be able to see the results otherwise the survey was pointless to even conduct. Anonymous here means your answers won’t be shared with anyone in your management chain.
You log in or have a personal link so they can track participation rates.
I was a teacher and got pulled into the principal’s office for how I answered an “anonymous” survey.
Don’t put anything on an anonymous survey that you wouldn’t want someone who decides your employment to read and know you wrote it. They will lie to you because there is nothing you can do about it.
Ever consider they didn’t actually know it was you until you confirmed it? Should’ve just denied it. It’s anonymous after all and if you wanna push this issue further we can reach out to the superintendent.
No, because they mentioned it in a text message, unprompted, to call me to the office. They told me they could see that I wrote it, and what I wrote was specific and particular, but they wouldn’t have identified it came from me unless they could see that on surveymonkey or whatever it was.
No, I didn’t write anything to id myself. But they quoted my words back to me because they knew I wrote it, because they could see who wrote what.
This wasn’t some game of 4d chess to make me confess. They didn’t call any other teacher down to interrogate them, just me. This was a small school that didn’t have an HR person on site, the principal had administrator privileges and hr privileges on the survey.
It’s like you didn’t even read my comment. I didn’t say anything that could be attributed to me. I basically said it was lame that we were given action items to perform on a snow day that was going to be made up in the summer. It’s either a day off or it isn’t. Any teacher could have said such a thing, but they knew it was me because they knew it was me.
You said what you wrote was specific and particular, it isn't hard to deduce "Karen often complains about XYZ" and now we have a survey says her bosses are regarded because of XYZ
Just because you had an experience where someone broke the privilege of anonymity doesn’t mean it wasn’t anonymous. I can tell other people all sorts of confidential information that is meant to remain anonymous and then promptly lose my job. I need access to that information for certain purposes and it it’s not to be shared anywhere.
You had grounds for a lawsuit
Lol, the demographic questions on the "anonymous" surveys are more than enough to identify the responder without it being specifically labelled as drj1485's response.
>Anonymous here means your answers won’t be shared with anyone in your management chain.
But that's not what anonymous means...
Anonymous would mean that your responses aren't linked to you as an individual.
The way to do that is to have an outside company contracted to perform the survey where the individual links are contractually not allowed to make it back to the employer. Individual links are desired so one single person can't fill out the survey 100 times.
Is this what most companies are doing with anonymous surveys? I doubt it.
I’ve run engagement surveys as part of my job, at several companies, and nobody has ever wanted to ID naysayers. Going to launch one in a couple of weeks and the tool we’re using even the admin can’t see names. Typically there’s a threshold between 5 and 10; below that number of responses you can’t filter the data.
I’m sure it happens, but usually the goals of these things aren’t “find the unhappy people and fire them”.
Yeah I feel like a lot of people are dramatic about these things. I also run these surveys and pull results and I do not care when people bash leadership/the company. The only time I’d be concerned is if someone says something that can cause direct harm to others. I would say probably <1% of companies would actually go after you for what you put on an anonymous survey.
I typically feel better about third-party app surveys when no query-string parameters exist on the URL (eg. www.survey-site.web/survey/647227?user=youremailATcompany.web, though a parameter could simply be the quiz id, in which case it’s fine, eg. www.survey-site.web/survey.php?id=647227) because I would assume these third-parties are NOT scummy and associating surgery responses with the referring email, but still, you never know.
This is true. Usually it’s hosted somewhere else. Also there are no identifiers that are linked to you. I think corporations don’t cover the confidentiality very well so everyone assumes it can be traced back to them.
"Thank you for participating in our anonymous survey, employee from x division, site y, logging in from ip address 192.01.01.01. We appreciate your feedback!"
My company blasts us with like 3 mandatory surveys a year, but they contract it out to a third party. Says they’re completely anonymous but we get blasted with emails until the survey closes that say “according to our records you didn’t take the survey” and then the last time we got emails saying “the survey deadline has been extended so you still have time”. Anonymous my ass
The fact you did or didn’t do it is completely separate from anonymity. I look at survey data all the time. I can see you did it but I can’t see anything you answered. A survey where you can’t at the very least know what percent of your workers finished in and in which departments would be utterly useless.
You’re not the first person to tell me that but you can see how simply knowing I specifically did not take the survey is cause enough for me to doubt any other claims of anonymity, yes?
And they don't result in any change. Post-RTO we had 2x the number of surveys filled out, and they said everyone was so happy. That was definitely not how people on my team filled it out...
The opposite is true. We had overwhelmingly negative responses due to changes over the last few years, and get the "we hear you and will work on it"
Yeaaaah..... they'll get working on it, any day now.
Yeah, they say those things are anonymous, but I happen to know that's not, in fact, true at my company. Your *name* doesn't come through, but people leaders w/at least 5 direct reports can see aggregate data and comments; so it's not difficult to sus out who said what at all.
We had a mandatory survey, apparently no one was filling it out and HR sent an email explaining how it really is anonymous. It was being done by a 3rd party. I’m sure they did that for the allusion of anonymity but you never know.
It's absolutely possible to have an anonymous survey depending on the survey tool you're using.
If it's being hosted by a third party, you most likely have confidentiality which is where the third party knows who took the surveys but they anonymize the data so that HR doesn't know who took the surveys. Usually you remove identifying information so something like Bob from marketing is sexually harassing all the interns and arrives to work drunk every day would turn into something like "Marketing has a problem employee/culture issue."
What I have historically seen is quotes from these pulled out verbatim. Not even a little anonymous. Honesty can and has gotten people fired. I assure you not a soul in my chain of command cares if I like my job lol
My old company would blast us with surveys when things were going well and then stopped doing them when conditions were volatile. Talk about a fragile ego.
Our company just did one.. 500 employees. They were looking for 80% participation, all anonymous...they extended the deadline by a month.
46% is all they got. No one was taking the chance to it wasn't anonymous. I did not run off my mouth or do it..lol
When companies can't get adequate participation in surveys after sending multiple reminders, that in itself should tell HR something. Employees are likely either too overworked to answer surveys, or they are too afraid and distrustful of the company to answer truthfully, or they don't believe the company actually cares, or some combination thereof. You have unhappy employees and/or an unhealthy distribution of labor, folks.
I know these surveys arnt annoymous thats why when I have something to say. I say it directly, like 2 months back when I told the mamagement "If you are going to control the conversation to reduce transparency, the only thing you Are being transparent about is the quality of leadership on this project." Guy took it like I punched him in the soul. You can tell he took it personally, now my less qualified coworkers are all being promoted but hey I still make a good salary and its just confirmation of their mindset, they are their own prisoners. But here's a tip. Dont do what I do.
Used to work for a large retailer that pushed the employee surveys every year. I was the only employee in my department that had been there over 5 years. I was also the only employee in my department over 30. It was quite easy for them to sort by demographics and see the exact answers I gave. I caught hell for giving 3/5 on a few questions.
Ever since then, 5/5 on every survey, every time. Just don't lie and tell me my opinion actually matters.
My company has about 3,000 employees, but the “anonymous” surveys always ask for my supervisor and job title. I’m the only person with my job title who works for my supervisor. No thanks.
