19th May 2022

Staff Surveys

Standard Candle HR were engaged in conducting an employee engagement survey with one of their clients in the Technical Services industry. This Company successfully implemented work from the home model in response to the pandemic. The Company is looking to manage its workplace culture best as they recover from the effects of the pandemic.

The employee engagement survey allowed the employer to ensure that they form an emotional and mental connection with their employees, which helps to improve employee engagement and safety. The employer understood that engaged employees are more likely to remain connected to the workplace, allowing them to better develop resilience in the face of adversity with the ever-changing impacts of the pandemic.

The objective was to conduct 1:1 meetings with each person in the business, document and examine how they feel about their role and obtain feedback and suggestions for areas of improvement. Additionally, to investigate and document if an employee is personally struggling from the effects of the pandemic and identify areas in which the Company can offer support.

Before engaging with the employees, Standard Candle HR worked collaboratively with the client to determine an appropriate set of questions for the survey. The comprehensive survey was broken into two sections:

1. The first section included a Likert scale with a series of questions relating to the employee's experience in the business and covered areas such as overall satisfaction, training, connection with the manager and staff members, the business response to the pandemic and the employees' future opportunities with the Company.

A Likert scale measures the response to a statement, with the most common example being:

Strongly Disagree
Disagree
Neither Agree nor Disagree
Agree
Strongly Agree.

This method will let you uncover degrees of opinion that could make a real difference in understanding the feedback you are getting. And it can also pinpoint the areas where your business might want to improve business.

 

2. The section was an open-ended feedback response section, where employees could provide expanded answers and deliver feedback in their voices. In almost every case, the employee's answers in Section 1 were reiterated and expanded by the employee in Section 2. This method allows the employee to emphasise critical points (both positive and negative) and pinpoints the talking points for the interview process.

The survey showed that employee engagement levels were high, suggesting a solid company culture and hard-wearing sense of inter-staff connection. Over 90% of staff demonstrated a drive toward common goals and were complimentary towards the leadership in the business. The employee survey highlighted those leaders effectively recognised staff contributions and highlighted a true sense of belonging and satisfaction within the Company.

The survey specifically asked employees for feedback on areas of improvement or development either within themselves or within company operations. Most employees were able to provide constructive feedback regarding this. Areas such as additional training to better one's skill set and streamlining position descriptions and responsibilities are common areas of improvement that the employees suggested.

The employee survey showed varying levels of acceptance of working from home felt by staff across the organisation. There was an increase in employee satisfaction about finding a satisfactory balance between their personal and work life; however, it depended on the person's role within the Company.

People in traditional white-collar roles (such as sales, accounts, admin and customer service staff) welcomed working from home arrangements, with many advising that they were more productive and motivated in a home-office environment. Many of these staff members felt that the communication between the staff members has increased, thanks to increased contact through virtual meeting platforms and regular phone calls. Interestingly, many reported that scheduled meetings were more productive, as they now have set agendas and specific outcomes that needed to be addressed.

However, staff in traditionally blue-collar roles (such as technicians and store people) were physically unable to complete their work. It created two distinct areas of concern: The first concern was the longing for interpersonal connection. While most accepted that reduced interpersonal connection was a matter of circumstance, some still felt isolated and disconnected from their colleagues and managers. This feeling was most common in extroverted staff members. Unfortunately, virtual connections did not resonate the same with these staff members, leaving them to feel lonely. The second concern was an increase in the workload of on-site staff. On-site staff reported an increase in time-consuming tasks such as additional printing, searching for stock and answering phone calls. While these tasks were minor, the number of functions that had been redirected caused a significant increase in the workload of on-site staff.

Overall the results of the survey were very positive. It is evident from the responses to the survey that our client has a strong company culture, with an engaged and motivated workforce led by strong management and cooperative management. Standard Candle HR highlighted areas of improvement as suggested by the employees and provided tangible and statistical feedback for the management to consider. The Company can now use the data extracted from the survey to look at the focus on their future and implement strategies to address areas of development as raised by the employees.

 

Is your business considering engaging in an HR survey?

A carefully designed and conducted employee survey can reveal a great deal of information about employee perceptions that management can use to improve the workplace. Organisation responsiveness to employee feedback leads to higher retention rates, lower absenteeism, improved productivity, better customer service and higher employee morale. Conducting a survey can send a positive message to employees that their opinions are valued. In addition, managers can gain insights into issues affecting their departments or business units to manage more effectively.

 

What to do with the data?

When analysing your employee response data, it is important to ask questions. Are any results particularly surprising? Which require immediate action, and which are less pressing? These questions will help you appropriately respond to employee engagement survey results.

You should generally prioritise issues by their potential impact on your team and organisation. For example, if the data shows that employees aren't feeling appreciated, you should encourage employees to participate in your recognition program to nip this in the bud. Or, if you find that employees aren't buying into your culture or company values, it's time to take action before your business faces the consequences of a poor work environment. After the most pressing issues are resolved, you can move on to other areas of improvement. Whatever the matter is, loop in relevant stakeholders early on.

 

Call HR Expert Advisor Kristen Jowsey for a 15-minute compliment call to discuss engaging Standard Candle HR to manage your Staff HR survey on 1300 620 100.

Staff Surveys

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