Too good to be true? Digging deeper into perfect survey scores

If your survey results are always positive, that might seem like a good thing. After all, high engagement and happy teams are what every leader wants.

But is that really the full story?

A perfect score can sometimes mean people don’t feel safe giving truly authentic feedback. It could mean they’re on autopilot, answering without much thought. Or maybe they don’t see the point, believing nothing will change even if they do raise concerns.

Instead of taking positive results at face value, it’s worth digging deeper.

Here’s how to make sure your ongoing surveys are giving you all the thoughtful and authentic insights you need.

Let's take action

First, validate your survey data against other indicators. If everything looks “perfect” on paper, does that align with what’s happening in reality? Compare your results with trends in performance, retention and morale. If the numbers don’t match up, it’s a sign you need to look deeper.

A good first step here is looking at the questions you’re asking. Are they too broad, too safe or perhaps growing stale after too long a period of use? If people are giving the same positive answers on autopilot, it might be time to mix things up.

Instead of generic questions, look at areas where either your organisation, or specific teams need to focus their efforts. Thought-provoking, well targeted questions will uncover fresh insights and spark new ideas.

For example we worked closely with SEEK to understand the demands of their Engineering teams, with the result being some very specific questions around:

• Sustainable Pace – to ensure people were staying on top of the project and their workload  
• Clarity and Purpose – to ensure that each person’s specific role and team goals were always understood
• Communication – to ensure all elements of the project continued to be well communicated within each team  

Andreea Visanoiu, the SEEK Team Health Working Group was then able to report that these questions were not only highlighting the positives, but areas that needed addressing as well.

With comments updated in real-time and surfacing issues that might not appear in our regular retrospectives. It’s this kind of visibility that has meant that we’ve been able to identify issues early and ensure action is targeted at the right demographic and areas.

Another way to dig deeper is to examine the spread of employee responses, not just the overall average.

If a question gets mostly positive scores but a few lower ratings, it could signal underlying concerns. Teamgage can highlight these through our Sidekick AI summaries, the sentiment analysis of comments, and most importantly the Spread graph for each question on the dashboard.

For example, if a question gets eight positive scores but two negative ones, the overall result might look great, but those two voices rating a question in the red, could be highlighting something worth exploring. A follow-up team discussion can help uncover what’s really going on.

Next, consider whether people trust the process and feel either safe or able to be completely honest. This hesitation can stem from many reasons, including job insecurity, a desire to maintain harmony, respect for their line manager or simply being new to the company or workforce.

More worryingly, it could also be a sign that employees fear negative consequences for speaking up. So reinforce that responses are anonymous, and more importantly, show through your actions that honest feedback, good or bad, is always better out in the open and can lead to positive change.

As Luke Havelberg, CIO at Flinders University said about using Teamgage across his department:

Do we have 100% trust across everyone to the level we want right now? Probably not. But we have come a long way and are now in a much better place through using the tool.

Over time, this trust will build and encourage people to share what they really think.

It’s also important to normalise mixed feedback. No team is perfect all the time, and no workplace is without challenges. If employees only ever see glowing reports, they might assume there is no room for constructive criticism. Share examples of when honest feedback has led to real improvements. This helps people see that their input matters.

Beyond that, think about how your organisation approaches change. If leadership is always the one driving initiatives, employees may hesitate to contribute their own ideas. Make it clear that those closest to the work often have the best insights and that raising risks or suggesting improvements isn’t just allowed, it’s expected. When teams feel ownership over change, they are far more likely to engage meaningfully.

Recap

The goal of any survey isn’t just to get good results, it’s to get real insights.

By encouraging honest feedback, refining your questions, and looking beyond the surface, you can uncover what truly matters and make meaningful improvements.