Believe it or not, employee surveys can generate excitement in organisations! And so they should – it is after all an opportunity to improve your work life and have your say. I was inspired to write this post after receiving some feedback by an employee taking part in a survey.
It’s not uncommon for us to receive a ‘thank you’ or an ‘I’ve completed the survey’ email reply to invitations or reminders. Sometimes people even discuss the employee opinion survey in their free comments such as – ‘can we do more frequent surveys?’ ‘Thank you for commissioning this survey’. But one employee was so happy with the survey he received; he went out of his way to give me his opinion. Here’s just a snippet:
‘One of the best surveys I have ever completed!’
Why be positive about employee surveys?
This is great to hear, but why is it surprising? What was so special about their survey? The feedback just shows that with a little … read more »
The emphasis on how HR uses information has become much more strategic and in this economic climate the use of information may form the distinction between the organisational winners and losers. Does your employee survey stack up?
Data should provide insight not just information
Nick Kemsley in Personnel Today discusses how it has become more important for HR to use data to provide insight rather than just information, how it needs to relate to business impact rather than process and how HR must become more comfortable using less precise macro-level or trend data. The competitive advantage to those organisations embracing this shift in mindset should surely leave them better placed to weather the changing economy.
Feedback from employees, and in particular outputs from feedback tools such as employee surveys, needs to be incorporated into the business strategy and the information used to inform and drive it.
Does your employee survey deliver?
In light of this you … read more »
Today we are closing an employee survey on behalf of one of our longest standing clients.
I thought I would share with you that, working alongside our client, we have achieved a response rate in excess of 80% (for the sixth year running). As you can imagine our client is very happy that their survey has consistently provided an excellent response rate.
We have worked closely with them from the outset detailing the processes of maximising response rates but I just wanted to touch on ‘why’ getting as high a response rate as possible to your employee survey is so important.
Validity
From our perspective as an independent employee research organisation the very first thing a high response rate illustrates is that we have developed the survey correctly. When large numbers of employees take part in the survey it shows that the survey has been well received and that employees feel and believe that the questions are relevant and that their … read more »
Whilst reading some recent articles around employee engagement, I came across a paragraph from Linda Dulye, who has written an article on Fox Business.
“In the end, engaging employees to give their best starts with top bosses sharing the game plan, followed by managers ensuring great two-way communication. After that, empower associates to partner in solving business challenges, then demonstrate sincere appreciation and stay on track through continuous measurement and improvement.”
I think this paragraph wonderfully captures the simple essence of employee engagement.
Now, I know there will be many people who think/ voice the fact that employee engagement is complicated, that there are many factors that will affect someone’s likelihood of being an engaged employee. Indeed, this is somewhat the case – although in actuality many of those factors are outside the control and scope of an organisation.
The fact remains however, that if you look at the many different views, opinions and research on employee engagement a lot appear to over complicate, … read more »
Employee engagement research specialists chosen
We are delighted to announce that Places for People has choosen us to work alongside them in the delivery of their ongoing employee engagement survey.
With in excess of 60,000 homes, 13 businesses, c 3000 staff and assets of over £3 billion, it is vital that UK property management, development and regeneration group Places for People has the most engaged workforce possible. Its people are its lifeblood, and it works hard to look after them; employee engagement is key.
Places for People chose us from a shortlist of three research specialists, believing that it had many shared corporate and cultural values. Liz Sharrocks, Places for People’s Employee Engagement Advisor explains:
“We felt that the team at The Survey Initiative had many shared values with Places for People, and we particularly liked the bespoke approach they took to our needs. They have a closely-knit team and we were impressed by their enthusiasm and can-do attitude”.
Rejecting the one-size fits all employee … read more »
