Why Employee Satisfaction Surveys And Employee Exit Surveys Make Good Sense

In a competitive world with the need for businesses to be more streamlined and productive a company can often find itself with a workforce working under pressure resulting in low moral and high staff turnover. The benefits of a company having a highly motivated workforce can be considerable and the two goals of having a workforce that is both motivated and productive should not be regarded as being mutually exclusive to one another.

Left unattended employers run the risk of alienating their employees, events can cause employee frustrations to boil over resulting in employers finding themselves on the back foot, faced with a problem that cannot be ignored.

Ideally employers would take time to understand the needs of their employees and learn from their experiences of working on the front line, but employers are often themselves tied up day to day fighting their own fires.

By automating much of the intelligence gathering process and providing the findings in a format that can be readily analysed online surveys provide employers with an efficient, effective and low cost method to help achieve a pleasant working environment, where staff satisfaction and productivity is high.

Dissatisfied & Unproductive

The are many reasons why employees may be dissatisfied with their job and more often than not staff frustration is channelled into a demand for higher salaries and less hours. Employers who tackle these issues head on, making it all about salary and hours, will often find themselves dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause.

It's not about Money

The following are common barriers to achieving productivity, none of which are likely to be resolved by increasing salaries or reducing hours:-

? Inadequate training
? Out of touch management
? Out of date working methods
? Lack of proper tools and equipment

Many studies have shown that salaries are rarely the number one priority of employees and providing an employer is paying market rate they would be fundamentally wrong to think that paying higher salaries is the answer to all employee problems.

Take the case of a single mother who is juggling a full time job with the need to look after two children. Out of frustration she may demand more money so that she feels that she is able to cope where a better solution, for both her and the company, may be more flexible working hours.

It is About Communication

It is important for any company to encourage communication. Company's that make communication between personnel and management difficult, or take the view that if personnel have a problem they will say something, can often delude themselves into thinking their workforce is content when it is not. It only takes one small problem and one disgruntled employee to feel aggrieved for an entire workforce to develop a destructive 'them and us' attitude.

Improving Communication

One to one meetings between employer and employee would be ideal but in practice only practical for very small businesses.

Regular meetings between management and worker representatives are good in theory but they often become talking shops and can begin to loose their edge as the participants become familiar with one another and the forum runs the risk of being hijacked by the more extrovert personalities.

Suggestion boxes are useful but can be viewed as token efforts by management as they wait for personnel to highlight a problem.

Newsletters can be a positive step, but their purpose is generally to inform and not discuss issues.

Keeping the Initiative

An employee satisfaction survey run on a regular basis is able to ask each employee specific questions and represents a pro-active management initiative where the whole workforce can be consulted on various issues. Surveys are able to provide a level playing field between the quieter and more vocal employees.

Consultation should not be seen as a sign of weakness, a confident manager will take counsel from all quarters before making a decision. By issuing a survey and keeping the initiative the employer is able to tackle problems from a position of strength as opposed to waiting for problems to fester and then develop out of proportion.

Small problems left unresolved can lead to a situation where a minor problem might break the camels back and the workforce mood change from positive to negative over night.

It's Quick and Easy

For the majority of companies online surveys represent a proactive and low cost solution. They are quick to design and for many companies, where the majority of personnel have desktop computers, they are quick to deploy direct to the individual.

In situations where individuals do not have personal access to a computer there are still many options available to implement the online survey solution such as giving access to a shared computer, operator input or, as a last resort, a hardcopy survey.

Job Satisfaction

There are many elements that go towards providing an employee with job satisfaction, from the working environment, working methodology, working ethos, company ethics to having good and effective management. Job satisfaction brings benefits through improved motivation and productivity from a workforce that feels that they are treated as individuals and not a commodity item.

Inform and Educate

An online survey can also be used to educate and pass on to the workforce important information, the 'message' is consistently delivered and does not suffer from the Chinese whisper phenomenon where a message can be distorted as it is handed down.

An online survey can explain a difficult situation and get valuable feedback from the employees as to the best solution. It is rare in this situation that the workforce would appear negative and more likely that they will feel informed and empowered that might in itself turn a potentially negative problem into a positive challenge that unites the workforce.

Exit Surveys

Exit surveys are an excellent way of ensuring that when personnel leave an organisation they are leaving for the right reasons and not due to reasons that if appreciated earlier could have been addressed and resolved by management. Although identifying a problem may not prevent a person leaving it could solve an unappreciated issue that may, if left unchecked, result in other key personnel also leaving.

