Employees are the greatest asset of any organization and valuing their issues, thoughts and opinions can provide needed insights into organizational performance. Employee Opinion Surveys are a simple, cost-effective investment which builds a sense of commitment from employees, and can go a long way in creating satisfied employees leading to satisfied customers and ensuring long term success.

Towers Perrin carried out a global survey which included data gathered from opinion surveys of over 664,000 employees from over 50 companies around the world, representing a range of industries and sizes. The survey compared the financial performance of organizations with a highly-engaged workforce to their peers with a less-engaged workforce, over a 12 month period. The results indicated a significant difference in bottom-line results in companies with highly-engaged employees when compared with companies with low levels of employee engagement. Most noticeable was the 52% gap in the performance improvement in operating income over the year between companies with highly-engaged employees versus companies whose employees had low engagement scores. Companies with high levels of employee engagement improved 19% in operating income while companies with low levels of employee engagement declined 32% over the study period.

A recent report from MacLeod Review, Engaging for Success: Enhancing Performance Through Employee Engagement, explains that while employee engagement is not a science, the use of survey tools allow levels of ‘engagement’ within an organization to be measured. Being in constant touch with employees through opinion surveys and acting upon the data gathered can lead to significant results including:

- Increasing employee and company productivity by identifying and removing obstacles

- Improve the retention levels in the company

- Assisting in managing and incorporating change in the company

- Improving communication and understanding of employee’s issues & expectations

Keep in mind that simply doing a survey and publishing the results is not the same as an engagement strategy; measuring engagement is simply a tool to allow you to find out how engaged your people are. While there’s no ‘one size fits all’ tool for making sure staff are engaged, issues like tracking employee opinion and getting input directly from employees are very important, regardless of the organization size.

Employee Opinion Surveys are a great tool to help you assess specific issues and areas of concern to your company. Understanding your company’s level of employee commitment, and employees’ attitudes toward the things that drive that commitment, will help you identify organizational factors that need improvement.

To help you get the most out of your Employee Opinion Survey keep these factors in mind:

Company leadership should clearly communicate three main points: the Why, What, and How of the survey. The rumor mill will kick in as soon as word of the survey is out so it is important to clearly explain why the company is conducting the survey at this time, what it hopes to accomplish as a result of the survey and how it intends to use the survey findings.

Get some buzz going before you deploy the survey: release several announcements in advance and have managers talk to employees which will get employees talking to each other. This will help to increase the response rate.

Expect some skepticism, cynicism, and resistance from employees, those are all part of the change process. At first people tend to focus first on their frustrations; for the most part a cynic is often just a disillusioned idealist. Over time, many people become more engaged problem solvers.

Always engage employees in the change efforts as it helps to gain their commitment. In addition, it instills in employees the notion that while they have the right to raise legitimate concerns they also have a responsibility to propose and work toward solutions.

After conducting an Employee Opinion Survey management must take action in response to the survey findings. Not taking action can breed cynicism and result in decreased employee morale. Any actions and progress made should be recognized internally and promoted so employees can clearly understand the impact of the survey.

Remember that most employees are tolerant, forgiving and understand things take time to change. What they want most is to be able to see that management has good intentions and is making an honest effort to improve the work environment.

A recent survey conducted by Zoomerang on behalf of iDashboards, the leader in Business Intelligence (BI) dashboard software, revealed that 75% of surveyed employees trust their companies are making the right decisions that may hurt somewhat today, but will prove critical to the company’s future success.

The Economic Impact On Employees Survey results shows that 60% of respondents have experienced cuts, with layoffs being the number one cut at 54%, followed by travel restrictions at 38% and employee furloughs at 13%. The budget cuts were viewed as reasonable and would ensure the longevity of their companies by 75% of the respondents.

The survey also revealed that employers have yet to largely slash compensation. A total of 80% of the respondents stated that their salary has either remained the same or increased. A quite surprising 12% reported their salaries have increased since the economic decline and 68% say their compensation remains unchanged. Of those workers that receiving a pay hike, 54% saw an increase of less than 5%, while 31% reported increases in the 5-10% range.

