Interpreting Neutral Responses

Neutral responses are those marked as “Neither Agree Nor Disagree.” While it may be easy to assume that a neutral response is simply a “polite no,” there are several factors to consider when interpreting neutral responses. If there is a high occurrence of neutral responses, it is important to consider the possible causes and implications for taking action.

This article walks through:

• Possible Causes for High Neutral Responses 
• Implications for Taking Action
• Interpreting Neutral Responses

Possible Causes for High Neutral Responses 

Common causes for a high occurrence of neutral responses include the following:

• Reality varies in the experience of the respondents for particular items (it is not always so “black and white” for everyone).

• Respondents lack knowledge about the topic that the item addresses (this is where a Not-Applicable [N/A] response option can be useful).

• Respondents lack a strong opinion about the item.

• Respondents are uncertain about how to answer the item.

• Respondents may not want to provide a negative response (dependent upon the content of the question)

Implications for Taking Action

A high occurrence of neutral responses may identify:

• Areas where action may be easy to take. For example, a large number of neutral responses may indicate that employees do not know enough about a question topic to provide a favorable or unfavorable response. Action can be taken to provide more information.

• Potential “slide” areas where, if no action is taken, responses could slide from neutral to unfavorable (Disagree or Strongly Disagree).

• A target audience for action planning and change to make a positive impact on future results. For example, action can help slide scores from neutral to favorable (Agree or Strongly Agree).

Interpreting Neutral Responses

What neutral responses represent often depends on the survey question. For example, because survey items are written as positive statements, if an employee is unable to agree with the statement that their manager treats them with respect, we would view a neutral response here as an opportunity for improvement.

However, there may be situations where respondents have yet to form an opinion or are withholding judgment for the time being. This can be influenced by both internal or external factors. For example:

• Large organizational changes such as restructuring, a merger, or an acquisition. In these instances, we would likely see a shift towards neutral responses regarding employee willingness to recommend the company as a great place to work because the employees are waiting to see what the new normal will entail. 

• Certain job types may have a higher number of neutral responses to questions about cooperation across departments if they work in a pooled delivery environment or lack exposure to other areas of the business. 

• New employees may have a higher neutral response to questions about fairness in how advancement decisions are made because they haven't experienced or observed that yet.

• From an external perspective, a low unemployment rate may partially contribute to an increase in neutral responses regarding intent to stay with the organization. This may be a leading indicator of voluntary attrition, but the organization has an opportunity to intervene.