At Research & Marketing Strategies, Inc. (RMS), we understand the top barriers to conducting employee surveys.  From the perspective of employers, a common barrier is the fear of receiving negative feedback from employees. Most business owners would agree that they prefer happy hardworking employees to dissatisfied ones. To create a positive work environment, business owners must understand employees’ expectations – what they like about the workplace, what they dislike, as well as what they need and want to be productive in their jobs.  Employee surveys are an insightful tool to gather this information.

 

Here are three reasons why you should conduct employee surveys:

1. Increase Employee Satisfaction

Engaging employees is a critical step to establishing a positive culture in the workplace. Give employees an opportunity to offer input into their work environment, provide opinions, offer suggestions, and share workplace expectations. Employee satisfaction surveys are a great tool to benchmark overall satisfaction, measure expectations, gather opinions, and to gauge perceptions anonymously. Moreover, engaged employees are most likely to remain with your organization minimizing expensive employee turnover costs.

2. Increase Organization Effectiveness

In a study, Heskett, Sasser, and Schlesinger¹ talk about the “satisfaction mirror,” a continuous process in which employee attitudes and behavior are reflected in customers. Their research showed that satisfied and engaged employees result in greater customer loyalty to the company, increased repeat business, and more positive word-of-mouth comments about the organization. By increasing employee satisfaction you will create a more cohesive brand and stronger company identity.

3. Increase Bottom Line

According to Hay Group², a leading human resources consulting firm, companies that maintain a high employee satisfaction and engagement rating achieve 2.5 times the revenue growth than those that have the lowest rating. This research also showed that highly satisfied employees increase customers’ satisfaction and loyalty. Customer satisfaction and repurchase intent is twice as strong among firms where employees report high employee satisfaction.³

Employee satisfaction surveys are an excellent tool to learn from your employees and create a forum for two-way communication. Research & Marketing Strategies (RMS) is a market research firm located in Syracuse, NY. If you are interested in learning more about our market research services please contact the Senior Director of Business Development & Corporate Strategy, Sandy Baker at SandyB@RMSresults.com or by calling 1-866-567-5422.

¹ Heskett, J., Sasser, W. E., & Schelsinger, L. (1997) The Service Profit Chain. New York: The Free Press.

² Hay Group. (2014). The New Rules of Engagement. Retrieved March 13, 2015, from http://www.haygroup.com/en/our-library/whitepapers/new-rules-of-engagement-report/

³ Groenig, C., Evanschitzky, H., Mittal, V., & Wunderlich, M. (2011). Customer, Employer, and Employee Satisfaction in Small-Service Settings: An Application to Franchise Networks. Journal of Service Research, June.