BOOSTING EMPLOYEE MORALE WITH EMPLOYEE SURVEYS

BOOSTING EMPLOYEE MORALE WITH EMPLOYEE SURVEYS
BY: BILL ROCHE
copyright 2009 bill roche

DO YOU KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOUR EMPLOYEES FEEL WHEN
monday morning approaches?

ARE THEY EAGER TO GET BACK TO A SATISFYING
workplace and to perform important tasks?

OR, DO THEY SIT HOME SUNDAY NIGHT DREADING
another week of unimportant work performed for
an ogre of a boss?

the truth is probably somewhere in between; but
without actual knowledge of the facts, it's hard
TO IMPROVE ANYTHING.

the ideal workplace provides employees with
EMPOWERMENT AND DIRECTION WHEN NEEDED, BUT SHIES
away from unnecessary micro-management.
employees feel they are contributing to
MEANINGFUL GOALS IN A SIGNIFICANT WAY. THE IDEAL
workplace offers compensation and benefits that
meet the needs of employees and cause them to
REMAIN LOYAL TO AN ORGANIZATION FOR THE LONG
term.

IF YOU DON'T KNOW WHERE YOUR EMPLOYEES' MORALE
level stands, you can't make life better or
productivity higher. better morale means greater
PRODUCTIVITY WHICH TRANSLATES INTO AN IMPROVED
bottom line. unhappy employees miss more work
and produce inferior work.

by measuring your employee morale level through
an employee satisfaction survey, you can learn
HOW YOUR EMPLOYEES FEEL - PROVIDED YOUR
employees believe that their honest input will
result in appropriate change where needed. the
DANGER OF CONDUCTING EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION
surveys, of course, is that if you do not allow
change where change is needed, you may well
CAUSE EMPLOYEE MORALE TO DROP EVEN LOWER.

suppose, for instance, that one result of a
SURVEY IS THAT YOUR EMPLOYEES FEEL YOUR
management style inhibits effective production
of quality work. would you be willing to alter
YOUR MANAGEMENT STYLE AND MORE PROACTIVELY
empower employees?

IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO CHANGE, YOU WILL LIKELY
be wasting time and money by performing surveys.
if you're willing to keep an open mind, surveys
CAN LEAD YOUR ORGANIZATION TO GREATER HEIGHTS
and result in decisive morale increases.

SOME QUESTIONS THAT CAN REVEAL A GREAT DEAL
about employee satisfaction include:

(1) DO YOU FEEL THAT MANAGEMENT LISTENS TO YOUR
ideas on how to best accomplish tasks?

(2) IS THERE A RECOGNIZABLE TIE BETWEEN HOW WELL
you perform your job and your monetary
compensation?

(3) do you often feel you could do a better job
if management would only get out of the way?

(4) do you feel, once assigned a task, that you
are empowered to perform that task?

(5) do you feel that innovative thinking or
"outside the box" thinking is encouraged and
REWARDED?

(6) are there enough recognition programs for
RECOGNIZING OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS ON THE
part of employees?

AN EFFECTIVE EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION SURVEY SHOULD
not be too lengthy; 20 to 40 questions ought to
reveal what you need to know about your
EMPLOYEES. WHETHER YOU SELECT YES/NO QUESTIONS
or choose a 1 to 5 scale (where 5 means complete
agreement and 1 means complete disagreement with
A SURVEY STATEMENT), YOU SHOULD, UPON SURVEY
completion, compile the results using a database
that will let you to analyze the results and
CONVERT THEM INTO BAR CHARTS OR OTHER GRAPHICS
which make them easier to understand.

ONCE YOU'VE ANALYZED THE SURVEY RESULTS,
feedback to the employees is crucial. otherwise,
they will likely conclude that what they have to
SAY DOESN'T MATTER, RESULTING IN AN ADDITIONAL
hit to morale.

HOPEFULLY, SOME OF YOUR SURVEY RESULTS WILL
indicate areas of high employee morale. those
areas are not likely to need significant
ATTENTION. THE AREAS WHERE EMPLOYEE MORALE GETS
low scores offer the greatest potential for
improvement. develop an action plan and
IMPLEMENT THAT PLAN WITH FULL KNOWLEDGE OF
employees. better yet, involve employees
directly. employee involvement in the
DEVELOPMENT OF THE ACTION PLAN AND ITS
implementation can lead to positive outcomes and
creative solutions to identified challenges.

most importantly, be aware that you can only fix
what you know is broken. once you've identified
AREAS OF LOW EMPLOYEE MORALE, YOU CAN ZERO IN ON
those weak spots and achieve measurable
increases in employee morale, productivity,
ATTENDANCE AND LOYALTY ON THE PART OF YOUR
employees.

about the author:
bill roche is the publisher of "boosting
EMPLOYEE MORALE," A FREE EZINE THAT PROVIDES
readers with tips on how to improve employee
morale. for regular tips to move you toward a
MORE POSITIVE AND PRODUCTIVE WORK ENVIRONMENT,
sign up for your own subscription at:
http://www.topresults.com

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