Keeping tabs on workforce morale with employee satisfaction surveys

Employee satisfaction surveys are the first step towards assessing employee morale, satisfaction and engagement with the company. Unfortunately, the mere assumption that your employees love their job and are happy with their work environment will not get you very far with creating a better, more inspiring work place. It is your responsibility to ask for employee feedback on topics that do with employee well-being and, subsequently, make better decisions regarding all staff related matters. Employee satisfaction surveys are a great way to find out where you stand with your employees.

Defining employee satisfaction surveys

Employee satisfaction surveys are a valuable tool for collecting direct feedback from your employees. They can cover several topics from personal development, working conditions, managerial performance, and wellness programs to teamwork and personal development. As a rule, employee satisfaction covers the basic needs and concerns of the employees and provides HR management with insights on the levels of satisfaction across the organization. Alongside employee satisfaction surveys, many organizations are also utilizing employee pulse surveys to get a more frequent and real-time assessment of employee satisfaction and engagement.

The benefits of employee satisfaction surveys

Improved customer experience

One of the most important reasons for conducting employee satisfaction surveys is the direct link between a happy workforce and long term organizational performance and success. Additionally, measuring the staff experience is a fundamental part of developing the customer experience. Content employees drive customer loyalty and business growth. It is, therefore, highly unlikely that a demoralized and unhappy personnel will foster a satisfied customer base.

Motivated workforce

In order to create a healthy working environment organizations are tasked with understanding what motivates staff members and which factors drive performance and engagement. Employee efficiency is impacted when those factors are affected. It is, therefore, critical to keep up with developments and measure, monitor and improve employee motivational factors.

Engaged employees

Employee engagement is a concept that goes beyond job satisfaction. Engagement is not simply motivation. It refers to what the employee has to offer. As an employer, you, simply, cannot require engagement. You can, however, use satisfaction surveys to improve certain organizational factors that drive employee engagement. These factors include opportunities for personal growth, keeping employees in the loop about what is happening in the organization, or making your staff feel valued and listened to.

Benchmarking employee satisfaction scores

Employee satisfaction surveys generate data that can be benchmarked either internally (by comparing the same questions over a period of time) or externally (by comparing internal scores with the scores of external organizations). Benchmarking is crucial because it allows for comparable results and indicates whether the steps already taken towards improving satisfaction have actually been successful or not.