News — #employeeretention

Creating the Best Employee Satisfaction Survey

When’s the last time you wondered whether or not your employees are happy with their job? If it’s been a while -- or if you’ve never truly thought about it -- then there’s never been a better opportunity than right now.

In fact, this is something you must do regularly if you want to ensure your office or store promotes a comfortable and happy environment for your employees. Failure to do so results in a lack of productivity, lack of motivation, and overall lack of fulfillment from your employees.

You might be asking yourself, “How do I find out whether or not my employees are happy?” This is a common question we receive often and there’s one answer we give every single time -- an employee satisfaction survey.

It’s similar to the survey you send out to your customers, except this time it’ll be catered to your employees.

Finding Success With an Employee Satisfaction Survey

An employee satisfaction survey reveals a lot about how your employees feel about their job, their role with the company, the rest of the staff, the managers, the policies, and other ways they feel the business can do a better job at meeting standards. It’s necessary when growing and improving your company.

In fact, an employee satisfaction survey should be administered at least once per year. If your company has a high turnover rate, it might be best to do it more frequently -- of course, you’ll want to find the root of the problem as well. The survey will help, but it’ll only be the first step.

If you want the best results, try handing out an employee satisfaction survey every three months. Make it a part of your quarterly process and let your employees know to expect it. You can incentivize honest answers by eliminating the need to place a name at the top of the survey.

For those that are new to the employee satisfaction survey, we’re going to outline some of the most prominent questions you should consider adding to your survey. Including these will ensure you get as much insight as possible when collecting answers from employees. 

• Do you feel you’re paid enough for the work we ask you to do?

One of the main reasons your employees show up to work everyday is because they need the paycheck to support themselves and their families. When they don’t feel they’re being paid enough, they’re bound to start searching for a job that pays better.

• Do you feel heard when speaking with management?

When employees speak to upper management and even executives, they want to know their opinions or observations are being heard. You’d be surprised at how many great ideas come from lower-level employees -- all you have to do is listen once in a while.

• Do you feel like the work you do is valuable to the overall vision of the company?

Every business has goals they want to accomplish, a vision they want to bring to life, and a reputation to uphold. As you continue to add employees to your team, it’s important to make sure each position is designed to contribute to that end goal -- otherwise your employees will feel like their effort doesn’t matter.

• Are you happy with the potential to grow with this company?

Employees don’t want to jump from one job to the next their entire life. They want stability and sustainability just as much as any business owner. The problem is most businesses don’t encourage growth within the company.

Instead of focusing on outside hires all the time, see if there are any opportunities to promote existing employees first.

• Would you say management invests enough time and energy into the employees here?

It’s important for management to listen to their employees, but it shouldn’t stop there. Management needs to turn that into action and show the employees that their ideas and thoughts matter. It’s easy to sit down and lend an ear, but it’s a different story when you start taking action.

• Are you given all the tools and resources needed to do your job well? 

In order for employees to do their job correctly, effectively, and efficiently, they need the proper tools and resources made available to them whenever and wherever. The best way to determine what those tools and resources are is to ask the employee. In fact, it’s the only way to determine it, so don’t neglect it!

• How likely are you to search for a new job in the near future?

Anytime your employees give you their two-weeks notice, it stings a little -- especially when they’ve been good to your company since being hired. This might be a difficult question to ask and a difficult one to answer, but it’ll often change the narrative in the office and give you an opportunity to make things better.

• Are you happy with the work you do for this company?

One of the questions earlier talked about whether the employee feels their role is valuable to the vision of the company. This question is a little different because it’s designed to determine whether or not employees are doing the right work.

It’s important that they not only feel like they’re contributing, but that they’re happy in the way they’re contributing. You’d be surprised by how many employees in your company would perform better if they had a different role.

• What do you have to say about the culture we’ve created here?

Whether you were trying to create one or not, every company has a culture that defines its core values, principles, and behavior. This culture is important because it’s what attracts employees and incentivizes them to stay with the company long-term. If you haven’t been monitoring the culture within your company, now’s the best time to start.

• Is the work you do challenging or difficult at all throughout the day?

This question could be paired with the tools and resources question. It helps identify which departments and which positions are having the most difficulty doing their job effectively.

You’ll want to ask both questions because some employees might find their job difficult, but not know what would make it easier. They might feel they have the right tools and resources, yet still find it difficult.

• How is your relationship with your coworkers?

Coworkers are asked to spend a lot of time together. Sometimes, they see each other more than they see their own families. With that being said, you want to make sure every employee that works for you is comfortable with each other. It’ll also help strengthen the culture with your company.

• Do you ever feel pressured while working?

When employees are pressured or stressed over things that could’ve been prevented, it takes away from the quality of their work and the satisfaction they have when working for you. It’s best to promote a stress-free environment, but it’s also important to make sure employees have what they need to calm down when stress arrives.

• How well do you think our company adapts to change?

There’s nothing stable about business. It’s constantly changing and business owners are constantly being asked to change with it. Those that fail to institute this change end up falling behind their competition and underachieving the goals they set for themselves. If you want stability, be prepared to change.

When you include the questions listed above in your next employee satisfaction survey, you’ll receive the answers you need to continue improving your company -- from top to bottom. You’ll know the areas that need to be addressed, but you’ll also know where your company’s strengths are.

If you need further help instituting an effective employee satisfaction survey, contact the professionals at Consultants In-A-Box today. We help businesses find room for improvement and can’t wait to do the same for you and your business!