On the surface, your employees may seem happy at work, but are they truly engaged in their role? Engaged employees are those who are enthusiastic and motivated to uphold the company values and reputation.
A survey by Engaged Marketing, however, found Australian workers tend to be disengaged, with stress reported among 32% of respondents and frustration among 29%.
So could an employee engagement survey improve these statistics and your business? In short – yes. This common tool can aid you in understanding what your teams think about the company and its operations. They are useful for identifying areas of improvement, such as high turnover and absenteeism, but they can also give employees a voice into how engagement, and subsequently business operations, can be better.
Here are a few benefits of the Employee Engagement Survey
- Improved culture
Engaged employees are more likely to fit into the team culture because they believe in the company values and their role in the team. If you have a poor team culture, an employee engagement survey could point out the reasons why.
Keep the survey anonymous, and ask specific questions related to culture, such as what makes employees proud to work here. The resulting information should be honest and open and may prove insightful into why some areas have a toxic culture and how to make changes to team structure, onboarding processes and recruitment when you look for staff.
- Reduced staff turnover
Disengagement and high turnover go hand in hand – disengaged employees are less likely to view their role as a long-term career choice. An employee engagement survey that questions potential reasons for high turnover could be the key to reducing the stats. Is there a lack of recognition for effort and success? Can you consider a recognition program? Have employees cited a lack of transparency during internal recruitment processes? Can you improve these processes to ensure employees are promoted on merit?
- Increased productivity
Engaged, motivated employees gain satisfaction from working towards strategic goals and are productive workers. An employee engagement survey might use strategic questions to gain information about how to improve productivity – are the current leaders engaging the team? How well do they motivate others? Is poor equipment a barrier to productivity? It’s the responses to these questions that can help you identify the areas of low productivity and work towards improving team dynamics.
- Increased profitability
Employee engagement surveys can even be useful to give your bottom line a boost. If sales targets aren’t being met or profits falling, an anonymous survey may reveal a breakdown in processes, leading to myriad problems such as low team morale, decreased motivation, reduced sales, referrals and client confidence.
An employee engagement survey may just be the tool to provide valuable information on team engagement levels, and how you can create a positive team culture that helps improve your business results.