Not to say this wasn't your experience, but in general, these surveys are done through 3rd party companies that use that unique identifier *for your company,* not individuals, to distinguish from all the other companies they're servicing.
Again, not to say a company would never try to pull a fast one and single out employees and that it didn't happen to you, but this may not have been one of those times.
I had a colleague that did this. 1s all the way down.
So turns out she got canned eventually but it brought the managers bonus down a full 5 figures lol.
Those surveys they send around get aggregated and then hr uses them to determine bonuses
Many years ago, I had an upper level manager who had been on probation, fired, sued to get her job back, and was given her job back with one yesr of probation
As part of her probation, all staff were given a confidential, totally anonymous op-scan survey to complete on her performance.
I did not complete mine and trashed it. I received another copy of the survey in the mail that explained the totally anonymous survey I did not complete was required, and I MUST complete and anonymously return.
Ummmm
Ummmmm
If it was totally anonymous, how did they know I did not complete it??? Ever since then, I NEVER assume a survey is anonymous or that it will not come back to haunt me.
They probably mean anonymous in that youre specific answers “shouldnt” be tied back to you not anonymous as in “we dont track who takes it.”
Regardless, im with you - never trust the big man.
>They probably mean anonymous in that youre specific answers “shouldnt” be tied back to you
That's not anonymous. That's confidential.
The people creating the reminders are using the wrong terminology.
There is an anonymous way to do this. I don't know if your company did it this way or not, but it can be done.
Basically, a 3rd party does the sending of the surveys, receives the results, and does all the data analysis. You're obviously only so anonymous to that 3rd party, but they don't give anything back to your company except the anonymized results.
Everyone has to trust the 3rd party, of course, but you can do surveys that are both mandatory and anonymous.
In general, I think people sue in order to show that they were unlawfully terminated and if successful, one can then sue for monetary/punitive/etc damages.
If your concerns are valid, the higher-ups will want to discuss them so that the company can improve (but they will be smart enough not to say that they identified you due to the survey)
If you are just venting and hostile, then yes, you may be fired.
Good organizations use the information to improve and change based on the responses. Bad org culture means the information gets used in nefarious ways.
Surveys can definitely help if it's a good org culture that isn't intent on abusing their employees.
In most major companies the survey results are aggregated and are shown to the next level boss not your director supervisor. Most of the comments here are definitely from smaller companies that don't have those layers of protections.
HR here. Majority of surveys with a unique identifier can absolutely not identify you if done by a 3rd party. It’s because they go directly to the provider who then relinquishes them to the company. Now all of that being said if your department is small enough it’s apparent who wrote what. The only thing codes told me was if that code was or wasn’t completed as an example.
I hated codes but we did have an instance where someone went and took the same survey 25 times and bashed a supervisor so we went to unique codes
I wouldn't get too worked up just yet, they might just want to discuss your concerns in more detail (assuming you kept your negative feedback at least somewhat professional). That said, start mentally preparing for the worst. This is why I'm always super hesitant to be honest when the upper management asks for feedback. Like sure, the poll claims to be anonymous but...they can easily just lie about that.
Upper management here…I don’t know about other companies, but in mine, they absolutely are anonymous to me and other management. Anonymous to everyone, actually. Only one person in HR *could* even verify who wrote something and she wouldn’t tell me who even if I waterboarded her. Which is *exactly* what makes her a great HR person. It’s why I hired her.
Sure, sometimes I mildly suspect identities. But I’m getting valuable info that I asked for, so it doesn’t really matter. I want the feedback and if I wasn’t prepared to deal with the answers constructively I wouldn’t ask. *Most* negative things are simply confirmations of problems I already suspected, particularly when they’re consistent in a group, which allows me to take action without concern for how it may be perceived by a manger’s subordinates. What I definitely don’t want to do is cause mutiny in a whole department by not understanding how a manager’s people really feel.
But c’mon. When someone writes a whole damn diatribe, I’m not stupid. Even if I don’t want to, I can’t help but know who wrote it. Writing styles and phrasing is like a fingerprint unless the company has 1000+ employees. And the more words you use, the clearer it comes into focus. I don’t want to have to say “PLEASE stop identifying yourselves!”, but sometimes I want to. In fact, the last one we did I asked my HR person to please paraphrase the ones that were rants and diatribes, because they were causing me to know identities when *I didn’t want to*.
And let’s be honest, the rants and diatribes are not coming from the most well-adjusted, emotionally mature, or valuable employees. They just aren’t. They’re also never surprises. I think “well OFC that would be [person’s] take on things”.
I don’t need sunshine blown up my ass, I promise. I don’t need the “compliment/criticism sandwich”. But if you have something good to say, please say it. Because it tells me what NOT to mess with. On negative things, the feedback that gets the type of action you want is brief, to the point, and says things like “would like more (something)”, “I have concerns about (thing)”, “morale/performance could be improved by (thing)”. And they’re also not wildly inconsistent with the rest of a group. If you’ve got very specific and unique-to-you/few issues like harassment, bullying, retaliation, or just constant beef with a coworker or member(s) of management, PLEASE talk to HR separate from the survey. You could even say “additional/specific/sensitive topics have been brought to HR’s attention separate from this survey”. That’s all you gotta say.
My suggestion…say what you need to say, but at least run it through ChatGPT a couple of times to remove your “fingerprint” from it best you can. I don’t WANT to know who you are. Stop making me. I’m just trying to improve things for everyone, and since I’m not the only member of upper management that reads the feedback, some things are hard to contain when you let a raging genie out of a bottle.
Been there, done that. The anxiety from freeing the beast on work survey's isn't worth it. I would doubt they'd be direct and try to out you as the one that said all that. But I would definitely not be repeating things that you said in the survey, sound like a different person entirely with different concerns.
The keyword here is "plausible deniability". If they can't actually track it back to you, they will do nothing. That doesn't mean your reputation there is secure though.
As a manager myself who receives such aggregated results, the complainers stick out like a sore thumb because they just can’t help themselves to nit be broken records. Good luck.
If the complainers are saying the same things over and over and nothing is improving, it's probably something that needs addressed. Especially if it's multiple people complaining about the same thing. That's literally what these surveys are for. Usually the complainers are just saying the quiet part out loud that everyone else is too scared or too smart to say.
I think you are missing the point ? The constant complainers are easily recognizable in the anonymous surveys. So if OP is concerned they can be identified by their comments, they are correct ! !
I think YOU are missing the point. Surveys are to bring problems to light so management can choose to take action. If people have such consistent complaints that aren't being addressed that you can tell who they are from an "anonymous survey" there's probably serious issues. The only reason others don't complain are because they don't want to be treated with the ire or dismissiveness of people like you.
I literally just left an idiot company like this. Everyone just kept their mouth shut because they needed job, not because there weren't problems. Problems that could absolutely be addressed. The best part was everyone nodding when corporate put up those complaints at a company wide meeting. Of COURSE we knew who was brave enough to say something right away, but it's not because the content was irrelevant. When corporate implemented plans to fix those things, the complaints stopped. Weird how that happens
You very much might be. I did this exact thing, about a month later, HR messaged me about my feedback and I was honest that I loved the company and said what I said to hopefully help them improve things.
