You know how your clients feel about your services, and you ask them for regular tips on how you could improve the products you offer.
Advertisement
But do you know how happy your workers are?
An employee-satisfaction survey can help you answer that question before poor morale affects your company's bottom line.
Employee surveys help businesses measure worker satisfaction in areas including pay and benefits, attitudes, management styles and opportunities for advancement.
"Surveys help you take the pulse of your employees," said Andrea Bricca, president and manager of electronic surveyor TouchPoll Las Vegas. "They allow you to gauge how your employees feel about everything that impacts them on a daily basis on the job."
At the end of June, Young Electric Sign Co. surveyed its 16-state work force of 1,200, asking them about major stress-causing job activities and seeking input on how likely they are to quit, how effective the company's training is and how much they enjoy their work.
"Our employees are, without any question, our most important asset," said John Williams, general manager and vice president of Young Electric. "We feel it's extremely important to have feedback from them. We gauge a lot of our policies, benefit programs and even compensation based on their abilities and attitudes."
Checking up on your employees' impressions of the workplace isn't cheap: Mary Beth Hartleb, president of Prism Human Resource Consulting Services in Henderson, said conducting a survey will cost a minimum of $1,500 for a small business. David Chaudron, managing partner of Organized Change Consultancy in San Diego, said a multiregional survey for a 5,000-employee business could cost "tens of thousands of dollars."
Experts say the expense can pay for itself.
Managers who believe their workers want a richer benefit package might determine through a survey that employees really want more flex time, Hartleb said. Businesses considering boosting a tuition-reimbursement program could learn workers would prefer more assistance with day care. And perhaps simple, cost-free changes in corporate policies -- relaxing the dress code, for example -- would pay major dividends in employee morale.
"A company can absolutely save money at the bottom line (through surveys)," Hartleb said. "A lot of companies think they know where to put money to make employees happy or improve recruitment and retention when in fact they're completely off-base. A survey helps companies make sure they're allocating resources in the most cost-effective manner."
Employee questionnaires can also build workplace morale, giving staff members a sense that managers are interested in improving office conditions. And allowing workers a voice in their corporate culture can translate into improved retention.
"In the Las Vegas labor market, finding and keeping good people is a real challenge," Bricca said. "(Surveys) are another way to make sure you're doing what you need to do to keep employees."
Rob Stillwell, a spokesman for Boyd Gaming Corp., said his company surveys its 30,000 staff members every year partly to determine how effective Boyd is at competing for and retaining workers.
"We want to know exactly how we're doing as an employer," Stillwell said. "We want to know what issues are facing our employees. (Surveys) allow a direct communication channel for information we might otherwise have missed. Without them, it could take the loss of several key employees before a company realizes there's a problem."
At Young Electric, Williams said he believes the company's questionnaire will improve its employee base.
"Having the best work force in the industry is our goal, and this helps us achieve that goal," he said. "It helps us understand what we need to do to get there."
But getting the most out of an employee survey requires advance planning and careful follow-up.
First, don't wait until you're concerned your workers are unhappy on the job. Consider formally surveying your work force with an extensive questionnaire once a year, and add to the mix ongoing discussions with smaller, informal focus groups biannually or quarterly, Hartleb recommended. The idea, she said, is to spot downward trends quickly and pinpoint the cause before small issues become big problems.
Second, it's tempting to download one of the hundreds of sample surveys available on the Internet, but Hartleb said borrowing a generic template could hurt your results. Make sure the language in your questionnaire matches the educational level of your workers. Consider your corporate culture as well. If your company's environment is casual, for example, stay away from stiff, formal language, and aim instead for a tone familiar to your workers.
Also, the most effective surveys are easy to take. Chaudron said questionnaires shouldn't have more than 50 questions, and employees should be able to complete the paperwork in half an hour or less. Anything beyond that will test staffers' patience and make them less inclined to participate in future assessments.
To boost participation, Chaudron advised scheduling specific survey times for every worker. Questionnaires sent via blast e-mail for completion at staff members' convenience will be lost, forgotten or ignored, he said.
Other experts suggest offering incentives to improve participation. Bricca said some of her clients have prize drawings or giveaways of company mugs or other logo-stamped gear. Aim for a completion rate of 85 percent to 90 percent.
Hartleb urged companies to look out for low participation: A response rate below 65 percent could indicate your employees are already disengaged, and not interested in improving their workplace.Most importantly, be prepared to follow up on the survey's findings.
If you conduct a questionnaire and no improvements result, employees will be more demoralized than they would be if you'd never asked for their opinions and ideas in the first place.
"If you give people an opportunity to say what's on their mind and you choose to ignore them, that can increase cynicism and a create a belief that management does not really care about them," Chaudron said.
At a minimum, inform employees of the survey's results within a month. Hartleb advises floating a companywide memo listing, for example, five changes the company will make based on employees' recommendations. If modifications are impossible -- perhaps because of budget constraints -- explain why.
Young Electric's Williams, who's still poring over the results of his company's questionnaire, said he's eager to report back to his workers on their input.
Said Williams: "It's empowering to the employees to know that what they've said is making a difference, and that there is a plan to take action."
