From Mandatory Exercise to Leadership Tool

For years, BVB fulfilled its mandate to survey its employees at long intervals. The surveys were extensive and involved a great deal of organizational effort.

The real challenge, however, began after the analysis: How can concrete changes be derived from the results? And how can managers be supported in taking the insights to their teams?

“We put an enormous amount of time and money into the large surveys - and yet often too little changed afterwards. That was the point at which we had to rethink.”

Toni Kovacevic, Expert Corporate Health Management & Development, BVB

The long gaps between surveys made it difficult to spot developments and trends early on. At the same time, managers faced the question of how to turn numbers and comments into a constructive team conversation.

BVB was therefore looking for an approach that was less of a one-off and more firmly integrated into everyday leadership.

With Honestly, BVB established a clear rhythm: every six months, the current mood in the organization is captured.

The result is more than a snapshot. Results can be compared across several surveys, and developments become visible more quickly. The shorter intervals help to pick up relevant topics earlier and keep them in view.

At the same time, there is enough time between surveys to discuss results and implement measures.

For employees to speak openly about critical issues as well, they need to trust the survey process. Anonymity is therefore a central part of how BVB uses Honestly.

Honestly provides a clear and transparent framework for this. Employees can give their assessment openly without having to fear personal consequences.

As a result, managers receive not only positive feedback, but a nuanced picture of the actual situation in their teams. This creates a solid basis for conversations and decisions.

The results are not filed away in an extensive report, but prepared in several dashboards for different perspectives.

This allows managers and those responsible to look specifically at:

• Where does our team stand right now?
• Which topics have a particularly strong influence on the results?
• What has changed since the last pulse?
• Which topics call for a conversation or concrete action?

In addition to quantitative results, qualitative feedback can also be examined in a targeted way. This turns a large amount of data into an understandable basis for decisions in everyday leadership.

BVB does not want employee feedback to be “parked” in a dashboard. The insights should spark conversations and improve collaboration within the team.

The Honestly chat offers a low-threshold space for this. Qualitative feedback can be put into context, follow-up questions can be asked and topics can be explored together.

This particularly helps managers who have less experience with employee data. Instead of being left alone with the results, they get a concrete starting point for a dialog with their team.

Once a relevant field of action has been identified, the next question arises: What exactly do we do now?

Initiatives make it possible to record next steps in a structured way and make them visible. Teams can focus on selected topics, clarify responsibilities and track progress.

This way, an insight does not turn into an oversized change program, but into a realistic next step that fits the respective team and its day-to-day work.

Not every manager is equally data-savvy or has the same digital experience. Especially in an organization with many operational areas, a survey process therefore has to be easy to understand and practical for everyday use.

BVB is deliberately developing its approach step by step. After each pulse, experiences are evaluated, communication and support are adjusted, and successful practices are shared within the organization.

The goal is not for all managers to work with the results in the same way. What matters is that everyone finds a practical approach and takes responsibility for the dialog that follows.

The half-yearly survey rhythm creates a trend line instead of individual snapshots. Progress, stable developments and potential breaking points become visible earlier.

For BVB, this results in three key benefits:

• Trends instead of gut feeling: Changes can be traced across several surveys.
• Better chances of implementation: Shorter cycles keep relevant topics top of mind.
• Better team conversations: Managers get a concrete occasion and a sound basis for the exchange.

BVB sees employee feedback as an ongoing learning process. The impact is to be strengthened further in the coming survey cycles.

The focus is on three topics:

1. More commitment: Relevant insights should consistently lead to next steps without overburdening the teams.
2. More knowledge sharing: Good practices should become visible and transferable within the organization more quickly.
3. More support for conversations: Managers should find it even easier to move from results to a constructive team dialog.

BVB shows how employee feedback can have a greater impact when it is collected regularly and consistently linked to leadership.

Anonymity creates trust. Dashboards provide orientation. The chat supports dialog. Initiatives give the next steps structure.

Step by step, a time-consuming mandatory exercise becomes a leadership tool that makes change in everyday work more likely.