One of the key aspects of keeping your employees happy is understanding them – their needs, challenges, perceptions, and what they truly want – and the best way to do this is by hearing it directly from the horse’s mouth!
You could have a dialogue with your employees to find out more about their needs and challenges, but most people are apprehensive about being open and honest in a face-to-face conversation, more so with their management. Hence, an anonymous survey is most likely your best chance of getting your employees’ most candid thoughts about your organisation.
A carefully designed and conducted survey can disclose oodles of information about employees’ perceptions, that your HR team can use to better different departments in your organisation and manage them more effectively.
Employee surveys have been part of the arsenal of effective HR practices for many years.
And for a good reason!
By being open to receiving feedback and acting on it, you can:
- Create an open dialogue with employees
- Keep your retention rates high
- Assess your organisational values
- Improve employee morale
- Gain valuable data and insights
- Improve productivity
- Analyse the current state of your organisation
Conversely, if you are not serious about conducting surveys, it shows your disinterest in seeing things from your employees’ perspective and acting to improve working conditions.
Three excellent reasons you should be conducting an employee survey
There are many good reasons why you should conduct an employee survey, but here are the top five most relevant ones in today’s scenario.
1. Remote working has made a lot of communication and feedback go unattended
It goes without saying that COVID-19 has profoundly affected people and forced them to make enormous adjustments in their professional lives.
The transition to a remote working culture has not been easy or smooth. Because very few companies offered Work from Home (WFH) before the pandemic, it has been quite a struggle for both employees and management to adjust to hurriedly implemented strategies.
Bridging gaps in infrastructure and adopting new working styles have led to a whole new set of unforeseen challenges like HR losing out on a lot of employee communication and feedback in the course of the transition. Crucially, HR managers have been reactively tackling issues as they cropped up instead of proactively identifying them, because, as we all know by now, the pre-pandemic approach to team management is no longer effective.
Mostly, it has been the employees who have had to bear the brunt of this whole shift.
And hence, it is crucial at this time to gather real-time updates from your employees so that you can provide them with the right tools and support to navigate the situation.
As a responsible and empathetic manager, it is essential to:
- Let your employees know that you care
- Build employee trust through empathy and compassion
- Get insights that will help you navigate uncharted waters
Employee survey data reveals all these and much more. Hence, conducting an employee survey is crucial to help your business get through this challenging period and efficiently address your employees’ needs, concerns, and challenges.
2. Surveys tell you a lot about the mindset of your employees
Some of your employees may be adapting well to the change, others not so much.
Knowing what your employees are thinking and saying at this time is even more critical. It will give you crucial insights into how your employees are coping with the situation and how to effectively support them. But your employees may not be willing to express what they are feeling or going through for fear of being isolated or criticised.
Therefore, a confidential employee survey!
A survey will help you gain insight and make better operational decisions for your employees based on the data you have gathered. Click To TweetFinancial burdens, burnout, depression, negative emotions, apathy, medical issues, the fear of contracting COVID-19, additional household responsibilities, etc. can all have a profound psychological effect on professional performance.
Surveys can be a goldmine for good ideas that your company may otherwise overlook, like ideas for cutting costs, creating revenue, improving your company’s culture, etc.
They can also be a good indicator of your employees’ mindset and their engagement with their work.
3. Surveys allow your employees to have a voice and make them feel valued
Working from home has increased employee productivity but also elevated stress levels and mental health issues.
Thus, giving your employees a voice matters now more than ever. A survey gives them an avenue to express themselves. It is a critical element in ensuring your workforce is happy, productive, engaged, and well adjusted. But more importantly, it also helps to build a company culture of respect and shared values.
Organisations that make their employees feel heard are often more successful than those that don’t. In fact, studies show that employees perform 4.6 times better when they know that their voice is being heard.
When employees feel safe sharing their views, they feel a sense of ownership and responsibility towards the company.
Popular studies have shown that employees appreciate having a say, even if every idea they put forth is not implemented. Hence, it is apparent that people want to contribute to change.
4. Surveys allow you to know the engagement levels of your employees
Engaged employees work hard, set a positive tone, and are your most passionate brand ambassadors. Conversely, disengaged or dissatisfied employees have a negative effect on your organisation and result in lost productivity and, worse still, spread dissatisfaction.
Knowing which of your employees are engaged or disengaged and the reasons for their disengagement can help you remedy the situation.
By having an anonymous survey, employees have a channel for honest communication and feedback, and frustrated personnel can express themselves without the fear of being judged.
The feedback from employee engagement surveys can give you the data you need to recognise and address issues you may not even be aware of. Regular surveys can also help you judge if there have been changes in engagement levels as a result of actions you may have taken.
Hence, surveys can give you the understanding to build a healthy and positive work environment and deal with problems before they affect your company.
5. Surveys allow you to know if you are offering the right career development and growth opportunities
Studies show that employees are 2.5 times more likely to be engaged when they see career development and professional growth opportunities in the company they work for than those who do not.
However, while growth is important to younger employees, more experienced employees might be looking for other types of opportunities.
Employees need clarity regarding their careers. If they do not see growth in your organisation, they are likely to go searching for it elsewhere.
Hence it is crucial to find out if your organisation is offering the right opportunities for your employees. A survey can help you understand what your employees are looking for in terms of career growth and how they view your company’s opportunities.
To Sum Up
Not giving your employees a voice or discounting their ideas tells them that you don’t care for their opinions. And if they feel you do not care, they will not speak up and stop engaging. This can lead to you overlooking critical issues that they would otherwise have brought to your notice.
Hence, employee feedback is a potent and crucial tool for performance improvement, better decisions, and organisational success.
And now, it’s your turn! If you have any interesting thoughts or experiences regarding employee surveys, you could leave us a comment or get in touch with us; we would love to hear from you!
