On the surface, the main role of an employee engagement survey is for data collection. However, there are multiple hidden benefits and values of an employee engagement survey. As a recruitment and talent acquisition agency in Singapore, we believe in the importance of annual employee engagement surveys. You’re about to find out why!
What is an employee engagement survey
To put it simply, an employee engagement survey is a survey that is designed to measure your employee’s motivations and engagement within the workplace. These types of surveys are also useful when it comes to gaining insight into the employee’s thoughts and attitudes towards their work environment.
Now that you understand the main aim of employee engagement surveys. Below are some guidelines you might want to follow when conducting an internal company survey:
A. Define the goal of the survey: What are you looking to uncover with the data collected in the survey? Before you begin it is best to try and define the top questions you’d want to ask as well.
B. Pay attention to the questions you ask: The two major faults a survey can have boils down to the type of questions it asks. The first fault would be utilising open-ended questions. The second would be to use leading questions. For those unaware, the term leading question refers to questions that influence a portion of the candidate’s answers. Doing this will of course skew the results of the survey.
Finally, it is best to stay away from double barrelled questions. The term double barrelled questions refers to the phenomenon when the question asks for two different opinions within the same question. More information on the best way to phrase survey questions can be found in this article by Survey Monkey here.
C. Test and preview your survey before sending it out: Imagine this. You’ve spent your time carefully curating one of the best employee engagement surveys, you’ve created. But alas! You forgot to add a final question. Or even worse, you forgot to re-word a sensitive question. The best way to prevent any mishaps is by simply previewing and testing the survey out before sending it out. It’ll be even better if you shared the survey with other members in the team and/or company to gain more insights about it.
Benefits of an employee engagement survey
Now that you understand what an employee engagement survey is. Let’s discuss both the tangible and extrinsic benefits of hosting an employee engagement survey.
1. Honest feedback from those on the ground
One of the multiple benefits of hosting a large scale employee engagement survey is the ability to garner honest feedback from those on the ground. This feedback can then be used to make changes that employees on the ground actually want.
Employee engagement surveys also allow employees a platform to provide open feedback. In other words, employee engagement surveys are a great way to establish two-way communication in a less stressful environment. In addition, this communication makes employees feel like their feedback is valued!
2. Predicts possible turnovers
According to this article by HR Daily Advisor, one of the main benefits of an employee engagement survey is the ability to predict possible turnover rates. It is up to your HR department and organization to decide how direct you’d like to be with questions around turnovers. Another benefit of employee engagement surveys is the ability for employees to express their feelings anonymously. Because the surveys are anonymous, employees often feel comfortable voicing out their opinions.
3. Allow HR executives to make the right changes to the organization
The only way to find out what your employees truly want is by gently asking everyone at the workplace, what they want. The great thing with holding annual employee engagement surveys is that it can be customised to completely match the organization’s needs.
In addition, providing your participants with a chance to win a small incentive can help generate bolder responses. It also allows your organization to continually hold surveys, as people tend to be more motivated if monetary benefits are involved!
Keep in mind that unhappy employees will find a way to voice their opinions, somehow. Make your colleagues feel heard by providing them a platform to speak their truths! Or would you rather have them send their unfiltered reviews on public platforms such as Glassdoor and LinkedIn?
4. Allows the organization to spot yearly trends!
Or any trends for that matter. As more and more organizations get saturated with employees from different generations. Holding surveys can help you distinguish the wants and needs of your multigenerational workforce.
In addition, your employees are often the key to helping your organization provide better solutions for your clients. They’re on the ground, talking and dealing directly with your clients and customers. As a result, they’re your best bet on finding out what your customers want and need.
As an HR outsourcing agency in Singapore, we have a number of articles written specifically to help your organization tackle HR related issues. Browse the BGC Group blog here for more HR related articles!
What are some hidden values that you’ve experienced from employee engagement surveys? Share them with us in the comments section below!
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