Employee satisfaction is the terminology used to describe whether employees are happy and contented and fulfilling their desires and needs at work. Many measures purport that employee satisfaction is a factor in employee motivation, employee goal achievement, and positive employee morale in the workplace.
Factors contributing to employee satisfaction include treating employees with respect, providing regular employee recognition, empowering employees, offering above industry-average benefits and compensation, providing employee perks and company activities, and positive management within a success framework of goals, measurements, and expectations.
Employee satisfaction is often measured by unsigned employee satisfaction surveys administered periodically that gauge employee satisfaction in areas such as:
• management support,
• understanding of mission and vision,
• empowerment,
• teamwork,
• communication/ priorities,
• supervision/involvement
• work environment; coworker interaction,
• training and coaching,
• recognition/reward,
• motivation,
• workload/resources,
• growth and advancement, and
The facets of employee satisfaction measured vary from company to company.
A second method used to measure employee satisfaction is meeting with small groups of employees and asking the same questions verbally. Depending on the culture of the company, either method can contribute knowledge about employee satisfaction to managers and employees.
Exit interviews are another way to assess employee satisfaction in that satisfied employees rarely leave companies.
Employee satisfaction surveys and facilitated focus groups help the employer identify areas of employee satisfaction and dissatisfaction. For accurate, reliable results, employee satisfaction surveys or focus group questions need to be:
• developed by professionals who understand how to put questions together that obtain unbiased information;
• administered appropriately with care and consideration for the organization's culture and communication; and
• analyzed by people who understand survey research and can provide effective analysis.
Further, in the interest of building a relationship of honesty, integrity, and trust, among organization employees, the results should be communicated effectively and acted upon by the organization. Finally, the organization's managers need to track progress and communicate implementation successes and failures.
Communicate the Fact That While Employee Responses Are Confidential, the Data Gathered Will be Used to Improve the Workplace
The reason employers do employee satisfaction or customer satisfaction surveys is to telegraph their openness to employee input. The second is to genuinely understand what is on their employees’ minds.
The Questions Asked Really Do Matter
No one is as familiar with your company culture as the people who work in the company every day. A small group of employees should determine the topics of the questions to ask. These questions will relate to the perceived likes, dislikes, and challenges your employees might experience in your organization.
Once you’ve determined the topics of the questions to ask, develop questions. Your questions should be evaluated to make sure they are not leading to a desired response, vague, or open to interpretation, depending on the employee reading the question.
Leading questions or statements are a problem when unqualified individuals develop the survey questions. An example of a leading statement that will also receive a biased answer is: My manager’s door is always open to me. An example of an unclear statement is: My career development and job satisfaction are improved by the performance development planning (PDP) process.
Hold Employee Focus Groups or Survey Processes at Your Work Site
If you take employee groups offsite to participate in surveys and focus groups, you are sending a clear message that it is not “safe” to talk about employee satisfaction in the company. This is exactly the opposite of the message that you really want to send.
Never Lose Control of Your Data
Access to the data and analysis will allow you to assess the degree to which various opinions permeate your workforce. The data will allow you to make your own assessment of employee satisfaction. Particularly correlation analysis and other data charts and graphs are important for you to access.
Never Allow Employees to Self-select for Participation in Surveys and Focus Groups
Employees should never self-select to participate in an employee focus group or survey. When you allow self-selection, you’ll generally find that less satisfied or very satisfied employees sign up for the group. Or, your more communicative employees are more comfortable expressing their opinions in a group. Your less communicative staff is guaranteed to be unrepresented.
For valid and reliable results, either every employee should be included in the survey process or a random selection method should be employed to decide who will be included.
To ensure widespread participation, perhaps offer an incentive, either company-wide or for individuals.
Conclusions About Employee Satisfaction Surveys
You can use a simple paper and pencil instrument, an online survey, or a much more sophisticated process to assess your employees' satisfaction. e.g access software.
Your results may skew positively or negatively based on the skills of your facilitators or survey producers and the employees who decided to participate. Worst, you may have sent the wrong message to your employees about the safety and worth of communication in your company. Do this at your own risk.
Here are a few quick tips for your survey design before you publish it online. Do a complete test of your data collection template – a dry run right through to the development of action plans:
1. Test a sample questionnaire on a small targetted group.
2. Analyze the results of your sample questionnaire.
3. Create a sample report to the survey management team.
4. Ask the survey management team what insights they've learned and action plans they will recommend based on the results.
