Conducting Employee Opinion Surveys

Gathering Insights for a Better Workplace

Employee opinion surveys are an excellent way to gather input from your staff. Employees greatly appreciate the opportunity to have their voices heard. Gathering information from your employees provides you with an excellent method of gaining insight into workplace issues and the opportunity to take action for positive change.  Here are some tips for getting the most out of the process:

• Determine the goals and objectives of the survey and how best to collect the data, whether it be individual interviews, focus groups or anonymous online surveys.
• Ensure you communicate to all your employees the full details of the survey, including why it is being conducted, how you will be conducting it and when, and when you will follow up on the data collected.
• Recognize that it is a process, and getting answers to your questions is only the beginning. The more important part of the process is communicating back to the employees on the information you receive, analyzing the input and acting on the issues uncovered in the survey.
• Depending on the type of survey, ensure the process is confidential and anonymous; using an online tool is preferable in terms of confidentiality and security.
• Communicate the results to your employees and provide an action plan to address any significant issues raised in the survey.
• Involve employees in developing and executing the action plans to ensure they take ownership of the key issues and ultimately successful outcomes.
• Regularly update all your employees on how your action plan progresses using various formal and informal communication tools.
• Include both quantifiable (e.g. asking employees to respond on a scale of one to five) and open-ended questions in the survey. This will allow you to measure results over time.
• Conduct the survey regularly (usually annually) so that you and your employees can measure progress over time, and you can uncover other challenges and issues that may arise.

Sample statements could include the following:

• Open communication is regularly practiced in our company.
• I am kept informed about the future direction of our company.
• My company is committed to maintaining a safe and healthy work environment.
• I enjoy working at my company.
• I am satisfied with my work schedule, hours and workload.
• My supervisor solves work problems.
• My annual appraisals are fair and accurately reflect my work performance.
• My job makes good use of my skills and abilities.

Sample open-ended questions could include the following:

• What do you enjoy most/least about the Company here?
• What could the Company do to make things better?
• How would you describe communications within your team?
• Describe any challenges you are experiencing that are preventing you from doing your job well?
• Would you encourage a friend/relative to work here? Why or why not?

Try Survey Monkey https://www.surveymonkey.com or Qualtrics https://www.qualtrics.com to create an online survey.   They offer free accounts with basic tools and include options to upgrade for a cost.