Gaining Insight: What Employee Opinion Surveys Can Tell You
Clients often ask me how to ensure that employees understand and accept the changes that are necessary as companies grow and expand. My simple answer to that question is "ask them." That easy answer invariably leads to the next question – "How?"
Leading organizations see the value in gathering feedback from employees when implementing changes. Who better to give leaders valuable information about the impact that organizational strategies and initiatives might have than those on the front lines? Employees have first hand knowledge of their jobs and are often keenly aware of what needs to change to achieve better results for the organization.
Employee opinion surveys can help organizations:
Identify and address barriers to productivity and efficiency
Determine employee understanding and perception of policies and human resources programs
Pinpoint motivators that are most desirable to employees (incentives, bonuses, special assignments, time off with pay, training and development, flexible work schedules)
Identify training needs
Determine areas of communication breakdown and team conflict
Predict responses to organizational change
Uncover the source of morale and turnover problems
Employee surveys can be an effective means of gaining a better understanding of how and to what extent employees are affected by issues in the work environment. They can provide insight and guidance as you develop solutions to organizational problems that hamper your employees’ ability to thrive and perform at their best every day.
Employee opinion surveys are not just a tool to uncover organizational weaknesses and problem areas. Organizations can also gain positive insight from conducting surveys. In fact, well written surveys offer organizations an opportunity to gather employee input under several circumstances. Employee surveys may be:
Conducted annually to gauge employee satisfaction
Driven by an event like a change initiative, the introduction of a new product or service, or an expansion into a particular market
Used to gather feedback on a new technology or benefit program
Conducted frequently to determine the impact of change over a period of time
Employee surveys benefit both the organization’s leaders and employees. With the opportunity to express their opinions, employees feel that leaders value their ideas, needs, and concerns. Often, teamwork and customer service improves and absenteeism and employee turnover decrease. By assessing the results of an employee survey, leaders can gain a clear perspective of the views at various employee levels and a better insight into the interpersonal dynamics throughout the organization.
It should be made clear that employee opinion surveys are not a substitute for day-to-day conversations that leaders have with employees. Employees who have good relationships with their managers or supervisors and who feel their voices are heard are more likely to share their opinions and views openly.
Content Editors or Webmasters: You may reprint this article providing you include the following “About the Author” information in its entirety. (Including a hyperlink to www.LeadingforLoyalty.com):
Wendy Phaneuf is a professional speaker and author and a global expert in employee motivation and retention. Wendy is also the Founder of The Training Source and www.LeadingforLoyalty.com — a one-stop information source that helps leaders and their organizations enhance employee motivation and retention.
