Express surveys as an integral part of the workflow in successful companies

2014-12-22

«Is your manager interested in your opinion when he’s setting work targets?», «Are you aware of your company’s strategic objectives and do you understand them?», «Considering last week’s completed tasks, what is your best achievement?». Such questions appear on lots of employee’s screens in many companies once a week or a few times a month. They do not take a significant amount of time, while regularly providing valuable information to the management.

Express surveys became an indispensable element in the organization of work for a relatively short time. They have formed a new trend, which is the management based on data. Modern online technologies and mobile applications have made previously complicated analytical tools simple and accessible even to small firms with limited budget. Short studies with instant results help staff management to make reasonable decisions in all areas of the workflow, starting with the overall development strategy of the company and ending with drinks for the next corporate party.

According to the research of Society for Human Resource Management, 75% of the companies organize various studies of employees’ moods and satisfaction. However, such surveys are being conducted preferably once or twice per year and such an approach reduces their effectiveness greatly. Both workers and management do not really believe in changes designed for a long-term perspective. In such circumstances, express surveys have obvious advantages due to regularity, simplicity and speed of implementation. In addition, with the right approach, such studies strengthen a sense of camaraderie in the team and the credibility of the management personnel. Many workers appreciate the opportunity to share their worries or concerns without risk of the influence on their career in the company.

The experience of foreign companies after the implementation of express surveys into the workflow

A company from Seattle (USA) asks its employees one question on conditions of anonymity once a week. It may be related to any, more or less significant, aspect of the working scope. For example, ideas on how to improve customer service or opinions about the convenience of office furniture. Such an approach works well regularly, allowing managers to react instantly, to eliminate the existing problems, and to improve the service. Thus, it appeared that the majority of the company’s employees, who are working remotely, feel less happy than those, who work in the central office. At the height of the business season, this trend becomes even more evident. The company’s CEO managed to invest additional funds into telecommunication facilities. This way he has solved the problem and increased staff loyalty together with working efficiency.

Some companies are using the express surveys regularly to monitor the impact of staff moods on sales and productivity. A well-known Chicago-based company, which manages several international retail chains, conducted a similar study last year. Thanks to a short anonymous survey, company managers were informed about the mood of the staff in any of the stores every day. It has justified the assumptions about the differences in employee satisfaction in different regions at certain times of the season. Surveys’ results also showed how employee satisfaction influences sales and customer satisfaction. The company found that in stores, where staff stays in good mood during the day, sales indicators and customer loyalty are significantly higher, in comparison with the ones, where employees are in a neutral or bad mood.

The vice-president of another Chicago company has made a shocking discovery after the implementation of express surveys practice. He has found that workers understood the philosophy of the company very vaguely and could not clearly explain it. Survey results have become a prerequisite for a detailed explanation of business goals to the employees.

Features of express surveys organization in the company.

In the field of express surveys, as in any other, it is important to understand all the nuances and subtleties of their organization for receiving relevant and reliable answers. You should not forget that the excessive number of questions only tires employees. In addition, a lack of qualitative changes or decisions after conducting surveys will only disappoint staff and minimize the effectiveness of studies.

Therefore, if you are serious about improving the quality and productivity of your staff, then please, contact Examinare. We will help you to integrate the practice of express surveys into the workflow of your company properly. At the same time, our consultants are always ready to provide personalized recommendations on how to organize surveys of any complexity, analyze received data and effectively interpret the results.

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