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Using Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Data to Strengthen Company Performance
| Guest post by: Trisha McFarlane |
Article Overview: Article discussed the differences between employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement surveys as they relate to company performance.
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Free Download - Top 10 Reasons To Love HR By Trisha McFarlane |
Using Employee Engagement & Satisfaction Data to Strengthen Company Performance
Strong company performance.
It is the always desirable, sometimes elusive result that keeps CEO's, CFO's, and COO's up at night. Companies place so much focus on external ways to strengthen their company performance that they may be missing the obvious- Human Resources contribution. Depending on your company culture, you may or may not have HR present "at the table". But, if they are, who better to assist leadership with furthering the performance and revenue goals of the company? There are many ways HR can assist. HR can do this through fiscally smart recruiting, training and development programs, and coaching, to name a few. However, tools that companies may not focus on using are employee satisfaction and employee engagement surveys.
Companies often use either employee satisfaction surveys or employee engagement surveys to take the temperature of the company. It often ends there. Many do not use the two survey types in conjunction, nor do they take the next step of analyzing the data to get to the results they want. Namely, stronger company financial performance.
Employees who are satisfied and engaged are far more likely to outperform their non-engaged, less than satisfied colleagues. "In good times, employee engagement is the difference between being good and being great, and in bad times, it's the difference between surviving and not," said James K. Harter, Ph.D., Gallup's chief scientist of workplace management and well-being and co-author of 12: The Elements of Great Managing (Gallup, 2006). "In good times and bad, low engagement reduces performance and profit. And under the current circumstances, many companies can't afford to let those drop."
So, what are the differences in the types of surveys and why use a blended approach? Employee satisfaction surveys have long been the fashionable approach. When they are well written, they give insight into how satisfied employees are with benefits, compensation, perks, management style, employee recognition, etc. What these surveys do not tell you is how engaged they are with the company. Just because an employee feels well compensated or well liked, it may not mean they are engaged with the company values and goals. Thus, they may not be working toward company profitability.
Employee engagement surveys measure the levels of enthusiasm an employee has for the company. It can indicate how committed and involved they are with the company. The greater the engagement, the more the employee is working toward strong company performance.
An employee who is highly satisfied with the extrinsic rewards of the company and who is highly engaged will be a true company advocate. They are the employees that are moving the company forward from a revenue perspective. The employees who may be dissatisfied with the extrinsic rewards (compensation, benefits, the supervisor they work for) but who believe in the company values are valuable too. By identifying them, leadership may be able to adjust the extrinsic rewards so that they move to the high satisfaction/ high engagement category.
The employees who have high satisfaction but low engagement are the ones to watch. Because they are not engaged, they are no longer working toward the success of the company at the level of performance leadership hopes for. Often, these employees are mediocre performers, at best, who are being paid well enough to stay, or who feel the benefits outweigh leaving. The last category, the low satisfaction/ low engagement employees are those who are unhappy to the degree that they are probably already looking to leave the company.
By using a blended approach- an employee survey that addresses both the satisfaction and the engagement of employees- leadership will have a greater ability to identify changes or adjustments that can truly benefit the bottom line. And, while there is no "magic bullet", this approach will certainly help leadership reach stronger company performance especially in tough economic times.
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About the Author: Trisha McFarlane RSS for Trisha's articles - Visit Trisha's website Trish is a practicing HR professional with over 15 years of experience in Big 4 public accounting, PR, and healthcare. She is also an international speaker. With expertise in leadership, employee relations, performance management, training & development, change management, social media, and innovation, Trish is able to capture readers and audiences with real-life examples of how leadership plays out in organizations. Trish co-founded HRevolution (http://thehrevolution.org), a conference that highlights emerging trends and the future of HR, with the goal of providing an alternative networking and learning experience for business professionals who were tired of the traditional conference model. HRevolution is an event that inspires collaboration and innovative ideas in the human resource industry. She also co-founded the Women of HR blog (www.womenofhr.com) in order to give a voice to practitioners who are passionate about issues affecting women in the workplace. Trish has been a speaker at various events. Most recently at The Conference Board’s “Social Media for HR Conference”, CHCA, HR Southwest, the HR Technology Conference, HR Florida, Talent Net Live, HRevolution, and TRU London. She has received numerous accolades for her blogging and online efforts. Click here to visit Trisha's website   Coaching Rules of Engagement Top 10 Reasons To Love HR A Pig In Lipstick Lets Focus On The Right Things Leaders Categorical Imperatives vs Free Will of Employees Employing Restaurant Menu Strategies in Human Resources |
Related Forum Posts
HRPreneur
- Hi everyone,
I am new to the forum and I recently started my own Human Capital (HR) consulting firm called HRPreneur Inc. HRP focuses on making human capital a strategic differentiator for SME's.
Below is a summary about HRP;
Who We Are:
HRP is a Human Capital consulting firm with 30 years of experience that becomes an extension of your company by providing a full array of services to help you create a highly engaged workforce focused on achieving strategic results in order to build a long lasting great company!
Mission:
HRP provides small and medium sized businesses a Strategic HR Business Partner to increase employee engagement, resulting in cost savings, increased productivity and results at an affordable rate!
Vision:
To inspire and warrant SME's reach their full competency!
Cost Effectiveness:
We provide over 30 years of experience at a fraction of the cost at a strategic executive HR business level
You will save between 50% to 60% in costs per year on salary, bonus, benefits, training, office space alone
We will provide you additional cost efficiencies through our services
Services:
• Strategic Human Resources Planning
• Organizational Redesign
• Change Management
• Organizational Culture Development
• Employee Engagement Programs
• Leadership Assessment and Development
• Compensation Design
• Talent Acquisition
• Assimilation and On-Boarding
• Performance Management
• Talent Management & Succession Planning
• Human Resources Due Diligence
• Human Resources Audit
• Full Service HR Outsourcing
Evan's Engaged! Congrats!
- CONGRATS! on the Engagement!
How to valuate a business
- Hi Garth - here is how we did it at Northern Crown Capital when I was helping them raise venture capital for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. Assume the start date is 2003 so 2008 projections are 5 years out:
How Northern Crown Capital Valuates a Business
2008 Financial Projections
Earnings Before Tax
$5,865,000
Tax Rate
42%
Taxes
$2,463,300
Net Earnings
$3,401,700
Amount Seeking to Raise Today
$3,500,000
Discounted Value of Future Opportunity, 5 Years Out
2008 P/E Ratio
15
Value of Company in 2008
$51,025,500
Discount Rate Applied
30%
Year 2008
$51,025,500
Year 2007
$35,717,850
Year 2006
$25,002,495
Year 2005
$17,501,747
Year 2004
$12,251,223
Value of Company at Investment in 2003
$12,251,223
Less: Investment Amount
$3,500,000
Present Value
$8,751,223
Discount for Risk & Private Company
40%
Less: Discount for Risk & Private Company
$3,500,489
Private Company Value
$5,250,734
Present Value (What the Owner Keeps)
$5,250,734
60.00%
Financing (What the Investor Gets)
$3,500,000
40.00%
Total
$8,750,734
100.00%
I hope this helps!
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!
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