ESAT Survey Process Links

1. Determining the Need to Survey 2. Selling the Survey to Management 3. Determining What to Ask 4. Selecting the Methodology 5. When to Require Questions 6. Proofing and Testing 7. Marketing the Survey 8. Inviting the Employees 9. Obtaining a High Response Rate 10. Selecting the Norms to Use 11. Interpreting the Results 12. Sharing the Results 13. Acting on the Results 14. When to Repeat the Survey

It is common for one farsighted person in an organization to realize the need for an employee satisfaction survey. The task then becomes convincing critical decision makers of the need for such a survey. If the survey is unbudgeted, the task may seem formidable - but it is not.

In the absence of information about how employees view the workplace, decisions affecting productivity, morale, turnover, pay, and benefits costs are made in an information vacuum. Money and resources directed toward items that don't need improvement (or, worse yet, result in decline) in these items are essentially wasted. If a company were to focus resources on improving a particular benefit when the real need employees have is more training and better communication, the end result would be a more costly benefits program than necessary and continued employee frustration.

One client of ours reduced turnover in the organization from more than 50% to less than 30% after acting on the survey results we provided. Their estimated annual cost savings are $2 million per year. Their investment? Approximately $10,000. The survey paid for itself 200 times over.

Estimates of how much is saved by reducing turnover vary depending upon the amount of training needed for someone to reach full productivity. Organizations with more highly-skilled workforces will realize the greatest cost savings and increases in productivity. Harvard Business Review reports that a 5% decrease in retention results in a 10% decline in costs and a productivity boost of between 25% and 65%.

The above represent the "hard" benefits. There also are "soft" benefits, which are somewhat more difficult to quantify. Employees appreciate being asked for their opinions, and appreciate it all the more when survey results are acted upon. When changes are made that make employees feel better about coming to work, several benefits, aside from decreased turnover, can result. These include:

• More energetic employees,
• Increased productivity, as happier employees will tend to "go the extra mile,"
• Improved teamwork, as employees get to know each other better (since they are staying longer),
• Higher quality products and services, due to a more competent, energized workforce and improved processes (processes identified in need of improvement in the survey),
• More satisfied customers, due to the higher quality products, services, and service levels provided by the energized workforce.

Advances in technology have made it possible for management to act on survey results in a very timely manner. It is common for our clients to have survey results, (including an analysis of strengths and weaknesses, and recommendations), in hand within four weeks after contacting us.