The Employee Satisfaction Survey Process
If you haven't yet conducted an employee satisfaction survey, you may wonder how the process
should work. We have outlined some of the key steps and considerations in this section. Simply select from the steps
in the table to the right of this text.
At first glance, this may look like a daunting process, but it isn't. It actually takes only a few weeks
from start to finish. We've conducted hundreds of employee satisfaction surveys, and know how to make the process work as smoothly
as possible.
Most organizations will need to conduct and employee satisfaction (ESAT) survey at some point. In determining the need to survey, we
discuss how urgent the need is, depending upon several factors. Sometimes key managers are hesitant to commit funds to an ESAT. In
selling the survey to management, we provide a financial justification that should overcome
management objections.
Once you have the funding to conduct an ESAT, the survey design process begins. In determining what to ask, we
review the process we will take you through to customize your questionnaire. The selecting the methodology section
addresses how to determine whether paper, the Internet, or a combination of the two should be used.
One of the nice things about Internet surveys is that you can require that certain questions be answered. We discuss when
to require questions.
Once the survey has been designed, proofing and testing begins. Marketing the survey is a process
that actually can begin before the survey is designed, proofed, and tested. After that, the next stage is inviting the employees; on that
page we discuss the elements of a good invitation. We usually attain very high response rates in our studies, by following the
procedured discussed in obtaining a high response rate.
Once data collection is complete, the reporting process begins. You will need to select the norms to use in
comparisons on the standard items in the study. Norms are just one part of interpreting the results. When the
results are ready, it is time to begin sharing the results with employees. Of course, one of the most
critical phases is acting on the results. Finally, we discuss when to repeat the survey.
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