74% of the respondents confirmed they would not seek another job over the next 12 months and that the upbeat and positive attitude should last for the foreseeable future as long as employers continue with the openness, transparency and daily communications of where the company stands and how employees can contribute.

In addition, the Zoomerang survey shows that boosting morale and motivating employees is getting easier. Respondents noted that “consistent feedback” and “positive reinforcement,” as well as “non-monetary rewards” such as “dress down days,” “vacation time” and “contests” are the best ways for corporations to show their appreciation.

As this study shows, online surveys are a great tool to gain necessary insights from employees, offering the anonymity that is essential to candid feedback. Visit the Zoomerang Employee Satisfaction Survey Center where you will find pre-designed employee survey templates to help you discover how to boost morale and better motivate your employees.

A recent study by staffing service Accountemps asked senior executives about strategies for boosting low employee morale. Better communication was cited by 48% of the 150 executives as the best solution for low morale. Recognition programs followed further behind at 19%; monetary rewards for exceptional performance was suggested by 13%; and unexpected rewards, such as gift certificates or tickets to sporting events, is the preferred action for 11%.

33% of those surveyed also responded that lack of open and honest communications with staff members tops the list of management missteps that can erode morale, followed by failure to recognize employee achievements at 19%.

The Accountemps Failure To Communicate Survey reveals additional insights and also offers some helpful advise for fostering better communication with staff.

Employee satisfaction surveys are a great way to start improving your communication with employees and find out of they are happy and motivated. Zoomerang online surveys are a great tool to gain the necessary feedback from employees, offering the anonymity that is essential to candid feedback. We are ready to assist with employee survey templates as well as survey tips and suggestions to help you better communicate with your employees.

Savvy business people are finding that the way to be nimble in the marketplace is to build a continuous feedback loop into several places within the tactical business plan.

Zoomerang offers some of the ways that surveys can improve the efficiency, effectiveness and profitability of your business. To make it easier we’ve developed templates on each of the survey types below, using proven market research techniques. These templates will give you an edge, and the right data, as you look for feedback on new ideas for your business.

Get Customer Feedback

One of the most popular uses of surveys is as a yardstick for customer satisfaction. Annual, semiannual or quarterly surveys serve as a barometer of your business’ health and allow you to monitor your performance over time. In addition, many businesses send out satisfaction surveys after each customer transaction, using the survey as a way to judge the effectiveness of individual employees and the product itself.

Test the Concept

Expanding your audience to include prospects allows you to check the receptivity of the market to a product enhancement or a new offering. Sending a survey to two segments – a portion of your customers and a portion of your prospects – provides visibility into whether prospects require different messaging or education than was required to win your current set of customers.

Check Your Vendors

Surveys can help evaluate which vendors are best equipped to deliver the raw materials required to fulfill your product plan. You can send out a survey asking about their shortest lead-time, their standard shipping terms, etc. By downloading their answers into a spreadsheet, you can sort your vendors by those most capable of meeting your new requirements for faster shipping or expanded capacity.

Plan and Evaluate Your Event

A survey is an easy way to collect multiple data points from a large group of people. Zoomerang users in the marketing and event planning departments have deployed surveys to ask representatives about their arrival times to a trade show, their requested shifts, etc. and have used that information to plan their event. Afterward, they deployed a separate survey to ask the representatives for their opinion on the value of the tradeshow, the number of sales attributed to it, and whether they plan to attend next year.

Gauge Employee Satisfaction

Online surveys are an ideal mechanism for soliciting employee feedback, since they provide the anonymity that is essential to candid feedback. Many companies use surveys to conduct management evaluations and to ensure privacy Zoomerang can even deploy the survey for you.

Share Best Practices

Guidance is golden and Zoomerang users within associations or even loose groups of vendors are finding surveys an effective way to gather wisdom that they can’t find elsewhere. A quick survey on a how to handle a difficult business question generates responses that can be directly put into practice.

