Maybe employee engagement survey questions are more of an afterthought for your company. While you may think this part of the review process is just a formality, a look at industry statistics may convince you otherwise. According to the latest research, more than 600 U.S. businesses with 50-500 employees were surveyed and 63.3 percent of companies say retaining employees was actually harder than the hiring process. And 81 percent of these businesses see employee turnover as a costly problem. Plus, more than a third of current employees search for a job. As a result, U.S. companies spend $2.9 million per day looking for replacement workers or $1.1 billion per year.
So as you can see, keeping your current workforce motivated and happy is paramount to success. But how do you do this? This is easier said than done and the “once-a-year” formal review process just isn’t effective. But what’s the alternative? Companies today are using employee surveys to look for issues long before they escalate into losing key team members.
Types of employee surveys
There are several different versions of employee surveys. The three most common are employee opinion and satisfaction surveys, employee culture surveys and employee engagement surveys.
Employee opinion and satisfaction surveys
These surveys measure employee views, attitudes and perceptions of their companies which are also referred to as climate surveys.
Employee culture survey
A culture survey will measure the employees’ viewpoints of their companies. And it’s created to assess whether these perceptions align with what the company is trying to convey.
Employee engagement surveys
And the third type of survey is the employee engagement survey. This assessment measures how an employee feels about their organization. It conveys an employee’s' commitment, motivation, sense of purpose and passion for their job and their company.
Implementing employee engagement surveys
While all three surveys are important, let’s focus on employee engagement surveys since this is a key driver in employees’ attitudes toward their workplaces. Once you decide to administer this survey, it’s important to keep a few key points top of mind.
1. Establish parameters
Many employees don’t see the point in filling out these surveys so they don’t. Or if you get people turning them in it’s from a certain sector of your employee base that doesn’t give you a complete picture of employee satisfaction. So set parameters and a goal in the beginning. Explain why you are giving this survey and how the feedback will be used to benefit the employees.
2. Create objectives
Next, what do you want to learn from your employees? It will be easier to create employee engagement survey questions if you pinpoint what you hope to learn. Ask team leaders and managers for their input. Not only will you have their buy-in, but different department heads may want to understand different employee behavior.
3. Communicate the process
Just before you administer the survey, let employees know how to take it, when it is due and the importance of filling it out honestly. Often employees fear their surveys won’t really be anonymous and therefore don’t answer truthfully. So communication is key in establishing these guidelines will help ensure answer acurracey.
4. Account for cultural differences
If you employee workers from different countries, make sure your survey is understood across different languages. It also needs to be clear enough to answer the questions when employees are off site. Since no one is going to take the time to clarify before answering a question, your survey needs to be very clear on what you are asking.
5. Streamline administration process
One of the issues with employee engagement surveys is getting team members to actually fill them out and in a timely manner. By using a learning management system you can streamline the process. It puts the survey in a centralized area that can be accessed across different time zones and by remote workers as well. Plus, you can assign a deadline to take the survey and send reminders for those who have you to fill it out. This will ensure the process runs smoothly and you get all the data you need within a given timeframe.
6. Share the results
Since you established a level of transparency from the start, you want to be open about the survey results. Many employees are skeptical of employee engagement surveys so you want to be open and honest about the results. Yes point out the positives, but also highlight was areas need improvement for your company.
7. Make changes
Finally, compare your results with your objectives. Where did you fall short? Also, look at the low scoring sections of your survey. Why were these areas low? And what can be done about them? Then create an action plan to correct these areas. Also, let employees know how you plan to correct what’s not working.