Employee Satisfaction Scores
Do you track the satisfaction scores of your employees on a regular basis? Do you see a trend of flat or only moderate growth?
Do you see your star performers leaving the company for jobs elsewhere?
If you are a HR Director, that can send a negative signal about how well you are managing your employees.
Clearly, it is not enough simply to measure their level of satisfaction.
At Quest, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with real insights that will allow you to take corrective action that will dramatically improve employee satisfaction and levels of engagement. This can provide tremendous benefits to your business.
Do you see your star performers leaving the company for jobs elsewhere?
If you are a HR Director, that can send a negative signal about how well you are managing your employees.
Clearly, it is not enough simply to measure their level of satisfaction.
At Quest, we pride ourselves on providing our clients with real insights that will allow you to take corrective action that will dramatically improve employee satisfaction and levels of engagement. This can provide tremendous benefits to your business.
Disgruntled employees leads to unhappy customers!
In any company or organization, you will find a mixture of employees with high to low levels of engagement. Problems arise when the number of dissatisfied employees is too many. We recently were called into one client where we found that the average level of engagement was less than 30%!
A Quest study can provide a positive signal that management sincerely wants to hear the voice of the employee and provide an engagement boost in itself - as long as management takes on board the findings and makes those changes which are pragmatic and in the mutual interests of the organization and the employees.
A Quest study can provide a positive signal that management sincerely wants to hear the voice of the employee and provide an engagement boost in itself - as long as management takes on board the findings and makes those changes which are pragmatic and in the mutual interests of the organization and the employees.
Employee Satisfaction survey methodologies
The majority of Employee Satisfaction surveys being done in the region accomplish very little in our opinion. They usually consist of a very short self-completion questionnaire which is filled in either online or on paper and with great haste and little thought by the employees.
The shame is that, when done properly, these studies can provide revealing insights into the expectations and needs of employees that can allow management to better motivate them. When you come to think about it, our employees are among our greatest assets. They also walk out the door every afternoon and the better ones often receive tempting offers from other organizations.
No-one can build a great organization without finding ways to hold onto their star performers.
Highly-motivated employees work harder, have lower absenteeism, are less likely to leave and more likely to praise their employers when they meet friends and relatives outside the workplace. They may even recommend others to apply to join, if they consider it to be a fine place to work.
Most importantly of all, highly-satisfied employees create highly-satisfied customers.
The shame is that, when done properly, these studies can provide revealing insights into the expectations and needs of employees that can allow management to better motivate them. When you come to think about it, our employees are among our greatest assets. They also walk out the door every afternoon and the better ones often receive tempting offers from other organizations.
No-one can build a great organization without finding ways to hold onto their star performers.
Highly-motivated employees work harder, have lower absenteeism, are less likely to leave and more likely to praise their employers when they meet friends and relatives outside the workplace. They may even recommend others to apply to join, if they consider it to be a fine place to work.
Most importantly of all, highly-satisfied employees create highly-satisfied customers.
That being the case, then shouldn't we be more committed to finding out how they really feel about things?
You may be tempted to be cynical and say that as long as they receive regular promotions and salary raises that they will be satisfied. However, studies have consistently shown that salaries are never the highest order need of employees.
Instead, they need to feel that they are working for an organization that they and others respect and that their input is perceived to be important and appreciated. They also need to feel that they are receiving the necessary training, guidance and support to reach their personal potential and that they can grow in your organization. They prefer to know that rewards are consistent with experience and effort and appreciate knowing what they need to achieve to reach the next step on the ladder. They also want to feel that they have a say and that their voices are heard.
In any organization, studies show that there is likely to be a variety of levels of motivation among the employees from very high to very low. Some are helping push the organization to new heights every day, whilst others are simply undoing all that good work.
You may be tempted to be cynical and say that as long as they receive regular promotions and salary raises that they will be satisfied. However, studies have consistently shown that salaries are never the highest order need of employees.
