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Tips on Creating Surveys to Measure Employee Satisfaction
| Guest post by: Donna Flagg |
Article Overview: Employee evaluation on both the organizational and individual level is often one of the most forgotten about and underutilized tools in the workplace. The sense I get is that it is overlooked because people are afraid of surveys either because they don’t know how to use them properly or they don’t know what to do with the information once they get it. Whatever the reason, surveys and evaluation don’t have to be long, cumbersome and complicated exercises that render meaningless results. Rather, it’s just a matter of obtaining some insight that can guide you through the process as you craft a system that works best for you.
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Tips on Creating Surveys to Measure Employee Satisfaction
Employee
evaluation (otherwise known as "Employee Satisfaction") on both the
organizational and individual level is often one of the most forgotten about
and underutilized tools in the workplace.
The sense I get is that it is overlooked because people are afraid of
surveys either because they don’t know how to use them properly or they don’t
know what to do with the information once they get it. I suppose sometimes it's also true that
people simply prefer "not to know" because there is a perception when it comes to
feedback that less is more-which typically means that they think life will be easier if the lid
can be kept on any potential dissatisfaction. That’s a dangerous strategy though, because
if it backfires, it backfires big and it can be too late to repond effectively.
Whatever the reason, surveys and evaluation don’t have to be
long, cumbersome and complicated exercises that render meaningless results. Rather, it’s just a matter of obtaining
some insight that can guide you through the process as you craft a system that
works best for you.
Making some decisions up front will help. To get started, consider how you want
to structure your questions.
You have some options.
1.
“Forced Choice,” is the term used when the structure of the survey “forces”
respondents’ answers by steering them onto a continuum that typically spreads
from “agreement” on one side to “disagreement” on the other. They are called
Likert Scales and can be constructed with either an even or odd number of
points. The difference being that
if you use even numbers there is essentially no middle and it “forces” people
to fall on one side of a continuum representing good or bad, positive or
negative. On the other hand, if you use a 3, 5, 7 or 9-point scale you make a
place in the center for people to remain neutral.
2.
“Multiple Choice,” lets the respondents choose from a series of different
answers.
3.
“Binary Systems,” put forth a statement that you want to have either confirmed
or denied as in yes/no and true/false.
You could also have yes/no/maybe and true/false/not sure. I suppose we could call that “Tertiary,” if someone hasn't already. I, myself don't know.
4.
Qualitative data doesn’t allow you to quantify the answers, but it does give
you a much richer sense of the information collected because it asks
respondents “to explain” their answers in their own words. The key here is to supplement the
numerical data by looking for patterns and pulling them out.
Some other tips…
1. Don’t
ever create a question that combines two parts with an “and” or an “or,”
because essentially what you are doing is giving people two questions at once
with only an opportunity to provide one answer. This is one of the easiest ways to skew results and muddy
the outcome.
2.
Balance the quantitative with qualitative. This helps reinforce that the numbers reflect the intentions
of the respondent and also enables the compiler to crosscheck the responses if
necessary.
3. Don’t pose all the questions
exclusively with a positive or negative spin. This desensitizes respondents to
the questions and you therefore run the risk of having them run down one column
and checking off the same answers.
Mix it up so that they have to both agree and disagree to generate the
information you are looking for.
4. Test
your questions out by asking people to respond and see if the answers give you
the information you needed, and were looking for.
Using Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Data to Strengthen Company Performance
The Customer Satisfaction Trap
Measures that Drive Wrong Behavior
Surveys Encourage Customer Feedback
How To Work At Home With A Computer Taking Surveys
Article Tags: creating surveys, employee satisfaction, gauging engagement, measurement, measuring, surveys, workplace metrics
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About the Author: Donna Flagg RSS for Donna's articles - Visit Donna's website Donna Flagg spent over 15 years in business before founding The Krysalis Group, a consulting firm specializing in management, marketing, training and sales and their respective relationships to business results. Her management career began in sales at CHANEL, and before branching out on her own, she spearheaded a new training function within the Investment Banking Division at Goldman Sachs. After earning a BA from Rutgers University and gaining experience on the front lines of Corporate America, Donna went on to attend New York University's Graduate School of Education where she obtained a master's degree in Organizational Development and Human Resource Management, and a post graduate degree in Business Education. She has also been a speaker at City University of New York (CUNY) and New York University through Stern Business School and Delta Pi Epsilon, a national honorary professional graduate society in business education and training. In addition, she speaks at various conferences including those conducted by The Business Leadership Network and The Conference Board, where she was also on the advisory committee for the Enterprise Learning Strategies Conference. For her communications expertise, Donna was invited to be a host at the Liz Claiborne Leadership Offsite to discuss branding during their "Progressive Dinner" event and more recently, a speaker at the Inc. Leadership Conference in Dallas, TX. Donna is the author of Surviving Dreaded Conversations and is blogger on Pyschology Today and The Huffington Post. She is frequently featured in the press for her workplace expertise in outlets including CNBC, the New York Times, WOR, and XM Satellite Radio. Donna currently sits on the Board of Directors of the Randy Foye Foundation where she actively participates in its mission to assist children and families in Newark, NJ. Click here to visit Donna's website   How and When to Use Exit Interviews Strategic HR Plans Integrating People and Business How to Handle Discrimination Claims A Better Way to Implement Mentoring Programs The Difference Between Managers and Leaders is A Lot Not Much |
Related Forum Posts
Business Tips
- How about:
Tips for managers to handle employees more effectively?
Tips on how to deal with difficult customers?
Tips on how to deal more effectively with suppliers?
The only three I have in mind right now, but will try to come up with something else.
Chris
Re: Some attractive terms in advertisement
- [quote="lane_hug":sqdmyojl]Some terms can make the advertisement look more attractive,
like unlimited, free, life time guarantee, and more.
These should be definitely incorporated to ensure fast sales.[/quote:sqdmyojl]
You've got to be careful with such terms, though. Take as an example the poor Korean dry cleaners who had the words "Satisfaction guaranteed" on their storefront window. They lost (supposedly) a pair of slacks from some loony judge, who proceeded to sue them for MILLIONS of dollars (over a $100 pair of slacks) because they did not provide him with satisfaction. [If the sign had said "Satisfaction guaranteed or your money back" perhaps none of it would have happened...]
These days more and more people are apt to sue at the drop of a hat, and if you promise them something even though common sense says you wouldn't have meant what you said (for example Pepsi got in trouble because their commercial for Pepsi points, at the time the movie True Lies came out, featured a Harrier jet as in the movie. A few looney businessmen bought up all the points the could to get that jet, although they were told it had just been dramatic license, and ended up suing Pepsi for misleading advertising. The suit was dismissed, but the fact that the guy was able to find lawyers who'd even take the case on is scary.
To cut a long story short, be careful what terms you use, and think to yourself what you'd have to do if people took them literally.
Post subject: It's Not Personal, just business
- I so agree! Actually, the business world as we know it IS in trouble. I heard some stats last week that they expect by the time 2050 that 70% of workers will be freelancers. Employee/Executive Bullying won't be able to stand it when it could be easier for someone to simply contract with the nicer guy (or gal). I, for one, will be choosing the nicer ones!
Re: Can you outsource your product launch?
- Yes that what I am talking about. Creating a buzz for your online product launch basically. Is this part of what you do?
Re: Social Media & Digg, Google, MySpace, and YouTube
- Hi Kathy,
What I meant about it being worth it was in the sense that I described. Creating multiple accounts for various sites and posting and ranking your own stuff. It's very time consuming to say the least. I'm just wondering if there's anyone out there that has done this and thinks it's beneficial.
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