If businesses that strives to become more streamlined and productive are not careful their efforts to become more competitive can result in a workforce that is working under pressure which in turn could cause low moral and possibly a high staff turnover. The benefits of an organization having a highly motivated workforce can be considerable and the two goals of having employees that are both motivated and productive should not be regarded as being mutually exclusive to one another.

Left unresolved employers run the risk of alienating their employees and events can then cause employee frustrations to explode resulting in employers finding themselves on the back foot, faced with problems that cannot be ignored.

Ideally employers would allocate the time to fully understand the needs of their employees and learn from their experiences of working on the front line, but employers are too often themselves tied up with the day to day task of fighting their own fires.

With the intelligence gathering process being automated and the survey results being made available in a format that can be readily analyzed online surveys provide employers with a cost effective and efficient method to help towards the goals of staff satisfaction and high productivity.

 

Dissatisfied & unproductive

There are a plethora of reasons why employees may become dissatisfied with their job that can result in them channelling their frustrations into demands for higher salaries and reduced hours. Managers who tackle these issues head on, making it all about salary and hours, will often find themselves dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause.

 

Not just about the money

The following are the most common problems to achieving productivity, none of which are likely to be resolved by increasing salaries or reducing hours:-

  • Insufficient training
  • Out of touch management
  • Working methods that are past their sell by date
  • Lack of proper tools and equipment

Numerous studies have shown that salaries are rarely the most important priority for employees and providing an employer is paying a fair rate they would be fundamentally wrong to think that paying higher salaries is a panacea to all employee problems.

Take the case of a single mother who is juggling a full time job with the need to look after two children. Out of frustration she may demand more money so that she feels that she is able to cope where a better solution, for both her and the business, may be more flexible working hours.

 

Two way communication is what it is all about

It is in any company’s interest to promote good communication. A business that makes it difficult for personnel and management to communicate, or that takes the view that if individuals have a problem they will say so, can often delude themselves into thinking that their staff are content when they are not. It can take only one small problem and one employee to feel aggrieved for an entire workforce to develop a destructive ‘them and us’ attitude.

 

Improving communication

It would be ideal if the employer and employee could meet one on one but in practice this is impractical for everyone except very small organizations.

Regular meetings between management and worker representatives are good in theory but they often become talking shops and can begin to lose their edge as the participants become familiar with one another and the forum runs the risk of being hijacked by the more extrovert personalities.

Suggestion boxes can be useful but can be viewed as token efforts by management as they wait for personnel to highlight a problem.

Newsletters can be useful, but their main purpose is generally to inform and not discuss issues.

 

Keeping the initiative

Conducting employee satisfaction surveys on a regular basis you are able to ask each employee specific questions and present a pro-active management initiative where the whole workforce can be canvassed on various issues. Surveys are able to provide a level playing field between the quieter and more vocal employees.

Consultation should not be seen as a sign of weakness, a confident manager will often take counsel from others before making a decision. By issuing a survey and keeping the initiative the employer is able to tackle problems from a position of strength as opposed to waiting for problems to fester and then develop out of proportion.

Leave lots of minor problems unresolved and a further small problem might just break the camel’s back and in a blink of an eye change the mood of the workforce from positive to negative.

 

It’s easy and quick

For the majority of organizations online surveys represent a proactive, effective and low cost solution. They are quick to design and for the majority of companies, where most of the personnel have desktop computers, they are also quick to deploy direct to the individual.

Where not all of the personal have access to a computer there are various options available that will allow you to accommodate their responses such as providing a shared computer, conducting telephone surveys or as a last resort, a hardcopy survey where the hard-copy responses can be added to those who competed the survey online.

 

Job satisfaction

There are many elements that go towards providing an employee with job satisfaction, from the working environment, working methodology, working ethos, company ethics to having good and effective management. Job satisfaction brings benefits through improved motivation and productivity from a workforce that feels that they are treated as individuals and not a commodity item.

 

Inform and educate

An often overlooked benefit of online surveys is that they can be used to educate and pass on important information to the workforce, ensuring that the ‘message’ does not become corrupted as it is handed down by the phenomenon of Chinese whispers.

An online survey can explain a difficult situation and get valuable feedback from the employees as to the best solution. It is rare in this situation that the workforce would appear negative; it is more likely they will feel informed and empowered and that might be enough to turn a negative problem into a positive challenge that unites the workforce.

 

Exit surveys

Exit surveys are a method for management to confirm that when people leave the organisation they are leaving for valid reasons and not for reasons that if appreciated earlier could have been addressed and possibly resolved. Although identifying a problem may not prevent a person leaving it could solve an unappreciated issue that may, if left unchecked, result in other key personnel also leaving.

 

Analysing the results

After having consulted with the workforce using an online survey the survey results are available for instant analysis. Common and specific problems can be identified and the senior management informed who then will have the chance to address the issues that have been raised.

 

Summary

Used regularly online surveys represent a simple and productive method of taking the pulse of an organisation and an easy way to establish a two way communication channel between employer and employee with the results providing management with vital, accurate and significant information.

For a Sample Employee Satisfaction Survey:- Employee Satisfaction Survey Template

For a sample Employee Exit survey:- Employee Exit Survey Template

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Comments

2 Responses to “Why Staff Satisfaction and Exit Surveys Make Good Sense”

  1. jobsearch on September 22nd, 2009 3:44 am

    I absolutely agree that sometimes employers or their managers are not that keen on their employees. And it\’s really not that wise because out of my own experience my boss doesn\’t listen to me. Some time ago I had to stay at my job up to 10 pm. So, I asked him to let me do the same job at home. It would take up to 5 days and then my schedule was supposed to become usual. But he refused as he was afraid I would less than at office. But he didn\’t really understand that what I was thinking at that time when I still were at my job at office, was to get home. And if he\’d let me stay at home, my thoughts would have been preoccupied with my job only.

  2. Jorgenson Machine Tools on July 1st, 2010 12:15 pm

    I”ve had great feedback with exit surveys. I think you get a good sense of how are things are handled and gives you a good idea of what needs to improved. Great post!

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