Employers want their employees to be happy because they know that when employees are happy, productivity is high. But that doesn't mean there's no room for improvement. Periodic employee satisfaction surveys can help employers know what policies and practices should continue and which ones need a complete overhaul.
Opinions vary on the subject of employee satisfaction surveys, such as when they should be conducted, who should analyze the results, etc. The following list of dos and don'ts from query respondents, who either participated in or helped conduct such surveys, could act as a guideline:
• Create a clear definition of what you mean in your company by "employee satisfaction." Work can be fulfilling, productive and meaningful and still not be totally satisfying and
• Commit up front to sharing the results with employees -- no matter what they are, said Darcy Eickenberg, coach and mentor for Aspiring Leaders.
• Ask employees how they feel when they come to work, if they feel recognized or if their opinions count, offered Chad Collett, vice-president of marketing for WOW Logistics.
• Give the most weight to recurring themes, recommends Kellie Auld of Simply Communicating.
DON'T:
• Conduct an employee satisfaction survey if your leaders aren't ready to make changes or
• Make it too long. A good survey may give you opportunities to go back and ask more probing questions later, so don't turn people off by wearing them out, Eickenberg added.
• Require personal information that could be used to identify the respondent.
Some companies may be unclear about whether they even need to conduct employee satisfaction surveys. Ann Middleman of ADM Marketing & Research Consulting recommends that employers conduct them if:
• They are having trouble recruiting talent, or
• They want to test out some changes they are contemplating.
Employee satisfaction surveys may not be necessary for every company, particularly if it's obvious that employees are happy and productive, but there are some respondents who believed that even employee satisfaction surveys that are used as validators have merit.
