| Savvy managers realize that employees are a vital | | | | 6. - Retirement benefits |
| source of information about what’s working well in | | | | 7. - Opportunities for professional growth |
| the business and what needs to be improved. A | | | | 8. - Communication with management |
| growing number of businesses are using employee | | | | It’s easy to customize these questions to meet |
| satisfaction surveys to identify both problems and | | | | your specific situation. |
| opportunities. Surveys can also give managers useful | | | | 9. Keep survey responses anonymous |
| ideas about how to improve the job satisfaction of | | | | Employees need to feel confident that their responses |
| employees and boost employee morale. | | | | to a survey will remain anonymous. If they fear their |
| Human resource surveys can be valuable any time, | | | | responses may be used against them, they will not |
| but they are especially worthwhile when: | | | | respond candidly. Avoid asking too many demographic |
| - A business is growing rapidly and job responsibilities | | | | questions, such as, “How long have you been in |
| are frequently changing. | | | | your present position?” Employees may fear that |
| - A business is experiencing a high employee turnover | | | | their responses to these questions will enable you to |
| rate, which may be a sign of employee dissatisfaction. | | | | identify them. |
| - A business is plagued by excessive rumors, which | | | | 10. Use online survey software to boost value and |
| may signal a lack of trust among employees or poor | | | | efficiency |
| communications from management. | | | | Online survey software offers a convenient, efficient |
| - A business is planning a major reorganization or other | | | | way to conduct employee surveys. Online programs |
| change that may create anxiety among employees. | | | | such as Mineful’s make it easy to try out questions |
| Here are 5 tips to help you make the most of | | | | on a representative sample group. That will enable you |
| employee surveys. | | | | to fine tune your questions and determine how to |
| 1. Incorporate surveys into your planning cycle | | | | analyze the data you collect. These programs also |
| You can learn a lot from employee surveys, but you | | | | make it easy to create charts and graphs to clarify |
| need to make sure the information is available when | | | | your findings. |
| you need it. For example, if you make budget decisions | | | | 11. Always respond to survey results |
| in April, you might want to conduct a survey in January | | | | Employees will be more willing to take part in a survey |
| so that you will have time to analyze the results | | | | if they feel that you are prepared to act on the results. |
| before you make decisions on how to allocate | | | | David Chaudron, an expert on human resource |
| resources. In scheduling surveys, work backwards | | | | management, makes this point simply and clearly: |
| from the time when you will need to use the results. | | | | “Never survey without acting”. Many businesses |
| 2. Use existing templates to develop survey questions | | | | distribute a summary of survey results and an |
| Developing survey questions does not need to be a | | | | indication of how they plan to respond to employee |
| difficult or time-consuming task. You can use Mineful's | | | | concerns. Of course, sometimes you may not be able |
| Employee Satisfaction Survey Templates to sample | | | | to give employees the response they were hoping for. |
| questions on common employee concerns, including | | | | Still it is important to let all employees know that you |
| such things as: | | | | take their opinions seriously and that they are making |
| 3. - Compensation | | | | an important contribution to the decision-making |
| 4. - Health benefits | | | | process. |
| 5. - Having adequate resources to work efficiently | | | | |