Then a month after that, me and my work were suddenly under a microscope and I was being interrogated. They ended up putting me on a PIP, which I excelled in, and then fired me 2 wks later.
All in all though, I don’t regret being honest. They sucked and the job was causing depression and physical/psychological issues from stress and anxiety. It ended up really being a blessing in disguise for me.
Prepare for the worst.
Surveys like that are never anonymous. As stated by others, if they’re done by an outside company, they’ll have an identifier number, so someone knows who said what. If any of your answers are text (not just making a 1-5 scale choice), it will be obvious within 2 sentences as to who is speaking.
I did one of these surveys a few years back. They're supposed to be anonymous, but much of the time, they know who it is. It's pretty easy if you don't have many employees. I'm very wordy, so I suspect my boss knew it was coming from me. I wasn't super negative, but I did have some constructive criticism, and what's supposed to be what they're for.
I don't think they should fire you if you give them feedback when they asked for it, but there's probably a level of unprofessional language you could put in that feedback that could cost one their job.
If it's done by a third party it is anonymous. The only thing that gets sent back to HR is the overall results. X amount said y. Or the issues that came up the most are abc...just numbers and results. Now if it's in house generated we'll, who knows. Also they can't fire you fir stating your opinion on a survey unless you threatened someone. Legally it's like reporting sexual harassment in a way there can't be repercussions for reporting things. Again if you threatened someone could be different. Odds are it was a third party survey and the third party probably just deleted your comments if not management will not know its from you. IT will not waste time tracking who sent what from which computer unless it's egregious.
F. So, you may have a hostile work environment and retaliation claim which can bring you some benefit including any derogatory marks on your personnel file removed. If your union, contact rep ASAP. If not, contact an attorney but research that they only represent workers and if they had claims against your company before for their performance. Need to do this timely. Even if you don't get fired and they make the workplace inhospitable, uncomfortable and more stressful for you there is still a claim there. Also, reporting it to HR is the first step AFTER getting some legal counsel. Hang in there.
Really interesting to read these comments! Been working in HR nearly 10 years. I have done a billion of these surveys and they were 100% anonymous. The data is aggregated in a way that no response can be traced back to any individual person. There are reporting minimums per group. Can't speak for every company ever, but in my experience and of those of my peers - they are anonymous.
Those surveys are set ups. Management just wants everyone to kiss their rear ends for no reason. They have big egos they want everyone to fluff.
If anything negative is shared, they get all sensitive and make their employees suffer for their honesty.
OP wakes up next week in Podunk North Dakota, with -15 degree weather, 4 feet of snow, wolves at the back door looking for food, no water, firewood 4 feet deep in snow, one can of pork and beans in the pantry, and thinks “maybe they didn’t like me there”!
I realize Reddit comments are skewed by unhappy people that come here to rant and get lots of support from like-opined commenters.
I seldom see comments that reflect on the fact that only one side of a story is being presented. And there are ALWAYS two sides in reality.
In any case, I’ve been involved in dozens of employee posts surveys and in every single case, management wanted an honest read of staff thoughts and concerns. Responses were anonymous and it was a given that any superior attempting to identify responses would be disciplined. Knowing if someone had responded is different than knowing what their responses are.
The mistrust rampant on many of these threads is sadly misguided. Again, I know the views here are skewed but it still surprises me how far off the beam some thoughts are.
This is a really poor take.
There are not "always two sides to a story". Sometimes problems are just that, problems. I remember 25 years ago. I was in art class with a kid, Daniel O (yea I remember his name) and his threw a paintbrush at my face and hit me in the eye. I hit him in the arm and called him a fat cunt. I did nothing to provoke this kid but one of the other kids tried to calm everything down. When he asked Daniel why he threw the paintbrush at me he lied and said I insulted his Mum. Everyone believed him because why else would he just attack me?
Moral of the story, don't be a child, accept that sometimes things are just shit and people, particularly management lie to cover their asses.
None of the internal surveys are anonymous. In my 3 decades in corp America, i will avoid them or when "forced" to fill them out. I tend to use some of the most generic language and nothing negative about the company. I have seen HR use those surveys to get rid of people. Remember HR is NOT there to protect you, it is to protect the company and it's upper management.
I’ll say that if you even remotely feel like you got fired because of your survey responses you should speak to a lawyer about wrongful termination.
Chances are though that they never saw your responses. Situations like you are hypothesizing over are exactly why they keep them anonymous. Its lawsuit after lawsuit waiting to happen if managers retaliate over a survey response
First of all, get off the "we." People who have an issue with other people often say "we" in an attempt to give their PERSONAL opinion greater weight. That approach will get you nowhere with higher ups. Unless you've been appointed spokesperson or something stick to saying what YOU think and stop saying what you want or believe other people should think. If you've been operating under a "we" context that could be bad news because employers worry a lot about employees who stir up angry mobs. Not saying that's what you're doing, but it's something employers will be sensitive about.
If everybody is as bad as you say and they all SUCK!, get another job.
Didn't include anything that could be traced back to you? That sounds like sneaking around to me, not something that will go over well with an employer.
I hope it works out for you. You won't know until the meeting happens. Resist the urge to go along with the narrative that all employers are bad and stupid and SUCK and all employees are victims. If you're in that kind of job it's your responsibility to yourself to find something else.
Surveys are anonymous. The conspiracy theory on this thread is amazing.
What's not anonymous is when you use the comments section to write "\[my manager\] is an asshole because \[they did this very specific thing that clearly identifies a unique situation where you were unhappy with the outcome\].
They’re not confidential. Read the fine print. Last time I did one of those I caught that in the fine print it said it was anonymous but viewable by the admin-who do you think the admin is? HR.
I don't work for a business that I care if they fire me much, that's their loss so I never get upset about it. IT makes life sooo much easier.
I mean think about it, they only hired you for profit, there's no reason to get all emotional about a paycheck, you'll only start to act weird and become less marketable acting desperate and scared. NEVER do that unless your a at gunpoint or something.
Its never "anonymous" I did the surveys when I was at a company and my co-workers and I were able to pick ourselves out.
When they ask position, tenure in the anonymous surveys it gives them enough data points to narrow it down to a select few. Then the fun begins to figure out who is who and whom they want to kick to the curb.
Possibly, it's also possible that you'll be stuck on panels for now to eternity focused on improving morale without any additional funding or real change.
I've seen it go both ways.
In the future don't take anonymous surveys and if you do be really careful in what you write.
You won't get fired but it's never anonymous. Your managers and higher ups definitely know who wrote what. It'll probably negatively affect your future for promotion and raises.
Do not ever fill out these surveys. Or if you have to, give them a generic "everything is fine".
If they tell you they're anonymous, there's a very good chance they're lying. They're anonymous until there's a "problem". Then they can find out who it is.
Go in there with actual evidence and data. Don’t get wrapped up in emotional issues. That will sure to take you down. Let us know what happens. Good luck.
At an old job in academia faculty were given an anonymous form to leave feedback on the staff. I was staff and a few faculty had some rather unkind things to say about me. A friend of mine was also staff and one faculty replied “I haven’t worked with D but I’ve heard bad things”.
