Things to Think About Prior to Surveying Your Employees in-House
I was an employee at a major corporation for a long time. The HR and IT divisions of these companies were quite sizable. It was inevitable that they would make use of these extensive resources while conducting a staff survey. Employee surveys usually had a response rate of under 25%. No one paid much notice because these response rates were thought to be normal, and there were a few comments that complained about how low it was.
I find myself in a different position today. Over the last nine years, I've provided a variety of staff surveys to business clients. I got the chance to chat with human resources professionals from multiple companies not long ago. In order to construct their own employee survey, these companies were searching the web for questions. They intended to conduct their own survey once they had compiled these questions.
This strategy doesn't seem too far-fetched at first. Nevertheless, I requested that the HR team take the following into account.
Protecting Personal Information
Confidentiality and privacy is a major concern for employees when it comes to employee surveys. We have found that the majority of employees are not very comfortable with the idea that their company's computers may save their survey responses. Even while a corporation takes every precaution to prevent unauthorized individuals from accessing survey data, the reality is that corporate employees are the ones actually handling the data and running the analyses. There has been a violation of confidentiality. There are plenty of openings for abuses under these conditions.
We had a situation at Entec a number of years ago when the president of the firm expressed his readiness to proceed with an employee survey; but, as he was footing the bill, he insisted on having access to both the database and the final report. We were forced to abandon this project. We were unable to give the staff unwavering guarantees that their personal information would be safe.
Notifying workers that an outside entity would handle the entire survey procedure will greatly alleviate these worries. For instance, before the survey, Entec informs workers that a firewall separates their company from Entec Corporation. Our computers are off-limits to any employee. Our database is password protected so that no one from your firm may view it. The organization firmly rejects any special requests from top management or anybody else to review the data. I should mention that this has occurred twice in the last nine years. There can be no compromise on the importance of privacy and secrecy. Workers' opinions polls have pros and cons. Employees are always happy to hear their thoughts and opinions, on the one hand. Conversely, if people even have a nagging suspicion that their privacy is at risk, they will either not engage or give dishonest responses.
Rates of Response
The results will be more statistically valid if the response rate is high. A big database is the result of a high response rate. Data cuts that delve deeply into the organization and provide significant results can be prepared using a huge database. In order to conduct a thorough study that can identify concrete areas for improvement, a tiny database is inadequate. Consequently, it is critical for every staff survey to get a high response rate. The response rates for the Entec survey, for instance, have ranged from 82% to 95%. Because of this, in-depth analysis is possible, which is above average. There is evidence that the response rate for surveys administered by companies to their employees is usually below 30%.
Survey Development
Creating an employee survey entails three distinct steps: formulating the questions, establishing a scoring methodology, and organizing the questions. At Entec, we adhere to the notion that the efficiency of the analyzes phase is driven by question organization. Thus, the questions needed to be structured to represent the desired outcome if we wanted the analyzes phase to clearly lead to recommendations for follow-up implementation. The employee engagement modeling that Entec carried out as a first stage in developing the survey was driven by this line of thinking. After the modeling was finished, the survey questions were added to the relevant sections of the model. For a more in-depth description of this method, refer to the section on Reliability and Validity below. There is, in fact, a specific sequence to the inquiries. We are able to offer specific recommendations for further actions since this ordering guides the study.
Analysis of Surveys
Analyses based on survey questions are crucial, but the questions themselves are secondary. Providing percentages is just one part of the survey analysis. An explanation of the data's significance should be included in the study. Consider the following example: how are the results of one set of questions related to those of another set of questions? Concerning the motivation and performance of employees, some questions are substantially more crucial than others.
For instance, the following leadership comments were statistically associated with the statement "There is little to no office politics and gossip" in one company: "Deal with underachievers as needed," "Resolves conflicts in a fair and appropriate manner," and "Sets a good example through actions and words" are all part of the job description. Through this kind of research, additional leadership characteristics that surfaced repeatedly were shown to be crucial to the culture of this specific firm. Based on the results of the investigation, the top leadership behaviors influencing best practices were identified. As a result, the HR team had a short list of behaviors that required their immediate attention. All employees in the organization who were responsible for supervision were evaluated based on how well they rated against these behaviors in the survey report.
While these claims may be true in some companies, they may not be in others. They differ to a lesser extent based on the culture of the organization. Using office politics as an example, studies have shown that a poisonous work environment is characterized by rampant gossip. In this case, the organization can rest easy knowing they are taking the correct steps to reduce chatter and boost efficiency thanks to this type of analysis.
Consistency and Veracity
Putting together a survey is a breeze for anyone. But this begs the question. When using these questions, how will you ensure their validity and reliability? What this means is that when an organization makes its own survey, it should ask itself if it has the in-house expertise and resources to assess the survey's reliability and validity to make sure it will yield meaningful data.
Entec Corporation dedicated an entire year nine years ago to creating a set of questionnaires. There were several stages to the procedure. The initial stage was to bring together a diverse team of experts with backgrounds in areas such as clinical psychology, organizational development, leadership, and strategic management. Using these models as a foundation, this group formulated questions. After pilot testing, these were put to the test with a large number of focus groups across a variety of industries. We performed reliability analyses. Analysis using principal component methods was carried out. The surveys were revised after extensive analysis and pilot testing. To guarantee that clients receive surveys that will yield the best potential results, this iterative approach persisted and is still in use today.
Last thoughts
There are two options available to someone who is unwell, in discomfort, and running a temperature. They have two options: take a fever or see a doctor. Taking a temperature does not provide them with nearly enough information to make an informed decision about how to intervene to improve their health. Going to the doctor and getting a battery of tests will provide them important information and a strategy for intervention.
The process of surveying one's own employees is same. Every organization is a complex system of people. When you take a temperature with an unproven employee survey, an unproven survey procedure, and basic analysis, you get findings that are comparable. Taking the temperature more than once makes it harder to zero in on precise measures to boost performance. Because of this, motivation is reduced. Employee surveys are a great way to get more out of your staff. Employee cynicism and decreased productivity occur when the post-survey process does not demonstrate any significant improvement.
Results from a thorough diagnostic will indicate where to focus your follow-up efforts if you choose to conduct a survey. The data necessary for the organization to proceed and accomplish its goals will be provided. To get useful results from an employee survey, you need to pay attention to the questions, the structure, the method, and the analysis and interpretation of the survey. A company can't carry out a successful employee survey if they don't take into account the many ways in which workers perceive and anticipate the results.
