In most organizations there is an official statement about the survey, and there is a story that circulates in the corridors. The official statement says: "Our survey is anonymous and your views matter to us." The corridor story is different: "Last year someone in accounting wrote their manager's name in a comment, and then they called everyone in one by one."
- Survey myths form when employees fill gaps in information about the survey with their own guesses. A single incident, such as results never being shared or someone "hunting for" the author of a comment, can turn into a story that is retold for years.
- Behind every myth there is a real concern: fear of being identified, a sense of wasting time or worry about being punished. Rather than arguing with the myth, you need to answer the concern.
- The key to changing survey culture is open communication: acknowledging past shortcomings, writing down the rules of anonymity clearly, and regularly explaining what was done and what could not be done.
- Survey culture does not change with a single survey. It usually takes two or three survey cycles of consistent behavior; the change can be tracked in response rates, the number of comments and trust in the results.
Whether the story is true often doesn't matter. If employees believe it, it decides how they take part in the survey. In this article we explain how the myths left behind by past surveys form, the most common myths and the real concerns behind them, and how survey culture can be changed through open communication.
How do survey myths form?
Survey myths usually feed on three sources:
- Information gaps. When nobody explains who runs the survey, who sees the results and what they are used for, employees fill the gap with their own guesses. And those guesses tend to be pessimistic.
- A single incident. A manager asking "Who wrote this comment?" in a team meeting, or a team being put under pressure after the results, can become a story told for years. The incident happens once; the story is retold with every survey.
- Silence. The survey runs, the results are not shared, nothing changes. Even if nobody says "the survey is pointless," employees reach that conclusion on their own.
Myths feed themselves. Employees who don't trust the survey don't take part, or give "safe" answers. Because the results don't reflect reality, no meaningful action can be taken. And because no action is taken, the myth grows stronger.
The 8 most common survey myths and the concerns behind them
Arguing with myths rarely works. Saying "No, that's not true" does not resolve the employee's concern. You need to understand the concern behind each myth and give it a concrete answer.
1. "Nothing ever changes anyway."
The concern behind it: Wasting time and not being heard.
This is the most common myth and the hardest to change, because it is often based on fact. Either nothing really did change, or the changes were never connected to the survey.
What to do: Explain what was done after the previous survey with concrete examples, and say which survey result each action responds to. Acknowledge what was not done as well.
2. "My name is in the link, so they know who I am."
The concern behind it: Answers being matched to the individual.
Personal links technically involve a match, so this concern is not entirely unfounded. What matters is who holds that match and whether it is shared with the company.
What to do: Explain clearly why the link is personal (completing only once, continuing where you left off) and that the match stays only with the survey provider. We cover the difference between anonymous and confidential surveys in our article on anonymity in employee surveys.
3. "They work out who wrote the comments."
The concern behind it: Open-ended comments giving away identity.
This concern is also based on a real risk. An incident mentioned in a comment, or a turn of phrase, can let people guess who wrote it in a small team.
What to do: Explain that comments are cleaned of names and identifying details before they are reported. Commit explicitly that managers will not try to guess who wrote a comment and will never ask.
4. "Teams that give low scores get punished."
The concern behind it: Negative feedback costing the team or the individual.
This myth usually stems from a real incident, such as a manager with poor results reacting against their team.
What to do: Use results as a tool for improvement, not punishment, and set a clear framework for how managers discuss results with their teams. We explain how organizations should approach poor results in our article on what to do when employee survey results are bad.
5. "They also track who didn't take part."
The concern behind it: Not taking part having a cost too.
Sharing response rates by unit, or managers sending insistent reminders to "those who haven't filled it in yet," gives rise to this myth.
What to do: Say that participation is voluntary and back it up with behavior. Managers can follow the response rate at team level, but they should not know, or ask, who took part and who did not.
6. "The survey is run right before downsizing or layoffs."
The concern behind it: The survey serving a hidden purpose.
This myth can arise from a past experience in which a survey happened to coincide with the run-up to a restructuring or downsizing.
What to do: State the purpose of the survey, and what the results will be used to decide, clearly from the start. Make the survey a routine by running it at the same time each year where possible; predictability reduces this kind of suspicion.
7. "The results are polished before they're shared."
The concern behind it: Leadership not wanting to hear the truth.
A presentation that shares only the positive results and glosses over the low-scoring topics tells employees, "Whatever we write, the outcome is the same."
What to do: Share the lowest-scoring topics too. Employees already know the problems; seeing leadership acknowledge them openly is one of the things that builds trust the most. We cover what to share and how in our article on sharing employee survey results with employees.
8. "The survey is HR's thing; leadership doesn't care."
The concern behind it: Results never reaching the decision-makers.
When only HR announces the survey and only HR talks about the results, employees conclude the survey is an HR project.
What to do: Have a member of senior leadership announce the survey and share the results. Show that at least one action is owned directly by senior leadership.
How can you tell the state of your survey culture?
