Employee surveys
Because employees at every organization act on the basis of their perceptions, management should be aware of their attitudes. Information gleaned from employee surveys can provide knowledge that impacts the bottom line and fosters positive employee relations in many important ways:
• Assessing training needs
• Benchmarking the organization's progress in relation to the industry
• Evaluating customer service issues
• Gauging employees' understanding of and agreement with the corporate mission
• Identifying cost-saving opportunities
• Improving productivity
• Streamlining communication
• Strengthening supervision
Employee surveys may measure key aspects of employee attitudes:
• Satisfaction with Benefits
• Communication
• Concern for Employees
• Co-worker Performance/Cooperation
• Customer Service
• Job Stress
• Overall Job Satisfaction
• Productivity/Efficiency
• Satisfaction with the Work
• Strategy/Mission
• Supervisory Consideration
• Supervisory Instruction/Guidance
• Supervisory Promotion of Teamwork and Participation
• Training & Development
Surveys are a good way to create buy-in because the people involved in design and action planning have an opportunity to contribute. Everyone gets involved in the process, often eliminating the resistance of individuals who are against change.
There are many documented cases in which companies tried to install new procedures or systems without considering how the employees felt about the changes. The result is usually a failure, from losing productivity to outright sabotage and organized labor actions.
The best way to bring about change is to first gain the support of the people who will be most affected. No matter how good a change may seem on paper, if nobody will support it, it's probably not a good idea.
Moving your employee surveys to the Web will reduce the cost and significantly improve the quality of the results you receive.
There are several key benefits to using the Web. Response rates are typically higher on the Web because surveys are easier to fill out and respondents can complete them at their convenience. Survey response options are controlled and validated while the survey is being completed, thereby eliminating data entry errors and ensuring a higher quality response. Web-based surveys save analysis time because the data is collected automatically and the results are immediately analyzed and charted. The advent of inexpensive and easy-to-use Web survey software has dramatically simplified employee satisfaction surveys.
Reasons for conducting an employee survey are fairly obvious. Dissatisfied employees tend to perform below their capabilities, leave their jobs relatively quickly, and are not very likely to recommend your company as an employer. Measuring the level of satisfaction felt by employees is the first step to improving it. You discover what proportion of employees are satisfied and identify policies, procedures, and management practices that, if changed, could result in higher employee satisfaction, improved productivity, and higher employee retention rates.
As improvements are implemented based on the survey results, you are able to measure changes in employee satisfaction by performing benchmark surveys at specified intervals. ‡
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