Is it Really Survey Fatigue? Or Is It Survey-Action Fatigue. — Dr. Benjamin Granger

Ask executives whether they act on the feedback they get from employees, and 85 to 95% will say absolutely. Ask the frontline the same question, and the score drops by 30 to 50 points. That gap is the heart of this episode. Vanessa sits down with Dr. Benjamin Granger, Chief Workplace Psychologist at Qualtrics, a contributor to her book Building a Culture of Evaluation and author of A Leader Worth Following. Together they unpack one of the most persistent findings in Ben's research: most leaders aren't failing to act on feedback — they're failing to communicate the action they took. The connection between what people said and what changed never gets made explicit, so employees conclude nothing happened at all. That, Ben argues, is the real driver of survey fatigue. It isn't that surveys are too long (though many are). It's "survey-in-action fatigue" — people stop responding because they never see their input go anywhere. Close the loop, and engagement follows. Key takeaways: the action gap is usually a communication gap; people stop responding when they never see results; closing the loop builds the trust a culture of evaluation depends on; and even the work you can't publicize still needs to be communicated. Connect with Dr. Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benjamin-granger-7147991b/ Grab his book, A Leader Worth Following: https://a.co/d/0bHdxAUB ### **Enterprise Performance Intelligence (EPI) Maturity Assessment** Think your organization is measuring impact? Most aren't. The EPI Maturity Assessment helps you quickly identify where you stand—and what's needed to better connect learning to performance and results. 👉 Take the assessment and get clarity on your next step. ### **Building a Culture of Evaluation** Order the book behind the Culture of Evaluation framework and updated Kirkpatrick Model. The book comes with a Companion Guide to help support you on the journey. 👉 Order the book now **Kirkpatrick Learning and Performance Center of Excellence** Certification builds capability. Accreditation builds systems. The Kirkpatrick Certified Organization accreditation recognizes organizations that have embedded the Kirkpatrick Four Levels® into how they actually operate — through governance, SOPs, feedback loops, and cross-functional accountability. If your evaluation capability would disappear when a key person leaves, this is the credential designed to fix that. Founding Organization status is now open — first year of annual maintenance waived for inaugural cohort members. 👉 Learn more and apply **Not ready to apply yet because you need to build the systems? Grab the SOPs.** We're building a library of Kirkpatrick-standard SOPs — governance frameworks, evaluation procedures for all four levels, planning templates, and implementation guides — so you can build your infrastructure before you apply. 👉 Learn more ### **Kirkpatrick Collective** If you're ready to move beyond activity and start driving real performance, the Kirkpatrick Collective brings together leaders focused on applying evaluation in the real world. Get practical tools, shared insight, and the structure to make better, evidence-based decisions. 👉 Join the Collective and start building evaluation as a capability—not just an activity. Learn more about the Kirkpatrick Model Watch the Show on YouTube! Submit your Questions/Stories: Do you have a question you would like us to answer on the Kirkpatrick Podcast? Have a story about how the Kirkpatrick Podcast or other Kirkpatrick events/programs have positively impacted your career? We would love to hear from you! Follow this link to submit your questions and/or stories, and we may just share them on the next episode of the Kirkpatrick Podcast. **#KirkpatrickPodcast #LearningImpact #PerformanceImprovement #TrainingEvaluation #CultureOfEvaluation #KirkpatrickModel**