Developing and Conducting Employee Surveys
This article is from RISQ Consulting’s Zywave client portal, a resource available to all RISQ Consulting clients. Please contact your Benefits Consultant or Account Executive for more information or for help setting up your own login.
Developing and conducting employee surveys can help employers understand vital aspects of their organizations, such as worker satisfaction and company culture, as well as learn more about the employees who work there. It’s important to take note of how employees view their organizations because it can provide information on how to make the workplace more enjoyable, thus strengthening retention rates, improving morale and increasing productivity.
Routinely conducting employee surveys can help provide organizations with up-to-date feedback from their workers. These surveys can be conducted anonymously to encourage employees to communicate their experiences and opinions without fear of repercussion. This article provides more information on the benefits of employee surveys, outlines different types of such surveys and offers best practices for developing them.
Benefits of Employee Surveys
Employee surveys can provide employers with valuable workforce feedback they may not be able to receive otherwise. Organizations can experience several benefits from developing and conducting these surveys, including the following:
- Greater employee honesty—One of the top benefits of employee surveys is that they can empower workers to voice their opinions openly and honestly. While this is possible through one-on-one discussions and small groups, employees are more likely to share their true opinions when they can do so anonymously, especially if what they’re sharing reflects negatively on their organizations or the overall workforce experience.
- More big-picture thinking—When left unprompted, employees can get lost in day-to-day tasks without thinking of the larger picture, including how their daily activities contribute to organizational success. Employee surveys ask open-ended questions that can spark workers to speak about themselves in relation to the missions and goals of their organizations. This can add value because employees can then see how they contribute to large-scale company initiatives.
- Increased employee retention—Employee surveys can help improve worker retention because they can point out issues before they become larger problems for entire teams or companies as a whole. These surveys can help signal early warning signs for employers that their employees are dissatisfied or are considering leaving their roles.
- Expanded resolution capabilities—Employee surveys can be the next step in resolving issues within certain teams or organizational departments. They can help employers receive feedback about what issues employees may have with their organizations. These surveys are especially useful when employers are considering where they are and what they want to accomplish going forward.
No employee survey is perfect. For example, some employees may not participate, which can skew survey data. Employee surveys also have downfalls such as not being able to survey everyone, not providing clear results and not being capable of causing immediate change. It’s crucial for organizations to take these factors into account when looking at post-survey data pools and drawing conclusions.
Types of Employee Surveys
There are several different types of employee surveys, which can be adapted to best meet an organization’s unique needs. Key survey types include:
- Annual review surveys—These surveys are conducted to evaluate employees’ performance levels.
- Company culture surveys—Such surveys are conducted to measure how companies’ behaviors match their intended values.
- Employee engagement surveys—These surveys are conducted to measure whether employees feel valued, including by those in leadership roles.
- Employee satisfaction surveys—Such surveys are conducted to measure how employees feel in terms of job satisfaction characteristics, such as compensation, benefits and other work-related issues.
No one survey is alike; therefore, it’s best for employers to determine to the specific reasons they’re conducting employee surveys and for whom before selecting a survey type. Once an organization knows the type of employee survey it wants to conduct, it’s time to develop the survey.
Developing Employee Surveys
There are a number of things for organizations to keep in mind when developing employee surveys, including the following:
- Questions—The most essential part of an employee survey is the questions being asked. A survey should be composed of a core set of questions that can be compared over time (if it’s a survey conducted on a cyclical basis). In addition, questions should help create actionable feedback. Other questions within a survey can be based off timely topics or events. It can also be beneficial to leave room for open-ended feedback or remarks at the end of a survey to provide room for employees to voice additional concerns, opinions or feedback.
- Format—An employee survey’s format is important because it can skew workers’ responses; therefore, employers must carefully consider the right format for their surveys. This can be multiple choice, open-ended or a mix of both types of questions depending on the data being collected.
- Timing—It’s imperative for organizations to know when to conduct employee surveys. Something for employers to consider in terms of timing is the workplace events occurring in their organizations at the time. For example, employers may not want to survey employees about job satisfaction during the busiest part of the year when stress levels are at their highest.
- Length—Organizations can determine an appropriate length for their employee surveys based on how often these surveys occur. For example, annual review surveys should probably be longer, as workers are only sharing their feedback once a year. On the other hand, surveys sent out more frequently (e.g., quarterly employee engagement surveys) should be shorter.
