7 Reasons Why You Cannot Afford To Miss Employee Pulse Survey
Don’t we all have that one friend whom we secretly envy because he works for an awesome company? Especially since most of us mere mortals dread going to work every morning?
Fortunately, more managers are realizing that they want their offices to be places that make people smile and do a great job. No wonder, considering the overwhelming evidence that successful companies are often the ones that people love working for.
All those places that make you want to smile and do a great job? You bet they have a common trait.
They check. That’s right, they regularly evaluate how their employees feel about them and ensure that they are doing it right.
Employee response is actually out of your hands!
Creating a great work culture isn’t the product of a single decision. Often, it assumes a personality over time and many factors, big and small, go into its making. Sorry, but your gut feeling alone is not enough anymore.
Planning unwelcome surprises is a bad move. Assuming that your team will love your favorite picnic spot is an even worse move. Don’t fancy that you know how your employees feel about something because they may have a totally different idea than yours. When you don’t take into account your employees’ preferences, your plans, however well intended, are sure to backfire.
Ask your people, they will tell you what your guts may never know.
If disgruntled employees are not your ideal work culture, make it a point to listen to your team. Give them platforms to state their opinions, expectations, and suggestions fearlessly. This is where employee pulse surveys come in.
Check what your employees think of the company, and check regularly. Employee productivity, loyalty, performance, and goodwill are more closely linked to the work culture than you think. A lot is at stake!
Here are 7 reasons why no company can afford to overlook employee pulse surveys:
1. Higher the Employee Engagement, Better the Productivity
Last year, they gave out chocolate ice cream at our office on Chocolate Ice Cream Day. I remember the surprise mail asking everyone to gather at the back garden to celebrate, and grinning like it’s Christmas. Sure, it was just ice cream, but it kept me smiling the whole day. Thoughtful gestures like these work in your favor.
And while we are at it, did you know that companies with engaged employees outperform those without it by more than 200%? Engaging employees is important. And to ensure that your employees are engaged and happy, pulse surveys are a must-have.
It’s way more than making your employees smile. It has also a way of making your balance sheets smile!
2. Proves that You Care About the Employees’ Opinion
It seems very obvious, but employee pulse surveys have a way of reminding everyone that they own a voice and that the company is listening.
Do you know what made me happier than chocolate ice cream? When it appeared that they care if I enjoyed it. I remember how my friends joked that we should celebrate Pizza day as well. I suspect they voiced it because, the next Pizza day, we were all given a lip-smacking slice. And it is not all about food. It’s about knowing that your opinions and feedback are valued.
Employees are reassured that their perspectives are appreciated. This drives their loyalty to the company and leads to higher levels of productivity. The overall health of the organization is to gain because everyone falls under the radar and it is in their best interest to deliver optimum results. Being appreciated is a great motivator indeed.
3. Promotes a Culture of Continuous Improvement
It’s all well and good, but the downside is that only 46% of organizations measure employee feedback at least once in a year. Worse, 16% of organizations with 100+ employees never do such a thing!!
If there is one thing worse than not doing an employee survey, it is doing it and forgetting about it. Pulse surveys are a relief because they are short and to the point, regular, and offers real-time insights. Being under constant evaluation and advancement brings about a culture where quality becomes a habit. Survey platforms like SurveySparrow let you automate the surveys to be sent at regular intervals, thus saving precious hours each month.
Pulse surveys are not meant to be an annual wish-wash. Never conduct a survey for the sake of doing it and make your team feel foolish about it by dragging the analysis forever, and not even taking action on it. Such policies end up doing more harm than good.
4. Spots the Red Flags and Lets You Take Remedial Action in Time
Great surveys see all, hear all, and expose all! Too many toxic symptoms threaten to destroy your work culture. And if you look for them, you will find what they are.
Employee pulse surveys are a savior when it comes to spotting the red flags in time and taking remedial action immediately. From workplace bullying, unethical behaviors, unhealthy competition, infectious discontent, dispirited employees and high burnout levels, anything that could turn lethal for your work culture shows themselves in the pulse surveys.
Questions like ‘If you were to quit your job tomorrow, what would be your reason?’ will indicate the factors that you need to watch out for. The real-time nature of pulse surveys is extremely helpful in identifying the weeds and removing them in time. Take charge before things spiral out of your control.
5. Nothing Can Help Employee Retention More
What do you think is the primary reason why people leave their jobs? Money? Nope. Work pressure? No. Personal reasons? Not this time. Its when they feel unvalued that they seek other options.
Reports suggest that majority of employees who quit their jobs, a staggering 76% of them, cite a lack of appreciation as their reason for their leaving. When you think it through, even reasons such as low salary, overwork, issues with the boss and most other often-cited reasons stem from a general feeling of being under-appreciated.
And where should you check for signs of disenchantment? That’s right, the survey insights! Routine questions like ‘Do you see yourself working here one year from now?’ works like a charm to predict your retention rates. Further, these kinds of questions make the employees ponder if they are valued resources and urge them to deliver great work to facilitate such a scenario.
6. Encourages Open Communication and Overall Goodwill
Who would, in their right mind, wish to work at a place where they are ignored? No one!
Posing frequent questions and asking for feedback often triggers people to think about those aspects even when they don’t have a survey to fill in. Pulse surveys are a great way to motivate employees to share suggestions and make recommendations for improvements. In a way, they become a habit. Repetitive questions, in the long run, is proven to foster positive habits.
Actively measuring employee morale is, in effect, a great way to boost it. If the survey question ‘Do you help a new joiner feel welcome to the team?’ prompts one to reach out and be more helpful the next time an employee joins the team, that is a delightful betterment indeed!
7. Pulse Surveys are an Investment; Totally Pays off the Time and Effort
Pulse surveys require consistent time and effort. But the results are totally worth what goes into it.
Reports suggest that an alarming rate of 87% of employees worldwide are not engaged. And most of the companies experiencing this aren’t even aware that they have a problem. The chances of their peers, with a highly engaged workforce, outperforming them is huge.
Employee Pulse Survey is the way to go forward. By offering a quick snapshot of the workforce, highlighting what works in favor of the company and what wouldn’t, and ensuring that their people are happy, the surveys offer priceless insight to any company. And that is why overlooking pulse surveys is the dumbest move you can make, as far as work culture is concerned.
Think you should make Employee Pulse Surveys a habit? Check out our survey templates here.
Originally published at surveysparrow.com on February 15, 2018.