Survey culture cannot be measured directly, but it can be read from a number of signs:
| Sign | In a weak survey culture | In a strong survey culture |
|---|---|---|
| Response rate | Low, or falling every year | High and stable |
| Open-ended comments | Few, short and generic | Many, specific and full of suggestions |
| Distribution of answers | Very high share of "Neutral" and "No opinion" | Answers spread out; negative answers are not avoided |
| Demographic questions | Frequently left blank | Answered by the vast majority |
| Questions during the survey period | Mostly about anonymity and being tracked | Mostly about when results will be shared |
| After the results | Results aren't discussed; debates about "who wrote it?" | Results are discussed openly in team meetings |
It is also worth adding an item like this to the survey specifically: "I believe action will be taken based on the results of this survey." The score on this item is the most direct indicator of survey culture in the organization and lets you track change over the years.
Changing survey culture through open communication
There is no single way to change survey culture, but all of them share one thing: open communication. When employees know what is going to happen, they don't need to speculate.
1. Acknowledge the past
If results were not shared after previous surveys, or promised steps were not taken, start the new survey by acknowledging it. Saying "Last time we didn't share the results well enough; this time we'll do this differently" is a far stronger message than a new survey invitation.
2. Put the rules in writing, concretely
Write clearly in the invitation email and on the survey's welcome page how anonymity is protected, the minimum group size for reporting, who sees what and what is done with comments. We have collected the questions employees are likely to ask, with answers, in our article on what employees ask about surveys.
3. Announce the timeline in advance, and stick to it
Before the survey starts, say when the results will be shared, when team meetings will take place and when actions will be announced. Then keep to that timeline. A missed date is the moment myths come back fastest.
4. Build a "You said, we did" loop
When you announce actions, say clearly which survey result each one responds to: "Career development was the lowest-scoring topic in the survey, so we've launched this." Without that link, employees don't connect the changes to the survey, and the "nothing ever changes" myth lives on.
5. Say what won't be done, too
Not every request can be met. Explaining why a step cannot be taken on a topic is much better than quietly passing over it. Employees accept "no" more easily than no answer at all.
6. Make managers part of the process
Survey culture lives most of all in managers' behavior. Managers need to know how to discuss results with their teams, why the question "Who wrote this?" must never be asked and how to follow up on team actions. We look at managers' impact on their teams in our article on the anatomy of first-line manager questions.
7. Take small but visible steps
Large, long-term projects matter, but employees see their results months later. Alongside them, small and visible steps that can be put in place within a few weeks quickly show that the survey led to something.
8. Keep talking outside survey season
Survey culture isn't built only during the survey. Sharing the status of actions a few times during the year makes the invitation to the next survey as strong as it can be.
How long does change take?
Trust is not rebuilt with a single survey. Employees watch whether what was said in the first survey is followed through. Usually, after two or three survey cycles in which promises are kept, a clear change appears in the response rate, the number of comments and the score on the item "I believe action will be taken based on the results of this survey."
Some indicators may even get worse first. As trust grows, employees start to write about problems they never raised before, and some scores may drop. That is not failure; it is a sign that answers are becoming more honest. Take this into account when comparing results across years; details are in our article on comparing engagement survey results year over year.
Common mistakes
- Ignoring the myths. Saying "There's no such thing" doesn't make myths go away. Talk to employees, especially field teams, to find out what the myths are.
- Denying the past. Ignoring an incident employees know happened damages the organization's credibility.
- Investing only in communication. Open communication is no substitute for action. When what was said is not done, a good communication campaign only makes the myths stronger.
- Expecting results from a single survey. If participation didn't rise as much as expected after the first survey, don't give up. Consistency is far more effective than a one-off effort.
- Leaving managers unprepared. Even if all of the organization's communication is right, a single manager who behaves badly can be the start of a new myth.
In short, survey myths don't come from employees' bad intentions; they come from information gaps and lived experiences. Instead of arguing with the myths, answer the concerns behind them, acknowledge past shortcomings, put the rules in writing and keep your promises. Survey culture changes not with a single survey, but with promises kept.
Frequently asked questions
What is survey culture?
Survey culture is how much employees trust the organization's surveys, how honestly they answer and how strongly they believe a survey will lead to something. In a strong survey culture, participation is high, employees write sincerely in open-ended questions and are not afraid to give negative feedback.
Why do employees think surveys are not anonymous?
Usually because of experiences such as personal survey links, demographic questions, small-team results being shared or a manager once asking who wrote a comment. When it is not explained concretely how anonymity is protected, employees believe the worst.
How long does it take to change survey culture?
Trust is not rebuilt with a single survey. A clear change in participation and in how openly people answer usually appears after two or three survey cycles in which results are shared on time, visible actions are taken and anonymity is protected.
What should you do if nothing happened after past surveys?
Acknowledge it openly. Before launching a new survey, saying that results were not shared well enough or that promised steps were not taken, and explaining concretely what will be different this time, is the first step in rebuilding trust.
