How Employee Surveys Can Keep You Out of Trouble
March 18, 2014
Successful organizations promote an atmosphere of open and honest, communication among their employees and between their employees and managers. Unfortunately, many organizations do not appreciate the importance of this simple and key practice.
In many organizations, employees normally withhold a lot of essential information that could prove helpful to the organization and this can largely be attributed to poor channels of communication or lack of the same altogether. However, carrying our regular employee engagement surveys or satisfaction surveys will go a long way in enhancing proper communication between management and employees thus facilitating healthy growth and productivity.
Can employee surveys help keep organizations out of trouble?
The answer to this question is NO, and I will explain why. If someone asked whether food can help prevent hunger, the answer to that question will be NO. Why? Because if food is available and one doesn’t eat, then their hunger problem is likely to continue until such a time when they will agree to eat the food. In the same way, employee surveys of whatever nature cannot help keep you out of trouble unless they are analyzed and the feedback put into action. It is very possible for any organization to conduct a survey of its employees, and after that, store the data received without implementing any recommendations made and this will only fuel the problems in the organizations. It is therefore important for every employer considering a survey to remember that a clear and sincere action plan is necessary if trouble is to be avoided.
How can an employee survey help a company?
As aforementioned, a survey helps open up communication channels between the company administration and employees. After the employees have voiced their opinions and concerns, it is the responsibility of management to analyze the feedback, develop an action plan and implement the action plan. This way the company can avert any possible problems that could be brewing in the workplace. For this to happen however there is need for the employee surveys to be as open as possible. They should also be conducted anonymously, guaranteeing all employees confidentiality and privacy. Employees should not have any fear of intimidation or repercussions for their opinions or feedback. Otherwise, employees will conceal their true feelings to the detriment of the company. The whole purpose of obtaining employee feedback through an employee survey is to boost company productivity and profits. As the saying goes, “garbage in – garbage out”. The whole employee survey could be a costly waste of time if the survey process is not handled properly.
Employee surveys should be conducted properly
It is important to conduct an employee survey during good and bad times, when some structural changes are made in the company or when the employees’ morale seems to be dwindling. Employers should appreciate that employees might not be willing to volunteer information openly and freely and especially when such information revolves around conflicts, company policies or has to do with perceived weaknesses in the organization’s management.
It is therefore important to conduct employee surveys regularly but at the same time be courageous to face any negative criticism or thoughts that come from employees and that could help improve working conditions for them. Never conduct a survey if you are not ready to act on the results as this could affect the morale of your employees further.
In conclusion, it is important to emphasis that the only way employee surveys could help an organization or company to keep out of trouble is if they are properly conducted, analyzed and acted upon.
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