Achieving Employee Satisfaction
I am not happy. The printer has still not been fixed and now my chair is broken. The problem with the company is that it is going to the dogs. The boss really doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what is really going on.
There was a new person that started last month, no one bothered to introduce them and they were given a job that they had no clue how to do; why didn’t they ask me to look after him? I could have told them that a new set of drawings had been issued so even if he did know what he was doing the drawings he was using were obsolete anyway. Sometimes I don’t know why I bother turning up.
Some of the guys and I went for a drink last night after work. No one is happy and Sally from Accounts says that she has just about had enough and is thinking of asking for a rise and if they don’t give it to her she is going to quit.
The management here just don’t have a clue, we are losing money through our inefficiencies and every time they come up with a new initiative they are so far off the mark that it just demonstrates how out of touch they really are.
I’m going to ask for a pay rise, if Sally can get one so should I.
And so it goes on.
When a company loses touch with their employees these are the sort of thoughts that start to play on the minds of individuals; the lack of appreciation, a broken chair, the blaming of ‘management’, even questioning the futility of what they are doing. Trivial problems fester and a suspicious and unhelpful frame of mind develops. Can you be sure that this isn’t the sort of thing that is going on right now in your organisation?
Social events outside the office become nothing more than a forum for complaints and negativity grows among people who feel powerless to effect change. Diverse frustration will often amalgamate into a demand for an increase in remuneration, as though like a cheap fix more money will briefly reduce the pain.
Left by management, undiscovered and unaware, the concerns of this employee will inevitable find solace with their colleagues own individual concerns, where the only common demand will be for an increase in remuneration, more paid holidays and a reduction in working hours, all of which will not fix the broken chair, ensure that new personnel are in future properly introduced, trained and managed nor help management identify areas of inefficiency.
Organisations have a habit of compartmentalising people, physically through offices, cubicles and workstations also in terms of responsibility. With strong and effective management to support this structure it can be productive, but as an organisation grows, weak or inappropriate management can infiltrate the management chain and it is only to then be expected that cracks will begin to appear.
Looking at an organization from the top down all the corporate garden can appear to be in full bloom as middle management either disguise or are just unaware of festering problems.
Experience shows us that relying on a limited number of indicators gives a skewed perspective just like a person with only one eye has difficulty judging distance. Good management will therefore establish procedures that sample the mood throughout the organisation from different perspectives providing a rounded picture.
The benefits of establishing good, frequent and extensive communication channels are both direct and indirect.
A senior management team that is known to have their ear to the ground will command great respect and will keep middle managers from becoming complacent knowing that they can no longer dismiss the senior managers searching “How is everything going?” question with a glib “Fine”; In my book if someone says “fine” you have to ask if they really know what is going on.
Most principals of an organisation will not have the luxury of spending time walking the floor and discussing the issues of individuals but through online employee saltisfaction surveys they can achieve the same benefits and almost become omnipresent.
Online surveys provide an ideal method to establish good and effective communications between the employer and employee. Using a survey hosting service they can now be created and published with speed and ease.
Surveys can be deployed in seconds by utilising the Internet and intranet, they can be completed easily by employees and the results analyzed in real-time exposing the ‘problems’ and giving early warning towards common themes of dissatisfaction.
With their ability to get to the heart of an organization online employee satisfaction surveys can confirm that all is well in the engine room and that there is sufficient fuel to keep it running.
The benefits that online surveys bring are considerable, not only are the real issues identified, but employees feel that their voices are being heard and that their views, right or wrong, have a forum.
Online surveys won’t in themselves resolve a problem but they will give senior management the opportunity to address the problems and concerns of their employees, at least if people then leave the organisation they will be doing it for the right and not wrong reasons.
The grass may always appear greener on the other side but the drivers that cause good people to leave a company is rarely just a monetary concern (although this can often cited as the reason) but more often to do with one or more of the following:-
- the workplace environment;
- a lack of accomplishment
- insufficient training and feedback;
- lack of a career path;
- over work;
- lack of trust and respect with their senior managers.
A well planned employer/employee communications programme that can identify the individual and common concerns of employees will give senior management the opportunity to address root problems and not just the symptoms of employee dissatisfaction, allowing them to demonstrate to their employees that they are not viewed simply as interchangeable parts that can be used for any job at hand.
Each individual organisation needs to customised their own employee survey so that it is relevant for them. To get an idea as to how effective online surveys can be try completing the sample employee survey, then view the results of the satisfaction questionnaire and just think of the benefits to management being able to measure so easily the heart beat of the organization.
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