Four Things You Should Know About Employee Surveys

Knowing what is truly going on with workers is critical for all executives and managers, including general counsel, in order to properly manage and develop a corporation. Instability, high turnover, and high expenses for the organisation, both direct and indirect, may result from lingering unhappiness and other concerns. Furthermore, unresolved perceived employee difficulties might lead to legal issues in the future.

These are just a few of the reasons why employee surveys aimed at uncovering difficulties inside the business should be undertaken on a regular basis. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as just asking an employee how they are doing. These five pointers should assist general counsel and other executives in determining the best reasons – and methods – for conducting a successful staff survey.

Measuring Engagement in addition to Excellence is More Effective

Human resources or other managers will often concentrate employee surveys on the crucial indicator of employee engagement, sometimes known as the Employee Engagement Index (EEI). An engaged employee is more likely to remain with a company and want to improve the workplace. Although employee engagement is important, the most helpful employee surveys include it with other crucial performance indicators, such as the Performance Excellence Index, which assesses an employee’s sentiments about their team’s overall performance and standards. Looking at these two metrics together, in particular, is a significantly more successful means of predicting the financial impact of employee happiness on the organisation, in terms of shareholder performance and the company’s total worth. The names of these statistics were chosen by Kenexa’s staff retention experts.

When advising on an employee survey, it is critical for general counsel to grasp the significance of these indicators. While lawyers may concentrate on the legal repercussions of a dissatisfied or unproductive employee, these more detailed polls may show the company’s budgetary health.

2. Design surveys with a specific goal in mind.

Creating an employee survey is a difficult process. Although numerous templates are available, the crucial thing is not to just ask workers whether they are satisfied, but to design a survey with your company’s objectives in mind.

According to Kenexa, the four most popular forms of employee surveys measure:

indications of danger

Measures for programme assessment

determinants of “employer of choice”

business success indications

It is essential to determine the aim of the survey before commencing on its construction. For a failing business, it may be particularly critical to monitor warning signs that workers are dissatisfied and contemplating leaving or taking other actions that might hurt the firm, such as unionising. A strong firm that is aiming to develop may want to conduct a poll that investigates how workers feel about the company’s overall performance, which will look very different.

There is no need for every employee survey to cover every imaginable circumstance, and doing so may result in less relevant replies. Choose a path and a goal instead, and then develop a survey that focuses in detail on the most critical subjects. This may entail prioritising corporate concerns and probable departmental negotiations, but it will eventually make surveys far more valuable.

3. Employee Retention Factors Survey

Employee retention is critical for any organisation and should be of special concern to any seasoned general counsel. This is because disgruntled workers who leave, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, are more prone to file costly litigation, which may lead to greater internal strife and, eventually, have a significant negative effect on the firm as a whole.

Fortunately, it is simple to identify the primary indicators that an employee is dissatisfied and contemplating quitting, and it is even feasible to go so far as to explicitly ask an employee (through anonymous survey) whether they want to or are actively pursuing alternative work. Employee trust in the organization’s future, satisfaction with job recognition for positive contributions, the prospect of growth and career development, the belief in a strong skillset fit, and organisational support for the all-important work and life balance are all key considerations.

Employee retention is less expensive and simpler than employing new people on a rotating basis, and it is an essential aim to consider when designing an employee survey.

4. Do Not Underestimate the Importance of Follow-Up

Building an employee survey that asks the appropriate questions in the right manner may take a long time and may involve input from several departments, depending on its breadth. However, the fact is that the survey’s performance is determined much more by the following follow-up to its findings than by the questions asked. Too many firms devote time and effort to developing employee surveys while ignoring follow-up.

Follow-up may be challenging for a variety of reasons, especially when dealing with a large sample size. When the findings show that there are many areas for improvement, it might be difficult to prioritise the organization’s reaction. However, priority is critical. Focusing on the most significant problems first and sincerely committing to make essential adjustments is critical for workers and the company’s future. Otherwise, the whole survey procedure would have been a waste of time.

Human resources and staff development should always have a tight working connection with general counsel. Assisting with the formulation and execution of employee surveys is often part of this connection. You may help your business grow and prosper with a happy and healthy staff base by taking the time to implement a productive survey procedure.