How Do People Engagement Surveys Help the Team to Boost Engagement?

In the highly competitive business environment today, employee engagement has been the most influential factor in organizational success. According to a recent survey, Gallup says organizations with highly engaged employees report 21% more profitability compared to others. That number speaks volumes for something very simple: an engaged employee is going to be more productive, more motivated, and more loyal. But how do organizations achieve that sort of engagement? One such very effective tool is The People Engagement Survey.

Take the case of a relevant case study that aligns quite well with the situation you have described as that of HubSpot. This is a midsize technology company known for its inbound marketing and sales software. HubSpot struggled with the morale and retention of the employees, though the company ran different kinds of employee-oriented programs.

HubSpot had problems with high attrition and, especially when it was growing too quickly, quite low morale. Specifically, employees just felt disengaged, yet HubSpot could not pinpoint the reasons for their lack of satisfaction.

Thus, HubSpot decided to run a full-scale People Engagement Survey to find the root of the matter. So, the construction of the survey would be made in a way able to display such domains as communication, professional growth, and benefits, a package of benefits, and the need for improvement of benefits for their better alignment with employee needs, the pieces of feedback from the employees at large helped to draw attention to some critical areas of concern: lacking communication between departments, lack of clear career advancement, and need for improvement in benefit packages to better suit employee needs.

Looking back at the survey results, working with HubSpot, the changes had been strategic, introducing new forms of communication, individual development programs, and an even better benefits pack. Such changes would yield increasing levels of satisfaction across the next year, translating into declines in the rates of worker attrition and a better culture in the workplace.

The following example with HubSpot displays how a good People Engagement Survey may be a great solution for diagnosing and addressing the pressing issues relevant to employee morale and, then as a consequence—employee retention.

Similar results are guaranteed if you apply the lessons learned from this guide on how to measure and improve employee engagement effectively by using People Engagement Surveys. You are going to see how to design a questionnaire that delivers valuable insights, ask the right questions, and choose the best tools for collecting and analyzing your data.

Why is employee feedback so critical in measuring employee engagement?

Employee feedback is the linchpin of any successful engagement strategy. You should know how your employees are feeling about their work environment, their roles, and the management. That information can help you build a culture of engagement. Feedback gives voice to the experiences of your workforce and points out the bright spots where your organization does well and where there's room for improvement.

Employees feel valued and heard when allowed to express their thoughts and opinions. This feeling of being included can do so much to increase employees' commitment to an organization. Secondly, feedback collection helps identify trends and patterns that could otherwise be hidden under individual complaints. For example, if several employees express concern about work-life balance, it may indicate that there is a more significant problem that needs to be dealt with.

Measuring engagement through the filter of employee feedback is not about solving problems; it is about knowing exactly what drives your people and what motivates them. 

In most cases, high engagement levels normally attach themselves to increased productivity, better customer service, and higher retention rates. On the contrary, disengaged workers could bring about higher turnover, reduced productivity, and bad company culture.

To measure engagement effectively, one must establish a robust feedback mechanism through which employees can air their views without any fear or bias. This involves setting up a safe environment within which employees feel free and comfortable without being retributed upon expressing an opinion. Besides, feedback should be collected regularly to monitor the level of the Employee Engagement Survey from time to time and make changes if need be.

How to design your people engagement survey questions

While crafting the questions for your People Engagement Survey, be deliberate about focusing on those that will result in actionable insight. As the Google example shows, you can for sure run an annual survey like "Googlegeist".

Google's approach: 

Via its "Googlegeist" survey, Google obtains feedback on a broad range of employee concerns, starting from satisfaction levels and management performance to aspects of how the workplace is run. These questions are focused enough to interpret what's going on in this special environment so that meaningful conclusions can be drawn about possible areas for improvement, and know what decisions to make towards its workforce.

For example, Google's survey includes questions asking employees to rate their satisfaction with work-life balance, opportunities for growth, and level of trust in leadership. These questions let Google understand the trends and spot places where more focus might need to be placed.

One has to be precise in Designing Survey Questions to derive meaningful, insightful, and actionable insights. Otherwise, if not done well, it might end up with vague answers, and data that are skewed, hence leading to inefficient engagement. 

Here are the best practices to follow for designing questions that will drive real insight:

1. Keep questions clear and concise

Avoid the use of technical or expert language that could more easily trigger misperceptions among respondents. The questions should be simple and direct. For example, whereas one may ask: How do you perceive the interdepartmental communication channels within this organization? 

what one can say more directly is: How would you rate the communication between different departments?

