Your Listening Era: Employee Engagement Surveys

Have you heard rumblings your employees may be feeling frustrated? You may hear things through the grapevine and notice less engaged employees, or even more turnover than usual. We know navigating these murky waters can be unsettling (and downright confusing!), but our most significant advice is to take your employee’s feelings into consideration and to ask, not assume.

You trust your employees to get their jobs done, so trust them to provide you with their perspective on how things are going. Before you initiate this candid conversation, here are a few things to keep in mind:

• Exit stage left: your assumption era.
• Enter stage right: your listening era.
• On deck: your communication era.

You’ve heard the age-old advice to listen to understand, not to respond. We’re here to help you do that and move into your new era.

So, how does it work and what are employee engagement surveys? What’s the difference between employee satisfaction and employee engagement surveys?

From strategy to execution, we are your right-hand partner with many HR services that will provide you with key findings and recommendations for growth.

HERE ARE THE TWO MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS WE LOOK AT DURING A SURVEY PROJECT:

1. Ask questions you want honest answers to. Really. If you’re unable to make changes or your company isn’t in the mindset to focus on a particular topic, then now is not the time to seek employee perspectives about those things. And that’s okay.
2. After the survey is completed, communicate. Let your staff know what you heard and how you’ll  address their concerns and help them grow.

Now that we’ve laid the groundwork, here’s a question to get you thinking even harder about your employee engagement survey strategy. If an A+ employee was walking out the door, what would you ask them?

THIS IS THE STARTING POINT FOR YOUR EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SURVEY.

Here are six simple prompts that can be answered via a rating system, which gives you real data to measure. Open-ended questions are always helpful for context, so ensure a good mix of rating and open-ended questions. Here are five prompts and one open-ended question to help you get started:

1. I would recommend this company as a great place to work.
2. I know what to do to be successful in my role.
3. I am given timely, specific, and actionable feedback.
4. I am comfortable being my authentic self here.
5. The leaders here keep me informed about what’s going on.
6. What two changes would you make if you could wave a magic wand?

What is the goal? A more engaged culture and employees who feel seen, heard, and valued. When you create this culture, your employees will tell you exactly what they need to achieve your desired results

The intent is to use this as an opportunity for regular cadence of future employee experience surveys, tracking your progress on culture goals.

Building the culture you want will take time. This requires all involved parties to effectively collaborate and advance this work together with mutual understanding and commitment to growth and development, knowing that this will require tough conversations and endurance.

Interested in other current employment trends? Click the link to view the recent blog: Building a Strong HR Foundation: A Must-Watch Interview or check back for more on human resources, payroll, insurance, and benefits.