Introducing an OpenElevator Stay Survey does not require a lengthy presentation or a team meeting. Employees mainly need to know why the team is participating, what they need to do, and what the stay survey is not.
The clearest message is straightforward:
- Your team has been selected to complete a short OpenElevator stay survey.
- Each participant will receive a separate email from OpenElevator with a personal survey link.
- The survey takes approximately five minutes.
- No team meeting is required.
- It is not a performance review or employee-ranking exercise.
- The purpose is to understand where the team is working well and where leadership can better support alignment, collaboration, and working relationships.
That is enough context for most teams.
What to Tell Your Team Before the OpenElevator Invitation Arrives
A short note from the team leader before OpenElevator sends the individual invitations gives employees useful context and prevents the survey email from arriving without explanation.
You do not need to explain the methodology, scores, or potential retention findings in advance. The employee communication should focus on the purpose of the exercise and what participation involves.
A message such as the following works well:
Subject: You will receive an OpenElevator team survey invitation
Hi team,
I have selected our team to complete a short OpenElevator team survey.
You will receive a separate email from OpenElevator with your personal survey link. The survey takes approximately five minutes, and no team meeting is required.
This is not a performance review or an employee-ranking exercise. The purpose is to help us understand where the team is working well and where we can better support alignment, collaboration, and working relationships.
Please look for the OpenElevator invitation and complete the survey by [DATE].
Thank you,
[NAME]
OpenElevator automatically emails each selected participant their survey invitation and personal link. Leaders do not need to distribute the survey themselves. To give the team additional context before the invitation arrives, OpenElevator provides an optional message that the leader can copy, personalize, and send.
The objective is clarity, not persuasion. Employees should understand what is happening without being given reasons to interpret the survey as an evaluation of their performance.
What Not to Say When Introducing the Team Survey
How the survey is framed matters.
Avoid telling employees that leadership is running the survey because you think someone may leave, because you have noticed signs of disengagement, or because something appears wrong with the team.
OpenElevator is designed to reduce that kind of guesswork.
Visible behavior does not reliably tell a leader whether someone is committed, whether the work environment provides what matters to that person, or whether a particular working relationship is well aligned. A strong employee can continue performing while alignment risk exists. Conversely, a quieter week or a change in communication does not prove that someone is preparing to resign.
The purpose of the survey is to measure commitment and alignment rather than infer them from behavior.
Also avoid presenting the survey as:
- a test of whether employees are “good fits”;
- an evaluation of manager quality;
- a personality test;
- a performance-management exercise;
- an employee ranking;
- a traditional engagement survey.
Manager-employee fit is about the alignment of a particular working relationship. Two capable, well-intentioned people can still have a working relationship that requires more deliberate management.
Similarly, Values Alignment does not mean whether an employee agrees with the organization’s mission or corporate values. It measures how well the work environment provides what matters to the individual.
Be Precise About Privacy and Confidentiality
The simple employee message avoids creating expectations that are unnecessary to completing the survey:
You will receive a personal survey link, it takes approximately five minutes, and the purpose is to help us better understand team alignment, collaboration, and working relationships.
What Happens After You Add Your Team
Once a leader activates the OpenElevator account, they enter the email addresses of the selected participants from one team.
OpenElevator then emails each person a personal link to the five-minute survey. No team meeting is required, and participants have two weeks to respond.
After the survey is completed, OpenElevator analyzes the results and schedules a private leader debrief.
Employees do not need a technical explanation of the analysis before participating. The initial communication should remain focused on what they need to know and do.
What the Leader Learns From the Survey
The employee introduction is simple, while the leadership objective is substantial.
The private leader debrief helps answer questions that visible performance alone cannot answer, including:
- Who may be at retention risk?
- Where may Values Alignment require attention?
- Where may manager-employee or other working relationships be creating friction?
- Where is the team well aligned?
- What specific action may be worth considering before disengagement affects performance?
That is the distinction between OpenElevator and trying to manage retention through observation alone.
Retention itself is a lagging indicator. A resignation tells a leader what has already happened. Alignment data gives leadership information while there may still be useful actions available.
For a deeper explanation of the output, see What Leaders Learn From a Stay Survey.
Keep the Employee Communication Separate From the Leader Debrief
One mistake is trying to explain the eventual leadership analysis in the initial employee email.
That is unnecessary.
Employees need a clear explanation of the exercise. Leaders need decision-ready information once the results are available. Those are different communication needs.
The employee message should therefore remain simple:
We are completing a short team survey. You will receive a personal link. It takes approximately five minutes. It is not a performance review or employee-ranking exercise. We are using it to better understand alignment, collaboration, and working relationships.
OpenElevator can handle the analysis and interpretation with the leader afterward.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is an OpenElevator Key Team Stay Survey a performance review?
No. The Stay Survey is not a performance review or employee-ranking exercise. It gives leadership visibility into commitment and alignment, including Values Alignment and working-relationship fit.
How long does the survey take?
Approximately five minutes per participant. Each selected employee receives a personal survey link directly from OpenElevator, and no team meeting is required.
Should I hold a meeting before sending the survey?
Usually not. A brief email or message from the leader is enough to provide context. OpenElevator then sends each selected participant their personal survey invitation.
Should I tell employees that someone may be at retention risk?
No. The purpose of the stay survey is to measure what leadership cannot reliably infer from visible behavior. Framing the exercise around suspected resignations can create unnecessary anxiety and undermines the reason for measuring alignment in the first place.
What happens after everyone responds?
OpenElevator analyzes the results and schedules a private leader debrief focused on where the team appears stable, where alignment or retention risk may require attention, and what action may be worth considering.
Give Your Team Context, Then Measure What You Cannot See
Introducing the OpenElevator Key Team Stay Survey should be uncomplicated. Tell employees what they are being asked to do, explain what the survey is and is not, and allow the assessment to provide the information that observation alone cannot.
The complimentary OpenElevator Key Team Stay Survey covers one key team of up to 10 people, takes approximately five minutes per participant, requires no team meeting, and includes a private leader debrief.