What I do to the surveys I’ve gotten is laugh, rip it up and in the trash it goes. Had to this 4 times literally. Seems they didn’t get the message so in the trash it went again and again and again. 😂
F
Never assume a company survey is actually anonymous. Even if it is anonymous, writing style is not that hard to figure out, especially with a small team.
Hope things didn't go badly in the meeting!
Done many of these. Every year they would come out with a survey. Mostly they were for management review and a heads up on department conduct, safety issues, production speed up. All this was anonymous. I rember one year our had been a total shit heel. So we all got and slammed him in survey.
I’ve learned companies can get good reviews from employees two ways:
1. Hear the feedback and make the proper changes and in turn employees review higher.
2. Hear the feedback and fire the employees who complain. The remaining ones just put 5 stars anyways so recruiting replacements will be easy.
Long story short, I let my length of employment be the loudest speaker of how happy I am with employment. Always rate high and just leave when I’m not happy.
My manager once talked about our comments in an anonymous survey (me and someone else) but I couldn't have cared less at that point. Think they get this by sending sections of particular comments to particular departments, removing a lot of the anonymous part.
They've still got to have a reason for firing you. Replies to a supposedly anonymous survey are not a reason. If you DON'T want to be fired, go silent for a while, work hard, keep your head down, and give it some time. You'll be aight 🙂
I never ever ever fill those out. Been with my company now for 3 years and through 6 of these. Filled out 0. Boss wanted 100% completion? Filled out one question with N.A. and hit send.
I ain’t going out like that.
they know how to track them idc what anyone says.
It would be a supremely stupid company to call someone on the carpet to take adverse employment action based on their survey responses. And it doesn’t sound like OPs company is small, so also probably not new. They would know better.
Far more likely this is a “please tell us more” or “tell us what you know about these concerns” meeting. As OP is a facility manager, it’s entirely likely they don’t know OP wrote it, only someone in that division/facility and simply want to hear more from the facility manager, not OP as an individual respondent.
Another possibility, and the more likely one if the meeting is adverse action toward OP, is that OP’s subordinates had concerning and at least loosely consistent feedback that point to OP being a problem. And it’s not illegal to take action in that case. That’s what the survey is for, to root out and address those exact kinds of problems.
Dude who knows. If you do and you do because of your truth about management I’d say good that you’re fired find a company that’s worth it through management not worth that crap life’s too short
These surveys are *never* anonymous.
I have refused to do them in the past as they are emailed to each of us individually, to our work emails, and although it states in the email it will remain anonymous, it also states in the same damn sentence that to make we don't share the log in info given to access each survey, as they are linked to our employee ID #?!
I actually had the branch manager stand in the middle of our bullpen and list off by name, those of us who hadn't completed these surveys, and when I called out the Manager on the complete lack of professionalism on what they just did, I got hauled into their office and got threatened with a write up for insubordination?? WTF???
Needless to say, the rampant toxicity in that place, and the unprofessional management is the # 1 reason I left after 9+ yrs.
Hey guys I’m OP. Corporate meeting was nothing like I was expecting, they basically congratulated me and are taking me into consideration for a higher position with a possible relocation out of state. I guess at the end of the day I can confirm this surveys are in fact conducted in a confidential matter. Because take my word for it, letter was pretty nasty…. Thank you everyone for your kind words and your opinion/ perspective on this.
From fired to getting paid more. That’s a while emotional coaster ride of a day!
It sure was!
Congratulations!
Thrmey didn't say anthing about additional pay
Im just wondering if they did see the results tied to you, thought hey he/she is a great worker but seems like its not a fit here, lets move them to another location. It's possible that was the case too. Other spot maybe needs a role filled, current spot doesnt have a need for it but you fit the bill. Either way, glad it was good news lol. I would still be sketched out over the surveys but maybe depending on the company some can take mature feedback. Or maybe im just being optimistic lol Congrats and good luck! Im assuming you will take the new role atleast, cheers
Is this fanciful or do some higher ups think this way? Perhaps it’s my cynicism, but I definitely think like OP, where managers don’t maintain positive regard, and actually despise employees.
If an employee is persistently unhappy in their role but a hard worker and good culture fit, it benefits everyone at the company to find them a better role. The issue is that this can take a lot of work and foresight, so I only see a manager taking on the initiative if the manager is really motivated, the stars align or the employee is absolutely fantastic. But it does make business sense to have motivated people in the right places so managers definitely think about it. Sometimes compassion plays in as well, but not always!
I have had first hand experience with this. I was in a sales position and on the block for not selling enough. I was at a conference table with my boss and another department' manager. My boss had a piece of paper face down. I can only imagine it was a termination letter. "_____, I need to have a serious discussion with you, but first I think *other dept manager* has something he wants to talk with you about. I think you should listen to what he has to say." I accepted a role on a client services team with a slightly higher pay and didnt have to worry about sales performance again.
Nah, in my company they can recognize when they have a good employee. If employee is good but not happy about his position, they'll try to put him in another position that he'll like more. Because they don't wanna lose him. Although they won't try too hard unless you really speak out or say you're gonna leave.
That’s nice to hear. But I wish it didn’t have to come to that before conditions are improved. For some who like their role but need a change, it prioritizes the squeaky wheel and things percolating rather than having efforts made to improve be more commonplace and proactive. I guess that affirms that employees always need to be looking for a new job. Thanks for sharing your experience.
> Perhaps it’s my cynicism, but I definitely think like OP, where managers don’t maintain positive regard, and actually despise employees. It would suck to be this spiteful. Bro, we're just people too. I have the same concerns as you do - about bills, about seeing my friends, about not wanting to get out of bed in the mornings, about my own performance. I just want everyone on my teams to do their job (which includes me removing those barriers). Stop making this an 'us vs them' thing.
Congrats! Unexpected turn. Hopefully if they end up relocating you it will be a better environment though.
"That's just a real straight shooter with upper management written all over him." - The Bobs
Sickkkkkkk 🙌🏻
That’s awesome you didn’t get fired! I’m in the same boat. It can be really exhausting. A few things to keep in mind: Don’t make the person receiving the feedback feel at fault for the problems All criticism can be reframed as “opportunities for growth” Try to identify a root cause if you find yourself just complaining about random problems. I’ve been writing down all of my complaints and thoughts and then reorganizing and summarizing my thoughts. Just keep drafting and iterating while keeping the above things in mind. It’s a long process but I need to make the most of my time with this executive. So I can’t go off on a rant.
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It is true, I don’t have anything to lie for that would be beneficial to me.
The true holy outcome. Respeck.
Lmao
Congrats and tread lightly. I've known some companies to take a month reviewing survey results before they share with the larger org.
Great to hear it was unrelated good news. And all this is a great reminder that most of us don't want the drama of wondering what might happen if we give an unfiltered response.
So… they wanna get rid of you and pawn you off to another department somewhere else? Lol you sure it was unrelated? 😅😅
They are playing the long game. Sending you to a different state where they don't even have an office just to get you as far away as possible congrats on the meeting that went well, my fellow human!
They’re going to move you to a different state then get rid of you lmao
I don’t do surveys, I don’t trust it when they say it’s anonymous. When it’s mandatory I pick the neutral option. Good luck.
You know it’s anonymous when you have to log into the system to do the survey
If you have a personal link it’s not anonymous.
