Knowing how satisfied employees are is much easier when you keep in touch. From uncovering simmering crises to simply strengthening HR-employee relationships—communication is key. When employees know their input is valued, their satisfaction will be greater. The more satisfied employees are, the more productive, more loyal and more profitable they’ll be.
4 reasons why traditional employee feedback efforts fall short
No substitute exists for soliciting specific opinions and other information directly from employees. It’s the best way to measure different workplace metrics over time, as well as internal efforts to improve them. But traditional feedback collection methods often yield less-than-thorough results because they are:
Too infrequent — it’s hard to stay abreast of developing conflicts or seize timely opportunities if you’re only engaging employees once or twice a year. More frequent, shorter, even less formal surveys can make the feedback you collect more valuable.
Too threatening — not everyone is comfortable sitting face-to-face with their supervisor or someone from HR. They put up their guard, editing feelings and remarks they feel may cause repercussions.
Too long — In their creators’ attempts to be thorough, many HR satisfaction questionnaires or surveys are too long to solicit quality information. By the middle of a 40-question survey, many busy employees get distracted, fatigued or simply overwhelmed, giving minimal thought, if any, to important questions.
Too one-dimensional — Many managers looking for specific input forget that employees may have other insights that don’t fit neatly into a checkbox. A catchall “Comments” section at the end of a survey rarely yields the details an employee would have otherwise offered had they attached it to a specific question.
8 ways to get better employee feedback
We’re in the midst of the Information Age precisely because technology enables people to offer it and others to easily collect it. Mobile surveys and quizzes offer HR professionals a high-tech, high-touch way to engage employees in ways traditional methods simply can’t. For better info:
Let employees use the device of their choice — instead of interrupting a busy workday, survey or quiz employees at their convenience. Encourage them to use their mobile phone or tablet as well as their desktop—any Internet-connected device. Their familiarity with the device makes the survey less intrusive.
Keep it short — instead of trying to learn a year’s worth of insights with one survey, send regular quick-hit surveys of 4 or 5 questions each. Number each question so they know their progress throughout the survey.
Don’t be afraid to entertain — we’re all human, we enjoy a good laugh; we appreciate attempts to lighten serious subjects. Be personal in the way you write your survey, offer offbeat answer choices. The more human the tone, the more relaxed and appreciative employees will be.
Engage, engage, engage — mobile surveys and quizzes let you add photos, video and audio files to your questions. By all means, make those entertaining, too!
Challenge employees — use a survey or quiz to show them their knowledge on a certain topic compared to their co-workers. Get the same valuable feedback in a less formal way so it feels like a game for the employee.
Don’t name names — you don’t have to require employees to provide their personal information. If you want an organization-wide audit of employee knowledge or opinion, make sure everyone knows their input won’t be attributed.
Survey or quiz around themes or events — track the evolution of a change management initiative, a new marketing campaign, employee training or seasonal events. Again, a quick-hit, short survey will help you get insights quickly.
Don’t wait for results — mobile survey and quiz results are available the instant the employee hits ‘submit.’. Management can use these insights immediately to take advantage of an unforeseen opportunity or to head off a crisis that can reduce employee satisfaction.
Start getting better employee feedback tomorrow. (I really mean tomorrow.) Creating a mobile survey or quiz can be accomplished quickly using an online platform. Simply uploading your organization’s logo automatically brands your survey. Building the questions is as simple as choosing the question type and writing the questions and answer choices. Add a photo, video or audio file to each one to make them more intriguing. At the end of the creation process, you’ll get a unique URL and QR code that you can print, project or email to invite participation. Because the quiz or survey resides online, there’s no app for employees to install on their mobile device—they can take it as easily as you created it.
Build a better HR satisfaction survey
Paper surveys are relics. Making people take an online survey or quiz at their desk isn’t conducive to getting free-flowing employee feedback. Mobile surveys and quizzes give employees choice as well as convenience and provide HR with a more complete, timelier and more actionable look at employee morale, co-worker assessment, product knowledge, suggestions and overall awareness.
