Perhaps the best way to determine what your company does right and wrong starts by assessing the level of engagement among your employees. With that, you have the opportunity to understand better what drives your employees to succeed. Many companies use employee engagement surveys to gather valuable information - but are they truly beneficial?
What Is an Employee Engagement Survey?
Start by understanding what this type of survey is and why companies use it. Rather than measuring the level of happiness among employees, the results of this survey indicate the workers’ dedication to the company and the customers they serve. Using an employee engagement survey provides you with incredible insights into how engaged your employees are, as well as the primary drivers of engagement within your organization.
With new knowledge, you can make critical decisions that streamline the operations of your business. You might discover that some employees cannot reach their full potential in their current department, that you have some issue with management, that some of the company policies need redefining, or that you have workers who should consider employment elsewhere.
Benefits of Employee Engagement Surveys
- Skilled Leadership – For your leadership to work effectively, they need to have some understanding as to the mindset of their team. With an employee engagement survey, your management can determine the emotional commitment of the employees under their supervision.
- Broad Reach – Just like managers, no two employees are the same, meaning they all have different opinions and ways of working. A key advantage to using this type of survey is that it gives leaders a broader perspective of their team’s attitude. Before investing valuable time and resources on significant changes, use the survey results to understand both positive and negative aspects of your workers in how they perceive their roles and responsibilities.
- Learning Tool – Remember, an employee engagement survey helps identify areas that need addressing. When used as a tool for learning about workers instead of a way to fix what they are doing wrong, the survey creates an opportunity to find viable solutions. Again, that could mean moving an employee to a different department, having someone perform a different task, or terminating employment altogether.
- Making Comparisons – Another benefit of an employee engagement survey is that it allows you to understand the various groups within the company. For instance, are your part-time employees more dedicated than your full-time staff? Is the same level of engagement seen throughout the organization? Do workers under specific managers engage more than others?
- Building Trust – While some people think that employee engagement surveys make workers distrusting, the opposite is actually true. These surveys show teams the commitment that both the company owner and leadership have in gaining a better understanding and making the necessary changes to benefit them. With that, the level of trust among employees grows, making the work environment more cohesive.
Potential Drawbacks of Employee Engagement Surveys
- Not Following Through – You can gather a ton of information and identify the required changes, but unless you act, this survey is worthless. Remind yourself that the survey is merely a vehicle for gaining insight. After recognizing where things should change, it is imperative that you follow through. Your managers and employees are watching how you respond to the survey results. Doing nothing would damage relationships and trust. On the other hand, if you take swift and appropriate action, you instill hope and optimism in every worker, regardless of position.
- Exhaustion – If you plan to use an employee engagement survey in your company, make sure that you only do so occasionally and never back-to-back with other surveys. Repetitive questions become exhaustive. They also create a sense of panic among workers who fear that you have something bad planned for the company. Use surveys when and if necessary. Also, send out a company-wide email that explains to your workers what an employee engagement survey is and why you chose to conduct it. You want to put your teams at ease so that they can continue producing.
Fixing Problems
With eLearning, you can select courses to boost their self-confidence and teach them what they need to know in their respective roles.
At GO1, we have thousands of available courses to help improve employee engagement. Not only are these courses affordable, but the majority take an hour or less to complete. With these, you will see a remarkable change in the level of engagement within your organization.