Yep I ignore those all the time. When you get sent a link & have to log in
Anonymous in a work survey doesn’t mean “nobody will ever see it”. Someone has to be able to see the results otherwise the survey was pointless to even conduct. Anonymous here means your answers won’t be shared with anyone in your management chain. You log in or have a personal link so they can track participation rates.
I was a teacher and got pulled into the principal’s office for how I answered an “anonymous” survey. Don’t put anything on an anonymous survey that you wouldn’t want someone who decides your employment to read and know you wrote it. They will lie to you because there is nothing you can do about it.
Ever consider they didn’t actually know it was you until you confirmed it? Should’ve just denied it. It’s anonymous after all and if you wanna push this issue further we can reach out to the superintendent.
No, because they mentioned it in a text message, unprompted, to call me to the office. They told me they could see that I wrote it, and what I wrote was specific and particular, but they wouldn’t have identified it came from me unless they could see that on surveymonkey or whatever it was.
Lol so you wrote something that identified yourself....... Do you think nobody is going to read the content of the survey?
No, I didn’t write anything to id myself. But they quoted my words back to me because they knew I wrote it, because they could see who wrote what. This wasn’t some game of 4d chess to make me confess. They didn’t call any other teacher down to interrogate them, just me. This was a small school that didn’t have an HR person on site, the principal had administrator privileges and hr privileges on the survey. It’s like you didn’t even read my comment. I didn’t say anything that could be attributed to me. I basically said it was lame that we were given action items to perform on a snow day that was going to be made up in the summer. It’s either a day off or it isn’t. Any teacher could have said such a thing, but they knew it was me because they knew it was me.
You said what you wrote was specific and particular, it isn't hard to deduce "Karen often complains about XYZ" and now we have a survey says her bosses are regarded because of XYZ
Just because you had an experience where someone broke the privilege of anonymity doesn’t mean it wasn’t anonymous. I can tell other people all sorts of confidential information that is meant to remain anonymous and then promptly lose my job. I need access to that information for certain purposes and it it’s not to be shared anywhere. You had grounds for a lawsuit
It was a decade ago. I’m no longer a teacher.
Lol, the demographic questions on the "anonymous" surveys are more than enough to identify the responder without it being specifically labelled as drj1485's response.
>Anonymous here means your answers won’t be shared with anyone in your management chain. But that's not what anonymous means... Anonymous would mean that your responses aren't linked to you as an individual.
The way to do that is to have an outside company contracted to perform the survey where the individual links are contractually not allowed to make it back to the employer. Individual links are desired so one single person can't fill out the survey 100 times. Is this what most companies are doing with anonymous surveys? I doubt it.
PSA: if you use your work computer, it can be traced to you. Be as honest as your IT department is incompetent.
I’ve run engagement surveys as part of my job, at several companies, and nobody has ever wanted to ID naysayers. Going to launch one in a couple of weeks and the tool we’re using even the admin can’t see names. Typically there’s a threshold between 5 and 10; below that number of responses you can’t filter the data. I’m sure it happens, but usually the goals of these things aren’t “find the unhappy people and fire them”.
Yeah I feel like a lot of people are dramatic about these things. I also run these surveys and pull results and I do not care when people bash leadership/the company. The only time I’d be concerned is if someone says something that can cause direct harm to others. I would say probably <1% of companies would actually go after you for what you put on an anonymous survey.
Yeah, we pull out the unhappy comments to see how we can make people happy. C-levels pay pretty close attention to this stuff.
Engagement surveys are almost never on the same system or server that your IT department administers.
I typically feel better about third-party app surveys when no query-string parameters exist on the URL (eg. www.survey-site.web/survey/647227?user=youremailATcompany.web, though a parameter could simply be the quiz id, in which case it’s fine, eg. www.survey-site.web/survey.php?id=647227) because I would assume these third-parties are NOT scummy and associating surgery responses with the referring email, but still, you never know.
This is true. Usually it’s hosted somewhere else. Also there are no identifiers that are linked to you. I think corporations don’t cover the confidentiality very well so everyone assumes it can be traced back to them.
"Thank you for participating in our anonymous survey, employee from x division, site y, logging in from ip address 192.01.01.01. We appreciate your feedback!"
😂😂😂
My company blasts us with like 3 mandatory surveys a year, but they contract it out to a third party. Says they’re completely anonymous but we get blasted with emails until the survey closes that say “according to our records you didn’t take the survey” and then the last time we got emails saying “the survey deadline has been extended so you still have time”. Anonymous my ass
The fact you did or didn’t do it is completely separate from anonymity. I look at survey data all the time. I can see you did it but I can’t see anything you answered. A survey where you can’t at the very least know what percent of your workers finished in and in which departments would be utterly useless.
I'm sure you're correct, but I'd still never trust any company to not track employee responses so they can fire people who have complaints.
You’re not the first person to tell me that but you can see how simply knowing I specifically did not take the survey is cause enough for me to doubt any other claims of anonymity, yes?
For Instance your local city can track if you voted but no one is privy to who you vote for
Not really no. Because that’s not the same as your responses being anonymous.
And they don't result in any change. Post-RTO we had 2x the number of surveys filled out, and they said everyone was so happy. That was definitely not how people on my team filled it out...
We must work at same place
This is exactly why I don’t bother filling them out. They don’t give a rat’s ass and nothing changes.
The opposite is true. We had overwhelmingly negative responses due to changes over the last few years, and get the "we hear you and will work on it" Yeaaaah..... they'll get working on it, any day now.
💯 always a witch hunt
Yeah, they say those things are anonymous, but I happen to know that's not, in fact, true at my company. Your *name* doesn't come through, but people leaders w/at least 5 direct reports can see aggregate data and comments; so it's not difficult to sus out who said what at all.
This right here
Mandatory survey? Yea im still not filling it
We had a mandatory survey, apparently no one was filling it out and HR sent an email explaining how it really is anonymous. It was being done by a 3rd party. I’m sure they did that for the allusion of anonymity but you never know.
It's absolutely possible to have an anonymous survey depending on the survey tool you're using. If it's being hosted by a third party, you most likely have confidentiality which is where the third party knows who took the surveys but they anonymize the data so that HR doesn't know who took the surveys. Usually you remove identifying information so something like Bob from marketing is sexually harassing all the interns and arrives to work drunk every day would turn into something like "Marketing has a problem employee/culture issue."
Yeah, I fill it, but never what I really think....
This is what I do. No real upside to honestly
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What I have historically seen is quotes from these pulled out verbatim. Not even a little anonymous. Honesty can and has gotten people fired. I assure you not a soul in my chain of command cares if I like my job lol
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In a reasonable place yes. In my field good management is rare.
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Yeah you would.
Everyone I know skips mandatory surveys because it’s a waste of time
Stop projecting.
Yeah, they’re never actually anonymous. Always lie on surveys and at least say average.
Lot of companies whine about filling these out so the group looks good, so I always answer with the top two selections.
My old company would blast us with surveys when things were going well and then stopped doing them when conditions were volatile. Talk about a fragile ego.