Analysing the Results

Having consulted the workforce with an online survey the results are available for instant analysis. Common and specific problems can be easily identified and brought to the attention of senior management who will then have the opportunity to address the issues that have been raised.

Summary

Used regularly online surveys represent a simple and productive method of taking the pulse of an organisation and an easy way to establish a two way communication channel between employer and employee with the results providing management with vital, accurate and significant information.

For a Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey
http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPu blishes.asp?survey_id=1163

For a sample Employee Exit survey
http://www.surveygalaxy.com/surPu blishes.asp?survey_id=1165

Martin Day is a Director of Survey Galaxy Ltd for more informartin please visit http://www.SurveyGalaxy.com

---

Let the Professionals Help You Out - Outsource

As your website grows in terms of attracting more footfalls,... Read More

Paretos Law- Your Formula For Success

A 'dirt-world' retail business I used to manage had a... Read More

Managing Group Meetings

MANAGING SMALL MEETINGS: Keep the size of the meeting as... Read More

Cold Water Comments - What They Are and How to Manage Them!

Cold Water Comments - What They Are and How to... Read More

Management to the Vision-Contribution and the Role of Compliance

As a manager our role is to:1. Establish the vision,... Read More

The Leaders Fallacy May Be Howard Deans Undoing

Howard Dean's tenure as chairman of the Democratic National Committee... Read More

Keeping Meetings On Track

We all have been in meetings with certain people who... Read More

Three Ways to Transmit Loud and Clear

The heart of a fool is in his mouth, but... Read More

Succession Planning for Your Business - 7 Key Benefits

A core activity in many successful businesses, Succession Planning is... Read More

How to Prepare for Your Companys Financial Future

Sooner or later, most business owners need to look for... Read More

Uncommon Common Sense ? Know What is the Most Important Thing in Your Business

Over 3 of my meetings with 3 business owners last... Read More

Help Your Employees Prepare for a Performance Appraisal

PREPARING EMPLOYEES FOR THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL INTERVIEWS: Remind employees to... Read More

Sweet Parting Of Ways

Why settle for bad feelings when your employee leaves the... Read More

4 Tips on How to Avoid Communication Lines Breakdown

For example, in a small, two-person company, there is often... Read More

Faith is the LIFE-blood of Your ACTIONS before the Benefit -

Nothing has changed. Your ancestors lived by faith. Some planted... Read More

The Changing Boss-Secretary Relationship

THE CHANGING BOSS-SECRETARY RELATIONSHIP: Imagine a partnership at work. One... Read More

Top 10 Things NOT To Tell Angel and VC Investors

I am not writing this to create a list of... Read More

So, You Want to be in Management? Five Essential Factors that Will Determine Your Chances

The following information is based upon over 500 interviews with... Read More

Does Your Management Style Remind People Of Something They Read In Dilbert?

With thanks to Jeff Foxworthy, the comedian who does the... Read More

Business Fails When We Do Not Talk

You may remember being told as a child, "Keep quiet!"... Read More

Hidden Consultants Within Your Organization

You've all heard the old joke about a consultant being... Read More

Overcoming the Document Tracking Challenge

"Where did it go? It was here yesterday. Wait. Here... Read More

Creativity Management ? Quality from Quantity

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Keep The Faith - Transform The Fear

FEAR! To what extent does fear rule your life? How... Read More

What Every Manager Should Know About How to Enhance the Motivational Climate of the Workplace

It has been well documented that employees' productivity and job... Read More

Creativity Management - The Value of Being Prolific

When asked his secret to success, the author Graham Green... Read More

Is It Worth To Outsource? How One Can Outsource Wisely

Recent trends in software development market show that it is... Read More

How to Make the Best of it - Take Your Weather with You

I once worked in a place where there were three... Read More

Improved Communication to Improve Results

Facilitating good communication can make the difference between a well... Read More

Saying ?No? Gracefully to Customers and Colleagues

Envision the scenario: You've just been asked at the last... Read More

Building the Trust in Your Employees - 12 Easy Tips

In Stephen Covey's great book, "The Seven Habits of Highly... Read More

Leadership: Stoking The Success Train

Everyone wants to succeed yet everyone has a different perception... Read More

Make a Difference - Sweat the Small Stuff First

My background is in retail management - yes, running stores,... Read More