Please do not hate on me or judge me. I have a few questions regarding the Employee Engagement Survey. Is it really anonymous? There is so much I want to say, but worry they will know it came from me. I am not shy when it comes to telling my Manager what I am thinking and how I really feel. However, I want be detailed in telling them how BOA is not a forward thinking company. They are illogical and antequated. I want to tell them how they might be listening to their employees but are NOT hearing them. You get the point.
So tell me, is it really anonymous?
16 replies (most recent on top)
I’ve sat next to someone complaining they could see who the comments were from but at some level they can tell, dept keeps hounding and asking for you to let them know when you finished taking it, likely they get time stamps and can try to see what you said
Surveys ever year. YOU SPOKE WE LISTENED. Look you can wear jeans, eat a cupcake and got a 7% increase that is LONG overdue. Forced you back into a renovated filthy office. What more do you want???? Have we not done enough for you.
Sarcasm.
How often do you all get these surveys. I work for a competitor and we see them maybe once every few years.
B3 here. We do not see any names or person numbers.
Managers must have at least 7 responders to receive ANY results, which are aggregated together. Comments are just listed in a column by themselves in an excel, PPT or PDF of overall results.
If a manager has a small group, some "may" try to figure out which answer belongs to which person. (who even has time?) Unless you make your comment so specific or include details that could only be from you, I'd say they can't really tell.
That's not to say if you put threats or talked about some illegal behavior that they could not have HR ask the vendor to drill down into the data to see who said that. But I've never heard of even that happening. Fwiw, I've been told that the raw data stays with the vendor and BofA management and HR only receive aggregated results. HTH.
I was B4 mgr with about 34 associates. Technically, the surveys are confidential for B4 mgrs. However, I can't speak to B3 or above - I have my doubts. Regardless, even with so many in the group, I could've narrowed down every single feedback to the person based on geographic location, band, role, etc.
Write your feedback as though management will know who it is from. Be honest, constructive and a positive influence. If you get promoted, you'll have answered your own question.
Anonymous or not, we all need to tell them the truth or nothing will ever change.
I have a friend in another division whose team scored the bank very low. HR was out in force from North Carolina. They interviewed each associate separately and as a group.
As far as I know it is anonymous. However it is not too hard to guess who is who on the comments if you know your directs and two down well. Please answer and comment honestly, the bank is in a downward spiral and needs remediation before we turn into GE.
Not sure I'd say it is 100% anonymous. Your manager will be able to see all comments and scores for his/her team. But I don't think it is tracked to an individual level.
I have wondered the same on the past, but I decided this year that being honest (but fair) is my best strategy, I no longer care if anyone can trace things back to me. I am honest and fair in my answers.
Thank you everyone!!
It’s confidential NOT anonymous. It says this within the survey. When you click the link to the survey it pings your SSO and then if you look at the address bar at the very end you will notice your person#. Confidential doesn’t mean anonymous.
After an experience I had at another large national company where they said the annual employee survey was anonymous I have never believed the company line. That has never stopped me from saying what I wanted to. I don't care what they think and I learned along time ago that my life would not end if the Bank fired for my survey answers. Especially with the employment opportunities today finding another job would not be hard. I'm too close to retirement to leave but I'll still give them a piece of my mind no matter what the consequences.
Who cares? My manager's manager knows how I feel about him....bunch of old dinosaurs...
Suspect >50% chance it isn't anonymous. Informed direct lower-level managers read survey comments, might decipher based on content, writing style? If you do write survey comments, then misspell words, use run-on sentences. Basically, write like a 5th grader so they can't tell it's you. Suspect they targeted me after I gave negative comments in a survey. They've never (ever) taken any positive action based on survey feedback. It's only used as a brainwashing technique to make you think they care.
OP, I often wondered myself.