Get It On Your Calendar

Give yourself enough lead time to really learn what the survey reveals: too frequently surveys are done at the last minute, which makes it impossible to act on the insight. In addition to a quarterly customer satisfaction survey, consider sending surveys using this rotation:

Operational surveys after each transaction

Prior to regularly scheduled tradeshows and events

Marketing concept tests as product development dictates

Quarterly employee reviews

Quarterly vendor surveys

Semi-annual product releases

Annual employee satisfaction surveys

Benefit queries before changes in annual plans

Survey Deployment

There are several ways to deploy your surveys and each method has its own advantages. A one-time email broadcast to your entire customer or prospect base is a thorough way to communicate. If you host your survey on your Website, you send a signal to prospects, customers and vendors that you are constantly listening to them and receptive to feedback.

Building a real-time feedback loop into a number of sections of your annual business plan can provide you with a way to be nimble – and knowledgeable – in your operations. Examine your calendar and your plan and ask yourself: would it help to test this concept or gather more information? If so, visit the Zoomerang website to assist you in gathering your needed insights.

A recent survey developed by Robert Half International, the world’s first and largest staffing services firm specializing in accounting and finance, reveals today’s employers are most worried about hanging on to good employees and bringing in new ones, even in the current economy. When asked, 4 out of 10 senior executives cited Retention as their greatest staffing concern.

Specifically, the results of the survey define the concerns as:

Retention 33%

Recruitment 22%

Productivity 17%

Staff morale 17%

The solution to Employee Retention sounds obvious: appeal to your employees and they will stay longer and work harder. Zoomerang’s Employee Satisfaction Survey Center offers a variety of templates designed for Human Resource professionals, so it’s easy and fast to uncover what your employees want today. Using Employee Satisfaction surveys can help you see your retention rates rise, increase employee satisfaction, address benefits concerns, and improve orientations and meetings.  

If you’re in need of additional Employee Engagement information there are some informative insights available at both The Employee Engagement Network and The Employee Engagement Network Blog

You should never underestimate the lasting impact an employee’s attitude and performance can have on your customer satisfaction levels. Research has shown that positive employee attitudes drastically reduce the damage that unexpected issues can cause to your overall customer satisfaction. In addition to improved customer treatment, other benefits of measuring and improving employee satisfaction include reduced turnover and associated reductions in training costs. Also, an improved reputation of your company as a place to work may make it easier to attract quality employees.

Towers Perrin is a global professional services firm that offers free downloads of some great Employee Engagement material as well as their most recent Global Workforce Study. There is a lot of informative reading available throughout their site so be sure to spend some time browsing, your employees and customers will be glad you did. 

Many business owners don’t realize the powerful connection between your employees’ happiness and your business’s success. You can’t have a successful business without happy, competent employees, so it makes sense to use an employee satisfaction survey to keep tabs on your employees’ attitudes about their work and their workplace.

The Zoomerang Employee Satisfaction Survey Center is designed to provide you with valuable information on the most effective use of employee surveys:

  Employee Satisfaction Survey

 Benefits Satisfaction Survey

 Career Training and Development Survey

 360 Assessment Survey

 Self Assessment Survey

 Teamwork Evaluation Survey

Employee Surveys help you understand employee ideas, opinions and concerns – while there’s still time to act. Online surveys allow you to distribute surveys easily to all employees and gather fast, actionable feedback. Keep in mind that confidential surveys – where employee responses are anonymous – increase employee participation rate as well as the quality of the feedback. Remember to format your surveys in a way to gather actionable data as well as anecdotal feedback. 

Gathering feedback at appropriate times allows you to monitor your most important resource before it’s too late. If a company doesn’t provide employees the opportunity to provide their feedback, it will be overlooking potential trouble spots in its business. Feedback should be gathered after a specific event to monitor your processes as well as at specific intervals to gather useful satisfaction data:

 Before an employee joins to improve your recruitment process;

 After employee orientation to improve your process of bringing employees on board;

 Quarterly for company satisfaction surveys;

 Semi-annually for performance reviews;

 After an employee exits to improve retention

The employee interaction drives the timing of event-based surveys; the data should be collected immediately after the interaction while the experience is still fresh in the employee’s mind. For employee satisfaction surveys, surveys should be spread out over the course of a year rather than conducting them once per year. If there is only one data point for each year, a single recent event could have a large impact on results, impacting business decisions.

I hope this information has been helpful; please feel free to leave me any suggestions or comments you would like to share.