5 Reasons Why you Need Employee Surveys, even in this Economy

[Melanie Quinn]

I have seen postings recently suggesting that many employers are considering doing away with employee surveys; many cite the costs associated with these surveys. You have to acknowledge the poor economy at a time like this: we are all feeling the pinch.

I think everyone would agree that had our government been PROACTIVE rather than REACTIVE, this recession might not have been so severe. This reasoning can be applied to business models also. Now, more than ever, we don’t want to find ourselves in situations where we are forced to react to issues that could have been uncovered or prevented earlier, such as employee turnover and risk mitigation.

That being said, here are 5 reasons why employers should still do employee surveys:

1) Employee Surveys are good for morale. Measuring employee perceptions and communicating results is still the best way to ensure that your workplace, environment and culture are what you want them to be. If you already conduct surveys, discontinuing them may send a message to your employees that a) you no longer care about their opinions, or b) the environment has changed in such a way that you no longer need to assess the issues impacting them. Can either of these ever be true?

2) A Satisfied employee is a productive employee. An employer’s biggest concern in today’s economy is maximizing each employee’s production. Did you know that a satisfied employee is twice as productive as a disgruntled employee? Employee satisfaction surveys will allow you to identify the causes for employee’s dissatisfaction and give you the ammunition to fix those problems.

3) Your employees may have some good suggestions. Have you ever sat around in brainstorming meetings trying to figure out how to deal with specific issues or improve processes? Why not ask the persons on the front-lines. They offer new perspectives to problems and sometimes ingenious, simple solutions. And you get the added benefit of communicating your desire to make your company one of the best workplaces around.

4) Target the causes of possible turnover, BEFORE it happens. We all know that retaining existing employees is much cheaper than hiring new ones. Work on keeping the ones you have happy. And if you ask the right questions in your survey, you may uncover unanticipated reasons why employees may be considering leaving, allowing you the opportunity to correct those issues before losing key employees. And if you’ve already endured layoffs, keeping your remaining employees satisfied becomes even more important.

5) Communication, Communication, Communication! In this environment, all the old adages go out the window. Nothing starts that old rumor mill faster than silence. And there goes your productivity along with those rumors, and perhaps some of your best employees, right out the front door. Surveys keep those lines of communication open and demonstrate that you are still invested in your employees’ well-being and future within your organization.

So now that I have outlined some important reasons why you should survey your employees, you should be thinking – What now? How can I capture this valuable data and make my organization a great place to work? There are so many methods available, many of which can be implemented at little cost to the employer. In fact while writing this article, I Googled Free Employee Surveys and several results were found.

For those times that you choose to have more control over the scope and direction of the data capture, professional providers such as our organization (yes that is a plug for CaptureISG) can be found using any search engine. CaptureISG may be a good resource for collecting objective information using an objective third party for conducting these interviews. And as professional interviewers, we get to the root cause of the issue by probing for as much detail as necessary to thoroughly understand the employee’s perspective. We not only capture the yes’s and no’s, but the why’s and why nots.

Please share your thoughts with us about collecting workplace intelligence from your employees in this economy. Tell us the good, bad and ugly!

I also invite everyone to visit CaptureISG's new blog. We are just starting out, so any comments would be appreciated.

http://www.captureisg.com/blog

[Melanie Quinn]

Ray: Do you happen to have a link to that article?

[Ray Seghers]

I just read a newsletter that pointed out that voluntary turnover was up even during the recession. If this is true, it underscores the need to involve employees and work with them to build engagement and to retain them.

[Melanie Quinn]

I agree with the caveat that you must use the results as well. If the results are not used, then conducting the research is a waste of time, as well a kick the the companies morale.

Stephen- I did mention interviews, which is what prefer to call our "surveys". CaptureISG conducts in depth telephone interviews for our clients. Which as you mentioned above, does enhance those paper and online surveys. We try to go beyond capturing just the yes's and no's, by asking why, why not and how would you make it better.

[Ray Seghers]

Thanks, Melanie, I agree 100%.

I aslo agree with the caveat to ensure that there is a commitment to actually use the results. This is true no matter the economic situation.

[Stephen J. Gill]

Melanie, you present five good reasons to conduct employee surveys (engagement, satisfaction, learning needs, etc.) but I also agree with Jason's caveats. There is no sense doing a survey if you don't have organization buy-in to use the results and communicate the results to employees and communicate how the results were used to employees. Otherwise, the survey is a waste of time and diminishes trust. And I would add that timing is critical. Doing an employee survey in the middle of mass layoffs is probably not a good idea.

Also, I would caution employers that there is an art and a science to designing and conducting surveys. While it has become very easy and inexpensive to conduct surveys using online services, choosing samples, asking questions, designing the instrument, distributing and collecting surveys, and analyzing and reporting data all take special knowledge, skill, and experience, that is, if you want valid, reliable, and useful information.

Melanie, you mentioned interviews. I think selected interviews can enhance any "paper-and-pencil" or online survey. Good luck with your new business!

[Jason Grieve]

Melanie,

I 100% agree with you - it is vital to continue engaging with colleagues particularly in difficult times like now and colleague opinion surveys are a great way of doing so. However, there is no point in conducting EE surveys if you're not prepared to act on the results which is when they are not good for morale - the opposite in fact.

If a business has a clear engagement strategy the surveys carried out become more of a "temperature check" rather than a set of results which are often surprising and unexpected, The challenge is to have an ongoing "people strategy/agenda" which ensures activities that are going well are maintained and those requiring attention are progressed.

My view is the frequency of EE surveys is key - half yearly is frequent enough. If quarterly, there is a danger of questionnaire fatigue! - with colleagues going through the motions when completing the survey and the business not having sufficient time between surveys to act.

Cheers!

Jason