2. Balance quantitative and qualitative questions

Quantitative questions would include Likert questions, such as: 

On a scale of 1-5, how satisfied are you with your current role? 

And the question would yield something that can be measured in the data. Qualitative questions would be more open and would look like: 

What do you think could be improved in your department?

That lets the employee give feedback at greater length. A good Engagement Survey Software will encompass both kinds of questions to bring out a fuller picture of employee engagement.

3. Avoid leading questions or questions with a bias

Be sure that all your questions are neutrally worded and won't elicit a particular response from the respondent. For instance, the leading question would be: 

How do you feel about the good management practices at our company?

assuming practices are good in management. Rather ask, 

How do you feel about the management practices of our company?

4. Focus on the key engagement drivers

Design questions targeted at major areas that affect engagement: satisfaction with one's job, relationship with line managers, the growth opportunity within the organization, work-life balance, and appreciation are the key areas. These are areas for which questions may be designed, giving insight into the major contributory factors impacting engagement. 

5. Test survey

Before sending out your Engagement Survey Software to the entire company, test it with a small group of employees. This will let you catch confusing or unclear questions so you can adjust them before the whole rollout is complete.

How to design your people engagement survey questions for effective engagement measurement?

To ensure that all aspects of engagement are covered, it's important to effectively categorize your survey questions. Each category should be targeted toward a certain area of engagement, thereby giving a holistic view of the employee experience. Here are some essential survey categories along with sample questions:

1. Job satisfaction
   The more you know about what your employees are satisfied with in their work, the better and specifically more you know about engagement. Here are samples of the questions.

• How much do you like your actual job?
• Do you feel your workload is well-defined and manageable?
• Are you satisfied with the opportunities for career advancement in your role?

2. Management effectiveness
   The relationship between employees and their managers plays a crucial role in engagement. Consider questions like.

• How would you rate the support you receive from your immediate supervisor?
• Does it feel like the efforts that you're putting in are appreciated by your
• Is the manager open to suggestions and ideas for improvement?

3. Work-life balance

Work-life enrichment is one of the major correlates of an employee's well-being. Consider some example questions:

• In general, how satisfied are you with the balance between your work and your personal life?
• Do you feel that the organization helps you to keep your work-life equation in balance?
• Can you request a day off without feeling guilty/it being a hassle?

4. Recognition and reward

Recognition and awards are an important aspect of keeping employees engaged. Think along the lines of.

• Do you feel valued and appreciated for your contributions?
• How content are you with the company's reward and recognition programs?
• Do you feel motivated by the recognition you receive?

5. Company culture

Organizational culture is what sets the tone for interactions and relationships among employees in a given workplace. These questions may include.

• How would you describe the company culture?
• Do you feel that the company's values resonate with your values?
• Does the organization have a sense of teamwork and collaboration?

6. Professional development

Exciting chance for growth and development. Sample questions might be:

• Are you content with the professional development offered to you around here?
• Does the company provide for your growth and development?
• Can I see people moving up the ladder with this company?

How to conduct a people engagement survey and best practices for measuring employee engagement?

Conducting a People Engagement Survey Software does require some careful planning and execution if it is to bring out meaningful results. Here is a step-by-step guide to help one through the process:

1. Define the purpose: Set the purpose clearly before the actual survey. What exactly are you trying to elicit? Do you just want it to improve the general engagement or are you targeting some specific issue, or measuring the impact that recent changes brought? Knowing the purpose will guide users on how to word the survey most suitable for their needs.
2. Convey the importance of the survey: If you want people to participate, communicate the importance of the survey to all employees. Inform them of the way their feedback will be used in implementing constructive changes within the organization. Always remind employees that their voices count and that their responses will be treated confidentially.
3. Ensure anonymity: Anonymity is key for honest feedback. Assure the staff that their responses are private, and any identifying information will not be connected to their answers.
4. Set a realistic timeline: Give your employees ample time to respond to the survey but ensure there is a deadline set in the collection of data. Normally, this is set within a broad scope of one or two weeks.
5. Use multiple channels for distribution: Distribute the questionnaires through many channels to capture the maximum number of employees. This may include mail, internal communication platforms, and even paper questionnaires for employees who don't use computers regularly.
6. Check participation rates: Monitor participation rates during the data collection phase of the study. If participation seems to be lower than expected, send out reminders or extend the project deadline. You can even present incentives for complying with the survey.
7. Analyzing the data: After the survey is conducted, analyze the data on trends, patterns, and areas that are of concern from the same. Note the correlations between different sets of responses, at the same time directing the responses to derive meaningful conclusions using statistical tools. 
8. Share the results: After analyzing the data, share the results with your employees. Transparency is key to building trust. Highlight the key findings and explain how the organization plans to address any issues identified. 
9. Take action: The most important thing to take note of: take action on the feedback. Working out an action plan for the areas of concern indicated in the survey. Communicate the steps you are going to take with the employees and keep them informed periodically about the progress.

