A Better Way to Survey
There's a better way to survey!
As we reach the end of another calendar year, it’s common to reflect on what the past year brought us, what we accomplished, and what work is still ahead of us to reach our goals.
Many companies start thinking about employee surveys toward the end of the year, whether it’s the calendar or fiscal year. Here are some easy ways to make the entire experience better for your employees, the team analyzing the information, and your company.
Break it up!
You don’t have to do it all in one swing. In fact, making employees fill out a long and comprehensive survey makes the whole thing a drag for everyone involved. Employees have to set aside time to give feedback on ALL OF THE THINGS, so they won’t, or they’ll mindlessly click through it and provide feedback that’s not helpful at all.
From the HR perspective, the enormous task of sorting through and reporting on all of that data can extremely cumbersome. Then, when you add to that the task of address the that large amount of feedback, it can create lofty and unrealistic goals that are difficult to achieve.
Instead, think about chunking out your surveys, or breaking up the questions into smaller chunks. Ask a smaller number of questions once a month or once per quarter, and hone in on one focus for that survey. Keep it simple and just use one of the sections that you may have already planned to use in your annual survey!
Focus area 1: work environment and resources
Focus area 2: leadership and company direction
Focus area 3: teamwork and culture
Focus area 4: Professional development and goals
Many HRIS platforms offer engagement tools or modules that help you administer short "pulse" surveys to get faster, real-time feedback on how your employees are feeling. If you use an HRIS, check out what options it may have for supporting employee surveys or pulse surveys.
Mix it up!
Put in a few fun questions – without getting weird. Keep it business and workplace-related, but take a lighter approach at finding out what makes your employees tick.
What’s the coolest thing about your job?
What’s your biggest pet peeve about your job?
How do you like to celebrate?
What’s your favorite snack?
These kinds of questions can serve as practical ice breakers AND they can give you some helpful insight next time a manager wants to recognize their team members based on their individual preferences!
But also – mix up the way you distribute it.
- Send a link via text message.
- Put QR codes around the office.
- Make it a competition – which group can get the most
respondents? - Include a prize drawing! If the survey is anonymous, ask respondents to nominate a deserving coworker for the prize.
Keep it casual!
Use simple words to make employees feel more comfortable with the questions, and use a fun design that is bright in color and that makes employees feel like the survey is a positive experience.
Rather than: “Please rate the satisfaction you have with the following...”
Try this: “How happy are you with...”
Rather than: “Employee feedback is critical to the collective success of this company.”
Try this: “Your input is important to our success.”
Need help with an employee survey?
Contact Gordeaux today!
Gordeaux can provide practical and easy-to-implement solutions for a better survey, or we can fully support your distribution of the survey and reporting of the results. No matter how you want to learn what your employees are thinking and feeling, Gordeaux is here to support you.