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Running a successful business takes more than having awesome products to sell or highly sought after services to extend. Employee satisfaction, otherwise known as employee morale, is a crucial part of the success (or failure) of managing a company, and needs to be a part of the equation.
Happy workers tend to work at their job harder, work longer hours and are more productive overall than their unhappy worker counterparts, according to CNNMoney. So besides giving your employees a month off of work, an outrageous salary, and early retirement with all the bells and whistles, how do you ensure your employees are satisfied at their job? One effective solution is by conducting regular employee satisfaction surveys.
Employee satisfaction surveys designed from online survey software are a survey tool that gives an employer the inside scoop on his thoughts and behaviors on issues that affect their satisfaction on their job. These include, but are not limited to:
* motivation levels
* compensation satisfaction
* engagement level
* job security beliefs
* ideas on opportunities for advancement
* attitude toward supervisor and other superiors
* attitude toward coworkers
While employee satisfaction surveys should be conducted on a regular basis, they are an especially important survey tool when an organization is going through a significant change. For example, if a merger, internal restructuring or even layoffs are happening, chances are the employees are having at least some degree of anxiety about it. An employee satisfaction survey can help to get to the bottom of their concerns, so that company leaders can take action to address these concerns.
A Word About Open-Ended Questions
In addition to closed-end questions (multiple choice, yes/no, etc.), it's a good idea to include some open-ended questions when using online survey software to build your employee satisfaction survey. Open-ended questions give employees an opportunity to vent if they need or want to, which may give you, as the employer, additional insight into the origin of any employee satisfaction.
A Word About Anonymity
It is only natural that employees fear giving out their true thoughts and feelings about their job and the company they work for when their name is attached to their feedback. This is particularly true if they have negative comments to give. That is why one of the best practices of employee satisfaction services are that employees know that they are completely anonymous.
It's Not All About Dissatisfaction
Remember, you'll likely hear that your employees are satisfied in a number of areas. But, as often is the case, they will offer excellent suggestions and practical ideas to improve productivity, job satisfaction, and even the company climate.
Employee satisfaction surveys can do a world of good for any organization that administers them. Keep in mind, a satisfied and engaged employee is self-motivated to perform their job in the best way they can. This, in turn helps improve the company's performance. Since no organization can succeed without its employees, asking employees about the "state of the union" recurrently is a great investment.
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