Key considerations for effective employee feedback and engagement measure

Choosing the right survey software for gathering, analyzing, and operationalizing employee feedback is crucial. Here is an exhaustive checklist to help you decide on the best software for your needs:

1. Ease of use: It should be easy to use by the administrator and employee. An easy-to-understand user interface with clear instructions on use and navigation should grace the platform. It will ensure that employees easily complete their survey without any problem, and the administrators are also able to set up and manage the survey easily.
2. Customization options: Choose software that allows one to customize questions in your survey, design, and layout according to the Survey Best Practices of your organization. Through this, you will be able to ask the right questions and gather the most relevant data.
3. Robust analytics: Analytics adds value to survey data interpretation. Look for software endowed with analytic features for data segmentation, trend analysis, and benchmarking. These shall give you the tools to cull valuable, actionable insight from your data.
4. Data security: It needs to ensure data protection by the sensitive nature of employees' feedback. Make sure the software is in compliance with regulations about data protection and allows for encryption, secure storage, and restricted access.
5. Integration capabilities: Please note that, if you use any other HR or communication tools, you would want to consider software that integrates well with those systems. Integration one can implement means of smoothly managing the survey process and ensuring that data is obtainable and useable when necessary.
6. Reporting features: The power of generating detailed reports is vital to sharing the findings of the survey with other stakeholders. Find software that can offer you such features for producing reports on findings and recommendations. 
7. Support and training: The difference can only be very well spurned into positive if the survey software comes with good customer support and the availability of all the necessary training resources. Look for a provider that allows comprehensive support—tutorials, webinars, and responsive help desks. 
8. Scalability: Think about whether the software can scale with your organization as it continues to grow. Be sure a system can serve and help immediate need requirements for either a small business or a big one: the software scaling factor must work in parallel with the organization.

Case study: NantHealth's employee engagement transformation

Challenges faced

There were several challenges at NantHealth, a healthcare technology company, that had impacts on both the morale and engagement of its employees. These included low morale, high rates of turnover, lack of feedback mechanisms, and inconsistent leadership. These issues needed to be tackled; without this, it would be difficult for the company to retain top talent and continue to uphold a great culture in the workplace.

Solutions implemented

NantHealth addressed such challenges by taking a couple of strategic initiatives: frequent employee surveys. These would elicit highly-nuanced feedback concerning various facets of the employee experience, including job satisfaction, management effectiveness, and company culture. Other than these questionnaires, focus groups at NantHealth were held to extract in-depth feedback and insights from employees.

They also invested in leadership training programs to address issues related to inconsistent management Survey Best Practices. The revised recognition and reward systems were finally rolled out to the employees so that they would have an appropriate sense of being valued.

Results

The results were astonishing. NantHealth showed a remarkable increase in employee satisfaction and improved engagement scores. Turnover rates went down, which then decreased recruitment costs and resulted in workforce stability. It has also reported enhanced productivity and a more positive work environment—outcomes from a well-executed engagement strategy.

Conclusion of case study

The strategic approach to the Employee Engagement Survey at NantHealth embraces comprehensive surveys with targeted interventions that drive the relevant transformative actions, showing major improvements in employee satisfaction and retention. In addressing key challenges, solutions were tailored to these issues. NantHealth has been able to demonstrate the transformations in organizational culture and performance through its effective practices of engagement.

To wrap up

Effective people engagement surveys drive satisfaction, productivity, and reduced turnover. Through Measuring Employee Engagement effectively and gathering the right feedback, a company can make informed decisions that will drive positive change.

In this guide, we have covered the importance of measurement in Employee Engagement Surveys and Designing Survey Questions, how to conduct surveys with precision, and also included a very exhaustive checklist for choosing the right survey software that would enable you to get the most out of your efforts.

Ready to take your employee engagement strategy to the next level? Book a demo with an expert at Empuls by Giift so we can show you how to run a people engagement survey that's going to work for you. Let's get higher engagement and drive productivity at work—better.

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