Fresh Faces at the Top? Here’s Why You Should Be Surveying Now

A new leader brings a whirlwind of change. They need to understand the people, the culture and the critical pain points immediately to succeed. Yet, many organisations delay their employee engagement survey, waiting for the "dust to settle".

The first 100 days are when the new leader is most eager for authentic feedback, and when employees are often most willing to give it. But if the timing is wrong, the data can be misleading, time-consuming to gather and potentially damaging to the leader's early credibility.

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The pitfall of waiting

Delaying the survey leaves the new leader operating blind. Every week waited is a week any underlying issues, such as poor resource allocation or a lack of clear vision, goes unaddressed, silently lowering morale and productivity.

The power of immediate insight

The transition period offers a unique, brief window for unparalleled candour. By surveying right away, you can leverage two powerful organisational dynamics:

• Blameless feedback: Any negative feedback is correctly viewed as a legacy issue from the previous administration, protecting the new leader.‍
• Higher candour: Employees feel safe giving honest feedback because the risk of consequences is perceived as lower during a time of change

The data gathered during this window instantly illuminates morale hotspots, systemic pain points and what employees truly value right now.It allows the leader to focus energy and resources on the most critical issues from day one.

Is it safe to survey your teams during the first month of anew CEO or Head of Department? The answer lies in how you frame the data collection.

Stop letting new leaders start with a handicap. Discover how a strategically timed engagement survey can rapidly build goodwill and accelerate success by turning inherited problems into a Hero Opportunity.

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