Do you know the answers to the following questions, as they relate to your employees?
- Do employees understand the value of their benefits?
- Do employees know how to address concerns in the workplace?
- Do employees feel that the work environment is conducive to productivity?
- Do employees know how to pass along innovative ideas?
- Do employees feel valued and important?
- Do employees have ideas for improving customer or client services?
- Do employees feel recognized and rewarded for their contributions?
The list could go on and on. But, meanwhile, your question might be: Why should employers care what employees feel and think?
The short answer is: Because, in order to achieve success and stay competitive, employers need to tap into valuable information that only employees can reveal.
I’ll elaborate.
Employee surveys provide organizations with an effective and efficient method for collecting valuable feedback from employees.
Not only that, employee surveys can be like a shot of adrenaline to the organization.
This is because many employees are encouraged and motivated by the employee survey process. As employees see evidence that employers are prepared to give them more leeway—those employees tend to become more engaged and take ownership of their work. In other words, employees appreciate that employers are not just simply “dictating,” but they’re also asking for their recommendations, input and feedback.
So employee surveys are a way of showing employees that the employer: (1) acknowledges them for the work they do; and (2) appreciates them for their contributions. On top of that, an employee survey tool provides a cost-effective and administratively simple method for getting results.
There is more. A well-developed and well-implemented employee survey is an invaluable tool, because survey results provide employers with basic strategic directives. Among them:
- What employers are doing well—so employers can strengthen those areas
- What negative perceptions exist—so employers can address those areas
- What benchmarks are appropriate—so employers can measure, compare and contrast results
Furthermore, the lower-tier employee groups take notice when the top-tier leadership group takes time and effort to communicate. Communication initiatives serve to create a “more the merrier” atmosphere, one which employees tend to respond to and appreciate.
All that said, in order to ensure candid responses and useful results, it’s important that participants are reassured that their identities will remain anonymous.
In a future HRTools.com Insight, I’ll review employee-survey pitfalls to avoid and some other potential employee reactions/responses that organizations typically experience during the initial phases.
Meanwhile, if you want to learn more about employee surveys, you might find the following online information helpful:
Employee Surveys Help Businesses Plan for Success, Chris Wright, Ph.D., author
Employee Feedback You can Depend on: Implement Employee Surveys, Chris Wright, author
Employee Opinion Surveys, four-part series by Barbara Wilkins, a senior human resource specialist