Employee Surveys

Human capital is one of the most important and significant keys to an organization's success. Employee satisfaction with the workplace, in professional, social and personal terms, affects their level of engagement in the organization, their professional motivation, and the general atmosphere within the company. An employee survey is a vital empirical tool that sheds light on what employees think and feel and how the organization should invest resources and attention in order to improve employee experience. Properly performed methodological surveys provide an empirical basis for devising effective work plans to improve employee experience and their relationship with the organization.

 

Employee surveys are an important management tool that sheds light on what employees think and feel. The survey signals to the organization where it should invest resources and attention in order to improve employee engagement and satisfaction. Creating a professional and social work environment that is pleasant, challenging, rewarding,  appreciative, promotive and respectful is a goal that every major organization must set. Metoda’s organizational surveys are an effective management tool for achieving these goals. These surveys reveal the attitudes among the organization’s employees and managers, and help identify strengths and weaknesses in the face of the existing challenges throughout the various stages of research.

 

Survey Process in Metoda’s Surveys

Survey Plan - Profiling the organization's needs and planning a customized research program, defining the research variables and adjusting the questionnaires for the specific organization. The survey process begins with an evaluation of the needs, after which the research variables are set and a customized research program is devised. The questionnaire in the survey is based on Metoda’s questionnaires, with adjustments made to the content, wording and structure. The organization’s project managers take part in writing the questionnaire, in order to achieve the optimal research tools.

 

Survey Implementation - Planning user-friendly online questionnaires for respondents; translating the questionnaire into various languages ​​for global research programs; completing the data collection for research purposes using multiple methods in organizations that require it (Pencil and Paper questionnaires, kiosks).

 

Survey Summery - Conducting statistical analysis of the survey data at reference levels matching the organization; presenting the data, drawing conclusions from the research and creating a reader-friendly executive summary presentation; planning future studies for examining trends in parameters that are observed over time.

 

Methodological Aspects in Employee Surveys

Employee surveys include several stages of research as well as organizational and methodological decision-making at each stage. When planning research programs for Metoda’s organizational surveys, methodological aspects that affect the survey process and its reliability are addressed as well.

 

Communicating the survey to employees - The employees’ willingness to participate in surveys is not self-evident. It is important to communicate to employees the survey’s purpose and importance - for the organization and for the employees. It is important that the management help convey the messages to the employees and create a positive survey atmosphere within the organization. Organizations whose managements recognize the value of employee surveys, facilitate the process and stress the importance of the survey to the employees, enjoy a higher response rate for surveys.

 

Phrasing Tailored Questionnaires - Questionnaires in employee surveys should be tailored to the needs of the organization. The questionnaire must tackle the research question in a reliable and valid manner and be adjusted to the organization’s vernacular and culture. The content of the questionnaire (wording, structure and inner logic) should increase the chances that the employees will understand the questions as the survey authors intended and answer the questions fully and honestly.

 

Designing the Questionnaire - The graphic design and structure of the questionnaire should be user friendly. It is recommended not to overload the questionnaire with graphic elements and design gimmicks. All these distract the respondents from the questions and create methodological noise.

 

Defining Organizational Groups - It is necessary to profile the organizational groups relevant to the survey (departments, units and teams; employees on international sites, non-Hebrew speaking employees; employees without access to a computer, etc.). A proper definition of the organizational groups will enable proper planning of the research program when formulating the questionnaire, collecting the data and analyzing the findings.

 

Keeping Employees Anonymity - Employee surveys should be done anonymously. The option of anonymity affects the willingness to participate in the survey and provide honest answers. During the questionnaire and upon submission of the survey, it should be made clear to the employees that the survey is anonymous in order to dispel any concerns in this regard.

 

Minimizing Refusal - Any survey in which the number of respondents differs from the number of employees who received the survey, is theoretically at risk of producing biased results. The response rate in the survey reflects the employees' motivation to disclose to the management their thoughts, feelings and experiences. The employees’ willingness to participate indicates their level of trust in the management and the survey process itself (trust in the guarantee that the information in the survey will remain anonymous; trust in the management's intention to listen to the employees and improve the work environment based on their responses to the survey, etc.). Various measures can be taken to reduce the number of people who refuse to take part in the survey (and increase the number of respondents): motivating employees to respond and raising awareness of the survey; ensuring the anonymity of the employees’ answers to the survey; involving the organization's management in the survey process – having them stress the importance and applications of the survey; formulating and designing user-friendly questionnaires with clear questions, clean design and a properly structured order of topics and questions; stating the survey’s objectives and its significance to the organization and employees; affirming the organization's intentions to implement the findings of the survey in order to ensure continuous improvement in the work environment.

 

Sharing Survey Results with Employees - Once the survey is completed, it is important to share the findings with the employees and inform them what the organization intends to do in light of them. It is not necessary to present all the findings and subsequent objectives, certainly not to disclose information regarding specific groups in the organization (departments, groups, teams). However, the organization's management should convey to employees that they are listening to them and are truly intending to make changes and improvements to the employees’ experience. Sharing the survey findings with the employees is an important stage in the effort to persuade them to participate in future surveys and, increasing their trust in the process and the management.

 

Implementing Survey Results - After sharing the survey findings with the employees, it is important to implement them. The findings serve as an effective empirical basis for devising work plans. Organizations should conduct employee surveys only when they have a genuine intention and willingness to listen and act in accordance with what they hear.