Once an organization creates an employee survey, it’s ready to be conducted. When conducting a survey, an employer should clearly communicate the survey’s purpose to employees, encourage participation, emphasize anonymity and share results with the workforce after the data has been sorted. Regardless of the type of survey being conducted, it’s critical for an employer to implement improvements after conducting a survey. Making adjustments for the next survey can ensure the survey is pulling the most valuable information from surveyed employees, making this feedback increasingly useful.
Summary
Overall, developing and conducting employee surveys can provide feedback for employers to gain important insights and help implement workplace improvements. By using these surveys, employers can create spaces for employees to voice their opinions, which can help them feel more satisfied and engaged at work. In turn, this can aid employers in their attraction and retention efforts. For more information on employee surveys, contact RISQ Consulting.
- Published in Blog
Vendor Management Tips for Small Businesses
This article is from RISQ Consulting’s Zywave client portal, a resource available to all RISQ Consulting clients. Please contact your Benefits Consultant or Account Executive for more information or for help setting up your own login.
Small businesses often don’t have the resources or expertise required to conduct every necessary function. That’s where vendors come in; they provide access to expertise, products and services that help a business run. Establishing practices for managing vendors is important for small businesses’ overall success and long-term growth, but vendor management comes with its own challenges. Luckily, there are strategies small businesses like yours can implement to efficiently manage their vendor relationships in order to optimize processes.
This article explores vendor management, including its benefits, potential challenges and best practices that will aid small businesses.
What Is Vendor Management?
Overall, the purpose of vendor management is to build, maintain and strengthen relationships that are essential to an organization’s success, such as lowering costs or increasing output. Therefore, it is important to note that regardless of your small business’s vendor management practices, they require overall business discipline and coordination from different areas, such as HR, finance and leadership. This is because the key elements of successful vendor management include vendor selection, contract negotiations, onboarding, vendor performance monitoring, risk management and payment processes.
Importance of Vendor Management
Vendor management is important for several reasons, including having better vendor selection, streamlining contract management, creating strong vendor relationships, enhancing vendor performance management and creating overall better value. The end goal of vendor management is to strengthen a company’s success and overall market performance, improve efficiency and lower costs, all of which can help your business get the most value out of using vendors and achieve its short- and long-term goals.
Vendor Management Challenges
Despite the benefits to vendor management, there are challenges to consider as well. The most common vendor management challenges small businesses face include:
- Compliance risks
- Payment terms
- Data storage and security
- Reputation management
It’s crucial to have processes in place for your business to follow when working with vendors to avoid challenge-related threats. Working with vendors often includes sharing sensitive information, which puts your business at risk if you’re not careful.
Navigating challenges related to vendor management doesn’t have to be impossible. In fact, there are ways to make the process easier for your small business.
Vendor Management Best Practices
To navigate challenges and avoid risks, it’s important to develop established practices for your small business to follow when working with vendors. Consider some of the following best practices:
- Review contracts. It’s important to write formal documentation while working with vendors. This keeps both the small business and the vendor on the same page and accountable for any communication or financial transactions.
- Put all terms in writing. Put all terms and agreements between your small business and vendors in writing. This could include agreements regarding quality control, delivery times and communication expectations.
- Communicate regularly. Getting to know your vendors is essential; this means you must communicate with them on a regular basis. Respond to vendor communications quickly and address any issues in a timely manner. The more effective the communication lines are, the better the experience will be for both parties.
- Be selective. Every time a small business chooses to outsource, it has to navigate the risk of doing so. Therefore, it’s beneficial to avoid high-risk collaborations, such as vendors who process financial transactions on the organization’s behalf. It can also be advantageous to create a framework and policies that help deal with issues if they happen to occur to mitigate potential risks.
- Establish expectations. It’s important for small businesses to communicate their expectations to vendors. This means it’s important that you and the vendor are in frequent communication. Expectations can be built into the terms of the contract and mutually agreed upon before the partnership is finalized.
- Control costs. Before committing to working with a vendor, verify that the vendor’s pricing does not exceed your organization’s budget. All details pertaining to pricing, such as payment methods, billing frequency and rates, should be laid out in advance in the agreement between the vendor and the small business.
Summary
Working with vendors can be challenging, as there are a variety of moving parts for both the small business and the vendor. The way each business chooses to navigate working with vendors is unique, so what may work for one business may not be the best for another. However, by creating processes for your small business to follow when working with vendors, you can mitigate the risks you could face and establish a strong, successful vendor relationship.
For additional small business resources, reach out to RISQ Consulting today.
- Published in Blog