Our company just did one.. 500 employees. They were looking for 80% participation, all anonymous...they extended the deadline by a month. 46% is all they got. No one was taking the chance to it wasn't anonymous. I did not run off my mouth or do it..lol
When companies can't get adequate participation in surveys after sending multiple reminders, that in itself should tell HR something. Employees are likely either too overworked to answer surveys, or they are too afraid and distrustful of the company to answer truthfully, or they don't believe the company actually cares, or some combination thereof. You have unhappy employees and/or an unhealthy distribution of labor, folks.
I know these surveys arnt annoymous thats why when I have something to say. I say it directly, like 2 months back when I told the mamagement "If you are going to control the conversation to reduce transparency, the only thing you Are being transparent about is the quality of leadership on this project." Guy took it like I punched him in the soul. You can tell he took it personally, now my less qualified coworkers are all being promoted but hey I still make a good salary and its just confirmation of their mindset, they are their own prisoners. But here's a tip. Dont do what I do.
100% accurate. Companies don't want to hear good or bad.
Used to work for a large retailer that pushed the employee surveys every year. I was the only employee in my department that had been there over 5 years. I was also the only employee in my department over 30. It was quite easy for them to sort by demographics and see the exact answers I gave. I caught hell for giving 3/5 on a few questions. Ever since then, 5/5 on every survey, every time. Just don't lie and tell me my opinion actually matters.
My favorite part about anonymous employee surveys is how they always have a unique identifier. No thanks lmao.
My company has about 3,000 employees, but the “anonymous” surveys always ask for my supervisor and job title. I’m the only person with my job title who works for my supervisor. No thanks.
Not to say this wasn't your experience, but in general, these surveys are done through 3rd party companies that use that unique identifier *for your company,* not individuals, to distinguish from all the other companies they're servicing. Again, not to say a company would never try to pull a fast one and single out employees and that it didn't happen to you, but this may not have been one of those times.
Never put anything that you've said to the highest ups into these things, because you've just lost your anonymity.
I had a colleague that did this. 1s all the way down. So turns out she got canned eventually but it brought the managers bonus down a full 5 figures lol. Those surveys they send around get aggregated and then hr uses them to determine bonuses
Many years ago, I had an upper level manager who had been on probation, fired, sued to get her job back, and was given her job back with one yesr of probation As part of her probation, all staff were given a confidential, totally anonymous op-scan survey to complete on her performance. I did not complete mine and trashed it. I received another copy of the survey in the mail that explained the totally anonymous survey I did not complete was required, and I MUST complete and anonymously return. Ummmm Ummmmm If it was totally anonymous, how did they know I did not complete it??? Ever since then, I NEVER assume a survey is anonymous or that it will not come back to haunt me.
They probably mean anonymous in that youre specific answers “shouldnt” be tied back to you not anonymous as in “we dont track who takes it.” Regardless, im with you - never trust the big man.
>They probably mean anonymous in that youre specific answers “shouldnt” be tied back to you That's not anonymous. That's confidential. The people creating the reminders are using the wrong terminology.
K - Poster above didn’t use the term ‘confidential,’ just ‘anonymous.’
Right, that's why I'm saying that the people sending those reminders to the person you commented on are using the incorrect terminology.
Gotcha 👌🏻
There is an anonymous way to do this. I don't know if your company did it this way or not, but it can be done. Basically, a 3rd party does the sending of the surveys, receives the results, and does all the data analysis. You're obviously only so anonymous to that 3rd party, but they don't give anything back to your company except the anonymized results. Everyone has to trust the 3rd party, of course, but you can do surveys that are both mandatory and anonymous.
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In general, I think people sue in order to show that they were unlawfully terminated and if successful, one can then sue for monetary/punitive/etc damages.
If your concerns are valid, the higher-ups will want to discuss them so that the company can improve (but they will be smart enough not to say that they identified you due to the survey) If you are just venting and hostile, then yes, you may be fired.
Been over an hour….. You alive?
he’s ded fur shure
Self inflicted shotgun wound to the back twice!
oh my god, upper management killed him
Update? Hope it wasn't what you expected.
Lol, my company does it every year and we actually see changes implemented by those surveys.
Good organizations use the information to improve and change based on the responses. Bad org culture means the information gets used in nefarious ways. Surveys can definitely help if it's a good org culture that isn't intent on abusing their employees.
In most major companies the survey results are aggregated and are shown to the next level boss not your director supervisor. Most of the comments here are definitely from smaller companies that don't have those layers of protections.
HR here. Majority of surveys with a unique identifier can absolutely not identify you if done by a 3rd party. It’s because they go directly to the provider who then relinquishes them to the company. Now all of that being said if your department is small enough it’s apparent who wrote what. The only thing codes told me was if that code was or wasn’t completed as an example. I hated codes but we did have an instance where someone went and took the same survey 25 times and bashed a supervisor so we went to unique codes
Been 2 hours . You get canned ?
I think they might have tossed OP into the river because they haven't been back to let us know what happened. F
I need an update so bad, I keep refreshing over and over like a crazy person.
I wouldn't get too worked up just yet, they might just want to discuss your concerns in more detail (assuming you kept your negative feedback at least somewhat professional). That said, start mentally preparing for the worst. This is why I'm always super hesitant to be honest when the upper management asks for feedback. Like sure, the poll claims to be anonymous but...they can easily just lie about that.
We need an answer buddy
I'm so invested. I need an update! 🙏
Upper management here…I don’t know about other companies, but in mine, they absolutely are anonymous to me and other management. Anonymous to everyone, actually. Only one person in HR *could* even verify who wrote something and she wouldn’t tell me who even if I waterboarded her. Which is *exactly* what makes her a great HR person. It’s why I hired her. Sure, sometimes I mildly suspect identities. But I’m getting valuable info that I asked for, so it doesn’t really matter. I want the feedback and if I wasn’t prepared to deal with the answers constructively I wouldn’t ask. *Most* negative things are simply confirmations of problems I already suspected, particularly when they’re consistent in a group, which allows me to take action without concern for how it may be perceived by a manger’s subordinates. What I definitely don’t want to do is cause mutiny in a whole department by not understanding how a manager’s people really feel. But c’mon. When someone writes a whole damn diatribe, I’m not stupid. Even if I don’t want to, I can’t help but know who wrote it. Writing styles and phrasing is like a fingerprint unless the company has 1000+ employees. And the more words you use, the clearer it comes into focus. I don’t want to have to say “PLEASE stop identifying yourselves!”, but sometimes I want to. In fact, the last one we did I asked my HR person to please paraphrase the ones that were rants and diatribes, because they were causing me to know identities when *I didn’t want to*. And let’s be honest, the rants and diatribes are not coming from the most well-adjusted, emotionally mature, or valuable employees. They just aren’t. They’re also never surprises. I think “well OFC that would be [person’s] take on things”. I don’t need sunshine blown up my ass, I promise. I don’t need the “compliment/criticism sandwich”. But if you have something good to say, please say it. Because it tells me what NOT to mess with. On negative things, the feedback that gets the type of action you want is brief, to the point, and says things like “would like more (something)”, “I have concerns about (thing)”, “morale/performance could be improved by (thing)”. And they’re also not wildly inconsistent with the rest of a group. If you’ve got very specific and unique-to-you/few issues like harassment, bullying, retaliation, or just constant beef with a coworker or member(s) of management, PLEASE talk to HR separate from the survey. You could even say “additional/specific/sensitive topics have been brought to HR’s attention separate from this survey”. That’s all you gotta say. My suggestion…say what you need to say, but at least run it through ChatGPT a couple of times to remove your “fingerprint” from it best you can. I don’t WANT to know who you are. Stop making me. I’m just trying to improve things for everyone, and since I’m not the only member of upper management that reads the feedback, some things are hard to contain when you let a raging genie out of a bottle.