Instead, they need to feel that they are working for an organization that they and others respect and that their input is perceived to be important and appreciated. They also need to feel that they are receiving the necessary training, guidance and support to reach their personal potential and that they can grow in your organization. They prefer to know that rewards are consistent with experience and effort and appreciate knowing what they need to achieve to reach the next step on the ladder. They also want to feel that they have a say and that their voices are heard.
In any organization, studies show that there is likely to be a variety of levels of motivation among the employees from very high to very low. Some are helping push the organization to new heights every day, whilst others are simply undoing all that good work.
What percentage of your employees is in each of the above 4 quadrants?
We understand that the needed employee satisfaction scores require some type of quantitative input into the research methodology and we always include that. However, from experience, we have found that useful insights are more likely to come from a free-ranging one to one discussion with a trained interviewer (when they are assured that whatever they say will be kept confidential and their names withheld).
Sure this approach costs more than a quickie online questionnaire and will only appeal to those clients who truly aspire to be the best - by building great organizations and showing that they are really listening to their employees - and that is what we, at Quest, are all about.
Sure this approach costs more than a quickie online questionnaire and will only appeal to those clients who truly aspire to be the best - by building great organizations and showing that they are really listening to their employees - and that is what we, at Quest, are all about.
Key features of an effective methodology
* Confidentiality
The first and most important feature is Confidentiality - employees must feel reassured that they can be open and honest and that there will be no recriminations about what they say later. Their responses will be included in the analysis, but their names must never be - their responses must be anonymous. Otherwise, the results become misleading and worthless.
* Commitment from the top
Secondly, there must be a firm undertaking from the very top that the findings of the study will lead to changes and improvements, where necessary. We often face initial skepticism that any good will come from our survey as management has shown itself in the past to be "uncaring".
* Welcome comments and suggestions
Too many surveys consist of a myriad of questions where the only possible answer is a numerical rating. The consultant then has the difficult task of trying to deduce why some numbers are low, whilst others are high.
Instead of handing out questionnaires for a self-completion response, it is well worth employing skilled interviewers to draw out the opinions, comments and suggestions that make sense of the numerical data generated by the survey - why are some ratings so low? What can be done about it? We also recommend including some focus groups - such as one per department to elicit these responses and to brainstorm possible solutions and suggestions.
* Our promise
We promise to deliver a report that not only measures levels of employee satisfaction, but also provides a detailed explanation of why the numbers are the way they are - what is being done well and where improvements can be made and where the Quick Wins are. We also will provide a comprehensive list of recommendations for corrective action that can radically improve levels of engagement. This will lead to lower staff turnover, happier employees and ultimately happier customers.
This always filters through to the bottom line!
The first and most important feature is Confidentiality - employees must feel reassured that they can be open and honest and that there will be no recriminations about what they say later. Their responses will be included in the analysis, but their names must never be - their responses must be anonymous. Otherwise, the results become misleading and worthless.
* Commitment from the top
Secondly, there must be a firm undertaking from the very top that the findings of the study will lead to changes and improvements, where necessary. We often face initial skepticism that any good will come from our survey as management has shown itself in the past to be "uncaring".
* Welcome comments and suggestions
Too many surveys consist of a myriad of questions where the only possible answer is a numerical rating. The consultant then has the difficult task of trying to deduce why some numbers are low, whilst others are high.
Instead of handing out questionnaires for a self-completion response, it is well worth employing skilled interviewers to draw out the opinions, comments and suggestions that make sense of the numerical data generated by the survey - why are some ratings so low? What can be done about it? We also recommend including some focus groups - such as one per department to elicit these responses and to brainstorm possible solutions and suggestions.
* Our promise
We promise to deliver a report that not only measures levels of employee satisfaction, but also provides a detailed explanation of why the numbers are the way they are - what is being done well and where improvements can be made and where the Quick Wins are. We also will provide a comprehensive list of recommendations for corrective action that can radically improve levels of engagement. This will lead to lower staff turnover, happier employees and ultimately happier customers.
This always filters through to the bottom line!
Contact us now for more information about how to build a more highly-motivated and productive workforce.
