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The Employee Survey: What You Don't Know Can Hurt You

By: Marijean Jaggers | 12/22/2009

It's annual review time at Standing Partnership, as I'm sure it is at many of your companies. That means, as managers, we're compiling information, gathering feedback from colleagues, and considering the year's accomplishments and shortcomings to prepare reviews, as well as completing self-evaluations ("my greatest shortcoming is that I just worked too hard this year" -- wonder if I can sneak that one by?). When I was last in St. Louis we were sharing stories of employers past who never did reviews, or where the review consisted of a slap on the back and a four percent bump in pay. Several of us have had terrible reviews in that the reviewers weren't ever trained to give them, or feedback wasn't provided throughout the year so the content of the review came as a complete surprise. In some cases, employees were reviewed by managers who barely knew them or their work. I am sure that many of you have had similar experiences.

Even though the review process, when done appropriately, can be time-consuming and yes, even a bit tedious, anxiety-filled and weighty, we all agree on one thing; we'd rather have it than not. Another piece of the "big picture" that we add to our overall company review process is an employee satisfaction survey. We manage employee satisfaction surveys (writing, administering and compiling results) for several of our clients, and it's interesting to see our results as well as the results of many other companies in comparison. Incidentally, I've seen employee surveys done badly as well -- managed internally with anonymity promised and then disregarded -- a cardinal sin in HR practices.

In what's been a tough year for just about every single industry and many of our businesses, providing your employees the anonymous opportunity to share their level of satisfaction in company communications, opportunities, compensation and workload can help morale. The results of these surveys often drive the decisions made by company leadership, as they provide a "review" of the company itself -- a "how are WE doing?" view, as provided by the people who allow the company to exist in the first place. What you don't know CAN hurt you -- don't let employee dissatisfaction lead to reduced productivity, staff turnover and other devastating results in the coming year just because your company's leadership didn't take the time to find out that free soda makes your employees just as happy as offering a 401k match.

It's important to do employee surveys the right way; that is, administered by a third party, respectful of anonymity, asking the right questions and sharing the results; and it is important, overall, to do them -- giving your staff the chance to weigh in, especially in a year when there may not be a way to add to their paychecks.

Posted in Employee Relations