Employee surveys provide feedback to management as to how employees feel the organization is operating. Survey results indicate employee attitudes, level of motivation, opinions/suggestions regarding areas of improvement and their level of satisfaction.
Employees typically complete surveys in one of two ways: on paper or online. However, informal meetings between management and staff can also be an effective tool in gaining insight into employee concerns and attitudes if there is a level of comfort and trust between the two groups.
Making the most of employee surveys requires companies to:
1. Ensure the survey is manageable and can be completed in a relatively short time.
2. Give employees a limited amount of time to complete surveys. If the deadline for completing a survey is two or more weeks, completing the survey may slip their mind.
3. Develop surveys that require true/false, yes/no or priority ranking responses. These types of responses provide management a more accurate reading of employees’ morale and satisfaction versus questionnaires uses range/ratings responses.
Utilize the resources of online employee survey providers to administer effective surveys
Employee feedback forms must be short and to the point, yet contain enough questions for management to get a read on employees' morale, opinions and satisfaction. If surveys are overwhelming in terms of in-depth questions or overall length, employees will lose interest and fail to complete the employee questionnaires.
Use exit interviews as a measure of employee satisfaction
Exit interviews can be an invaluable resource in gaining insight into employee satisfaction. Ask your employees why they are leaving. Are they leaving to earn more money, receive better health benefits or is management to fault? Exiting employees can inform you of concerns remaining employees may have and offer suggestions as to how the organization can make improvements.
Take action on the results of employee information surveys
It is important for management to discuss survey results with employees. Action (or strategic) plans allow organizations to prioritize issues identified in company surveys and develop a plan that will address and resolve the issues.
- Administer employee satisfaction surveys periodically to gauge an organization's progress in addressing employee concerns identified in previous surveys. This type of corporate communications survey can not only monitor the organization's progress in resolving existing issues and concerns, but also identify any new concerns that may have developed.
