Skip to content
Blog/Industry

Why Employee Surveys Are Losing the Battle for Honest Feedback

Fewer people answer surveys, and those who do shade the truth. What matters most does not show up on a form.

By Ken King, Founder, GRW ProjectUpdated 2026-10-242 min read
Self-reportmeasures what people say, not what they do

01

The Bias Problem

Surveys measure what people say, not what they do. And what people say gets bent: people want to look good and fear being named.

Fewer people answer each year, and those who skip often have the sharpest feedback.

02

What Surveys Cannot Measure

The behaviour that shapes a team rarely reaches a form, like composure slipping under pressure. People do not know they send these signals. No survey can catch a facial movement that lasts a third of a second.

People do not know they send these signals.

03

The Behavioral Intelligence Alternative

GRW Project reads behaviour from video. It tracks 468 points on the face and scores composure, presence, congruence and team dynamics.

Video is not swayed by how people want to look, and it runs on any clip. Surveys still help with policy. For the habits that shape culture, watching beats asking.

04

Why Now?

Three things changed. Computer vision got fast and cheap. The standard read runs in the browser, which answers the privacy worry. And leaders trust surveys less each year.

References

  1. Nederhof, A. J. (1985). Methods of Coping with Social Desirability Bias: A Review. European Journal of Social Psychology.
  2. Paulhus, D. L. (1984). Two-Component Models of Socially Desirable Responding. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Get the next one in your inbox.

New writing on what a room really does, from the people who build GRW. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.