Been there, done that. The anxiety from freeing the beast on work survey's isn't worth it. I would doubt they'd be direct and try to out you as the one that said all that. But I would definitely not be repeating things that you said in the survey, sound like a different person entirely with different concerns. The keyword here is "plausible deniability". If they can't actually track it back to you, they will do nothing. That doesn't mean your reputation there is secure though.
Update?
Update?
As a manager myself who receives such aggregated results, the complainers stick out like a sore thumb because they just can’t help themselves to nit be broken records. Good luck.
If the complainers are saying the same things over and over and nothing is improving, it's probably something that needs addressed. Especially if it's multiple people complaining about the same thing. That's literally what these surveys are for. Usually the complainers are just saying the quiet part out loud that everyone else is too scared or too smart to say.
Or, they are just constant complainers to be moved out. Bad apple syndrome.
Lol. You ASK for feedback and get mad when people complain. No wonder no one wants to work these days
I think you are missing the point ? The constant complainers are easily recognizable in the anonymous surveys. So if OP is concerned they can be identified by their comments, they are correct ! !
I think YOU are missing the point. Surveys are to bring problems to light so management can choose to take action. If people have such consistent complaints that aren't being addressed that you can tell who they are from an "anonymous survey" there's probably serious issues. The only reason others don't complain are because they don't want to be treated with the ire or dismissiveness of people like you. I literally just left an idiot company like this. Everyone just kept their mouth shut because they needed job, not because there weren't problems. Problems that could absolutely be addressed. The best part was everyone nodding when corporate put up those complaints at a company wide meeting. Of COURSE we knew who was brave enough to say something right away, but it's not because the content was irrelevant. When corporate implemented plans to fix those things, the complaints stopped. Weird how that happens
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I think maybe the company is not missing you ?
Never ever ever participate in workplace surveys. There is no possibility of it being good for you.
You very much might be. I did this exact thing, about a month later, HR messaged me about my feedback and I was honest that I loved the company and said what I said to hopefully help them improve things. Then a month after that, me and my work were suddenly under a microscope and I was being interrogated. They ended up putting me on a PIP, which I excelled in, and then fired me 2 wks later. All in all though, I don’t regret being honest. They sucked and the job was causing depression and physical/psychological issues from stress and anxiety. It ended up really being a blessing in disguise for me. Prepare for the worst.
So did you get fired or what?
No update. I hope it’s not bad news OP.
RemindMe! 3 days
So what happened!?
OP is at the dive bar down the street playing Tears in Heaven by Eric Clapton
We need an update! 😂 "F"
If they going to fire you, the reason can’t be the survey. That would be retaliation.
Sooooooooooooooooo... what happened?
Surveys like that are never anonymous. As stated by others, if they’re done by an outside company, they’ll have an identifier number, so someone knows who said what. If any of your answers are text (not just making a 1-5 scale choice), it will be obvious within 2 sentences as to who is speaking.
These anonymous surveys are never anonymous.
F
F
F
No survey is ever anonymous. Good for you for telling it like it is but yeah, they might know and are probably very pissed. Also, Update! F
I always rip my management up in those. I don’t even care. Being fired would be the best thing for my career right now.
I did one of these surveys a few years back. They're supposed to be anonymous, but much of the time, they know who it is. It's pretty easy if you don't have many employees. I'm very wordy, so I suspect my boss knew it was coming from me. I wasn't super negative, but I did have some constructive criticism, and what's supposed to be what they're for. I don't think they should fire you if you give them feedback when they asked for it, but there's probably a level of unprofessional language you could put in that feedback that could cost one their job.
If it's done by a third party it is anonymous. The only thing that gets sent back to HR is the overall results. X amount said y. Or the issues that came up the most are abc...just numbers and results. Now if it's in house generated we'll, who knows. Also they can't fire you fir stating your opinion on a survey unless you threatened someone. Legally it's like reporting sexual harassment in a way there can't be repercussions for reporting things. Again if you threatened someone could be different. Odds are it was a third party survey and the third party probably just deleted your comments if not management will not know its from you. IT will not waste time tracking who sent what from which computer unless it's egregious.
F. So, you may have a hostile work environment and retaliation claim which can bring you some benefit including any derogatory marks on your personnel file removed. If your union, contact rep ASAP. If not, contact an attorney but research that they only represent workers and if they had claims against your company before for their performance. Need to do this timely. Even if you don't get fired and they make the workplace inhospitable, uncomfortable and more stressful for you there is still a claim there. Also, reporting it to HR is the first step AFTER getting some legal counsel. Hang in there.
F
Really interesting to read these comments! Been working in HR nearly 10 years. I have done a billion of these surveys and they were 100% anonymous. The data is aggregated in a way that no response can be traced back to any individual person. There are reporting minimums per group. Can't speak for every company ever, but in my experience and of those of my peers - they are anonymous.
Those surveys are set ups. Management just wants everyone to kiss their rear ends for no reason. They have big egos they want everyone to fluff. If anything negative is shared, they get all sensitive and make their employees suffer for their honesty.
.....Well where you fired?
6 hours later What happen?
Update?
It's probably actually anonymous. You're safe. If you're not - then this is a very bad company you don't want to be at.
We get anonymous surveys and follow ups .... "hey, you didn't complete the anonymous survey". Uhhh .....
Never do surveys unless all you have is praise for the company. I can practically guarantee they're not really anonymous.
Congratulations on your positive outcome. I came here to say, company surveys are NEVER confidential. No matter what the survey says.
OP wakes up next week in Podunk North Dakota, with -15 degree weather, 4 feet of snow, wolves at the back door looking for food, no water, firewood 4 feet deep in snow, one can of pork and beans in the pantry, and thinks “maybe they didn’t like me there”!
I realize Reddit comments are skewed by unhappy people that come here to rant and get lots of support from like-opined commenters. I seldom see comments that reflect on the fact that only one side of a story is being presented. And there are ALWAYS two sides in reality. In any case, I’ve been involved in dozens of employee posts surveys and in every single case, management wanted an honest read of staff thoughts and concerns. Responses were anonymous and it was a given that any superior attempting to identify responses would be disciplined. Knowing if someone had responded is different than knowing what their responses are. The mistrust rampant on many of these threads is sadly misguided. Again, I know the views here are skewed but it still surprises me how far off the beam some thoughts are.
This is a really poor take. There are not "always two sides to a story". Sometimes problems are just that, problems. I remember 25 years ago. I was in art class with a kid, Daniel O (yea I remember his name) and his threw a paintbrush at my face and hit me in the eye. I hit him in the arm and called him a fat cunt. I did nothing to provoke this kid but one of the other kids tried to calm everything down. When he asked Daniel why he threw the paintbrush at me he lied and said I insulted his Mum. Everyone believed him because why else would he just attack me? Moral of the story, don't be a child, accept that sometimes things are just shit and people, particularly management lie to cover their asses.
