Employee engagement is a key factor in ensuring that your company’s goals are being achieved. Engagement is the feeling of passion and commitment toward your work, which results in increased performance. An engaged workforce is better able to understand your company’s culture and mission and is better positioned to make strategic decisions. This is where employee survey comes in so handy. Companies with an engaged workforce tend to outperform their competitors, generate higher EPS, and recover from financial setbacks faster than those without. Ultimately, employee engagement can be the differentiator in your business and drive growth. But what exactly is employee engagement?
Benefits of employee engagement surveys
Employee engagement surveys have many benefits, but one of the most important is the ability to gauge an employee’s level of satisfaction with their workplace. Such surveys can help employers understand potential problems and make changes where needed. In addition to providing information on how their team members feel, employee engagement surveys can reveal what they like and dislike about the way they are managed. This data can be extremely valuable in tackling short-term issues and ensuring a positive work environment for the long-term.
The benefits of employee engagement surveys extend far beyond a company’s bottom line. They can provide managers with an honest assessment of their employees’ attitudes, behaviors, and expectations. By asking open-ended questions, employee engagement surveys help managers understand what employees actually think and feel. In a recent article for Axcet HR Solutions, the authors shared some insight on the most valuable objectives of an employee engagement survey. Smaller companies may find this article especially useful, as they typically have fewer employees and less financial resources.
Open-ended comments can help you develop an employee engagement action plan
One of the best ways to develop an employee engagement action plan is to understand how employees feel about the company. An employee engagement survey will provide you with qualitative feedback, such as how satisfied they are with management. These responses can help you formulate a plan for improving your business. By asking employees open-ended questions, you will be able to understand how they feel about various aspects of working for your company. Then, you can take action to address their concerns.
The most effective way to use open-ended questions in employee engagement surveys is to include a text field for employees to give their honest opinions. Make sure to customize these questions based on your company culture, and include an optional text field for employees to leave their comments. Employee engagement increases when employees feel heard, and when they feel that their voices matter. If you use this method, you will see an increase in employee engagement.
Annuality of employee engagement surveys
While annual employee engagement surveys are useful for benchmarking, they are also prone to the problem of here-and-now bias, as engagement sentiment can fluctuate throughout a year. As a result, the results can be overly positive, too negative, or a mix of both. Quarterly employee surveys are more appropriate for this purpose. Moreover, they can uncover problems before they become full-blown issues. So, how can employers use quarterly surveys to improve employee engagement?
Among the major problems with annual employee engagement surveys is the large number of questions. They are too general and often result in inaccurate perceptions of employees. Longer annual surveys also produce less accurate data, making it difficult to make improvements. Instead, they should focus on more granular questions. By comparing responses to recent surveys, the annuality of employee engagement surveys can be determined with greater ease. But what are the benefits of implementing frequent employee engagement surveys?
Impact of employee engagement surveys on bottom line
There are many ways to measure employee engagement. Employee engagement surveys are one way to measure this connection. Employee feedback helps managers understand why employees like or dislike their jobs. Taking several employee surveys at one time can confuse employees, which makes implementing change difficult. However, combining these surveys can help companies get a clearer picture of their employees’ needs. Employee feedback from different surveys can help leaders determine which strategies to implement to boost engagement.
A Gallup study found that high employee engagement was associated with higher profitability. Highly engaged teams were 18% more productive than disengaged teams. High-performing teams also had lower absence and turnover. And their customers were more likely to rate their company positively. Companies that rated their employees highly in the survey saw a 23% increase in their profits. Likewise, companies that ranked in the top quartile reported higher customer satisfaction and less absenteeism.