Employee Satisfaction Survey

An employment satisfaction survey is a means to 'read the pulse' of the employee in an organization. It evaluates the employee satisfaction quotient with the organization. It reveals timely information that allows the management to work out action plans to satisfy the employee and combat elements of change if any.

A satisfied employee is self-motivated, reliable and turns out higher levels of performance. Therefore investing in employee satisfaction survey is critical to the functioning of any organization. The employee satisfaction survey seeks to understand the employee's perception and develop methodologies to repair areas that are wanting in the organization.

Employee satisfaction survey

Employer viewpoint

• Employee satisfaction survey throws light on the level of productivity in the workplace.
  
  
• Employee's attitude and involvement in the goals of the organization and understanding and appreciation of the company's mission are revealed in the employment satisfaction survey.
  
  
• Employee satisfaction survey helps to determine the key areas that need to be addressed by the employer.
  
  
• Employment satisfaction survey helps to assess the training needs of the workforce.
  
  
• Employee satisfaction survey helps to lessen turnover of workforce, reduce absenteeism and retain employees.
  
  
• Employment satisfaction survey streamlines communication requirements in an organization.
  
  
• Identify opportunities to improve work environment.

Employee view point

• Employee satisfaction survey help the employees understand where they work, whom they work with and work for.
  
  
• Employment satisfaction survey is an opportunity for the employee to share his/her mind with the management, to reveal the good and critical views on the management.
  
  
• It is a platform for the employees to reveal their work experiences, work environment and offer suggestions for improvements if any.
  
  
• Employees' opinion, attitudes and perspective can be made known to the management by means of an employment satisfaction survey.

Employment survey

• Employee satisfaction survey deals with sensitive topics.
  
  
• The style, in which questions are framed, distributed and collected are vital for the success of the survey.
  
  
• The aim of the survey is to create a positive workplace culture.
  
  
• Employment satisfaction survey is an investigation into the engagement level of the employee in the organization. It aims at better work behavior which in turn drives business outcomes.
  
  
• An employment satisfaction survey is a tool that helps bridge the communication gap between the employer and the employee.

Employee satisfaction survey questionnaire

Variety in the style of questioning coupled with precise information- exacting queries is essential for a meaningful survey.

• Before embarking on the employee satisfaction survey, it is essential to decide what kind of information the employer wants from the survey.
  
  
• Each employee satisfaction survey program is designed and executed differently depending on the individual company's needs and resources.
  
  
• Employee involvement and support is essential for the success of the employee satisfaction survey. A better understanding of the characteristics of the employee engaged in the survey will certainly help to create the survey questionnaire.
  
  
• Employee satisfaction survey questionnaire should be custom-made and created incorporating the typical individual needs of the employee and employer.

There are several question types that are used in any survey. In the employee satisfaction survey it would be best to combine the different question types according to the subject matter sought to be clarified.

• The dichotomous question is the basic and simple type and provides yes/no options for an answer.
  
  
• The multiple-choice questions have three or more exhaustive exclusive answers to choose from.
  
  
• The rank type of questions is used to rate the answer in its order of importance. This would be definitely useful in an employee satisfaction survey as it helps the employee to grade the degree of satisfaction more comfortably than a dichotomous yes/no option.
  
  
• Perhaps the open-ended question will help to explore the qualitative, in-depth nature of the employee's relationship with the employer. An open-ended question is time consuming when compared to a code response and it is mostly not used with labor force that prefers yes/no for an answer.

It would always be better to include demographic questions in an employee satisfaction survey. Demographic questions include the following:

• Age
  
  
• Sex
  
  
• Marital status
  
  
• Number of children
  
  
• Length of time employed by the firm
  
  
• Department (for a large organization)
  
  
• Annual income (in broad ranges)

Such demographic questions serve two primary purposes in an employee satisfaction survey. While on the one hand, it helps to see how closely the samples survey replicates the known population, on the other hand it allows an analysis of the sub-groups that respond to the survey. Nowadays online web surveys are becoming increasingly popular. Web surveys are a natural complement to personalized employee satisfaction surveys, which are impossible in large organizations employing thousands of employees. Many employers have resorted to web surveys to gather critical information and feedback from the employees in a timely and cost effective manner.

Studies reveal that employee satisfaction keeps falling in the US. There is a decline in job satisfaction among workers of all ages in all income brackets. Employees are normally unsatisfied with their work environment, wage patterns, bonus plans, promotion policies, health plans and pension schemes. A 2004 employee satisfaction survey found that 40% of the workers feel disconnected from the employers, while 25% of employees are just showing up to collect the pay check.

Employee satisfaction surveys help the employer to understand and face the challenge posed by the popular 4 Cs of an employee satisfaction namely commitment, culture, communication and compensation. A comprehensive employee satisfaction survey helps to diagnose issues and overall organizational climate, anticipate potential problems, assess teamwork, and measure the effects of change in an organization. Employee satisfaction surveys evaluate, maximize, preserve and help grow the human capital namely the employees who are the backbone to an organizations' growth and success.