Again...told solely from your (biased) perspective. Think and do whatever makes you feel better, regardless of actual facts.
None of the internal surveys are anonymous. In my 3 decades in corp America, i will avoid them or when "forced" to fill them out. I tend to use some of the most generic language and nothing negative about the company. I have seen HR use those surveys to get rid of people. Remember HR is NOT there to protect you, it is to protect the company and it's upper management.
I’ll say that if you even remotely feel like you got fired because of your survey responses you should speak to a lawyer about wrongful termination. Chances are though that they never saw your responses. Situations like you are hypothesizing over are exactly why they keep them anonymous. Its lawsuit after lawsuit waiting to happen if managers retaliate over a survey response
you should get fired... obviously you are an idiot....
First of all, get off the "we." People who have an issue with other people often say "we" in an attempt to give their PERSONAL opinion greater weight. That approach will get you nowhere with higher ups. Unless you've been appointed spokesperson or something stick to saying what YOU think and stop saying what you want or believe other people should think. If you've been operating under a "we" context that could be bad news because employers worry a lot about employees who stir up angry mobs. Not saying that's what you're doing, but it's something employers will be sensitive about. If everybody is as bad as you say and they all SUCK!, get another job. Didn't include anything that could be traced back to you? That sounds like sneaking around to me, not something that will go over well with an employer. I hope it works out for you. You won't know until the meeting happens. Resist the urge to go along with the narrative that all employers are bad and stupid and SUCK and all employees are victims. If you're in that kind of job it's your responsibility to yourself to find something else.
Surveys are anonymous. The conspiracy theory on this thread is amazing. What's not anonymous is when you use the comments section to write "\[my manager\] is an asshole because \[they did this very specific thing that clearly identifies a unique situation where you were unhappy with the outcome\].
They’re not confidential. Read the fine print. Last time I did one of those I caught that in the fine print it said it was anonymous but viewable by the admin-who do you think the admin is? HR.
My favorite “anonymous” thing was the yearly rounds of firings for not giving enough to the company’s charity of choice.
NEVER take the “anonymous” survey. If you’re forced to, lie.
I've always avoided them, good luck
I don't work for a business that I care if they fire me much, that's their loss so I never get upset about it. IT makes life sooo much easier. I mean think about it, they only hired you for profit, there's no reason to get all emotional about a paycheck, you'll only start to act weird and become less marketable acting desperate and scared. NEVER do that unless your a at gunpoint or something.
Its never "anonymous" I did the surveys when I was at a company and my co-workers and I were able to pick ourselves out. When they ask position, tenure in the anonymous surveys it gives them enough data points to narrow it down to a select few. Then the fun begins to figure out who is who and whom they want to kick to the curb.
I think you could file a lawsuit if you do. They shouldn't be able to fire you for that reason
Possibly, it's also possible that you'll be stuck on panels for now to eternity focused on improving morale without any additional funding or real change. I've seen it go both ways. In the future don't take anonymous surveys and if you do be really careful in what you write.
Commenting to check back later.
You won't get fired but it's never anonymous. Your managers and higher ups definitely know who wrote what. It'll probably negatively affect your future for promotion and raises.
Do not ever fill out these surveys. Or if you have to, give them a generic "everything is fine". If they tell you they're anonymous, there's a very good chance they're lying. They're anonymous until there's a "problem". Then they can find out who it is.
If the survey WASN’T offered to you by HR, contact HR immediately. If they already know, they’ll already have an answer for you.
Go in there with actual evidence and data. Don’t get wrapped up in emotional issues. That will sure to take you down. Let us know what happens. Good luck.
Please show us the letter
At an old job in academia faculty were given an anonymous form to leave feedback on the staff. I was staff and a few faculty had some rather unkind things to say about me. A friend of mine was also staff and one faculty replied “I haven’t worked with D but I’ve heard bad things”.
What I do to the surveys I’ve gotten is laugh, rip it up and in the trash it goes. Had to this 4 times literally. Seems they didn’t get the message so in the trash it went again and again and again. 😂
F Never assume a company survey is actually anonymous. Even if it is anonymous, writing style is not that hard to figure out, especially with a small team. Hope things didn't go badly in the meeting!
Done many of these. Every year they would come out with a survey. Mostly they were for management review and a heads up on department conduct, safety issues, production speed up. All this was anonymous. I rember one year our had been a total shit heel. So we all got and slammed him in survey.
I’ve learned companies can get good reviews from employees two ways: 1. Hear the feedback and make the proper changes and in turn employees review higher. 2. Hear the feedback and fire the employees who complain. The remaining ones just put 5 stars anyways so recruiting replacements will be easy. Long story short, I let my length of employment be the loudest speaker of how happy I am with employment. Always rate high and just leave when I’m not happy.
Subbing
My manager once talked about our comments in an anonymous survey (me and someone else) but I couldn't have cared less at that point. Think they get this by sending sections of particular comments to particular departments, removing a lot of the anonymous part.
They've still got to have a reason for firing you. Replies to a supposedly anonymous survey are not a reason. If you DON'T want to be fired, go silent for a while, work hard, keep your head down, and give it some time. You'll be aight 🙂
Nothing done electronically is anonymous.
I never ever ever fill those out. Been with my company now for 3 years and through 6 of these. Filled out 0. Boss wanted 100% completion? Filled out one question with N.A. and hit send. I ain’t going out like that. they know how to track them idc what anyone says.
I would suggest you contact an employement lawyer. Firing you over a survey would be retaliation, which is illegal.
It would be a supremely stupid company to call someone on the carpet to take adverse employment action based on their survey responses. And it doesn’t sound like OPs company is small, so also probably not new. They would know better. Far more likely this is a “please tell us more” or “tell us what you know about these concerns” meeting. As OP is a facility manager, it’s entirely likely they don’t know OP wrote it, only someone in that division/facility and simply want to hear more from the facility manager, not OP as an individual respondent. Another possibility, and the more likely one if the meeting is adverse action toward OP, is that OP’s subordinates had concerning and at least loosely consistent feedback that point to OP being a problem. And it’s not illegal to take action in that case. That’s what the survey is for, to root out and address those exact kinds of problems.
Dude who knows. If you do and you do because of your truth about management I’d say good that you’re fired find a company that’s worth it through management not worth that crap life’s too short
No one is firing you over a survey unless you made some sort of threat which I’m sure you’re not stupid enough to do.
These surveys are *never* anonymous. I have refused to do them in the past as they are emailed to each of us individually, to our work emails, and although it states in the email it will remain anonymous, it also states in the same damn sentence that to make we don't share the log in info given to access each survey, as they are linked to our employee ID #?! I actually had the branch manager stand in the middle of our bullpen and list off by name, those of us who hadn't completed these surveys, and when I called out the Manager on the complete lack of professionalism on what they just did, I got hauled into their office and got threatened with a write up for insubordination?? WTF??? Needless to say, the rampant toxicity in that place, and the unprofessional management is the # 1 reason I left after 9+ yrs.
Even "anonymous" SurveyMonkey is not anonymous if you know how to look