Conducting Employee Engagement Surveys

In a previous post we talked about the importance of engaging employees and provided some suggestions to engage employees in the workplace. To understand how well your employees are engaged, if at all, an employee engagement survey might be used to gather some data on employee engagement at your organization.

Employee engagement issues do not resolve on their own; they don’t just “go away.”  Engagement issues must be addressed immediately in order to avoid problems such as:

• Loss of valuable employees/increased turnover
• Loss of customers due to poor customer service/reduced performance
• Loss of revenue/profitability
• Low morale/reduced teamwork

Start gauging how well your employees are engaged through a survey.  Make sure they understand the purpose of the survey – to understand how the organization can better support them in their jobs and provide them opportunities for professional and personal development.

Some questions you might ask include:

• Do you have what you need to perform your role most effectively and efficiently?
• Do you have the opportunity to do work that utilizes your skills, experience and knowledge?
• Do you regularly receive feedback on your performance?
• Do you feel cared about as a person – not just how you do in your job but how things are going for you personally?
• Do you feel as if your manager encourages you to develop professionally and personally?
• Do you understand how your role helps to support the company’s mission statement?
• Do you feel as if your opinions are valued within your department/business unit?
• Do you regularly talk with your manager about your progress?
• Do you have enough opportunities in your role to continue to learn and develop?
• Does your manager talk to you about your goals?
• Does your manager support your career plans?
• Do you feel that your team members are committed to doing the best job they can at the highest quality?
• Do you find that you the senior leaders in the organization are easily accessible?
• Do members of the leadership team know who you are and what you do?

What other questions can you think of that would help you to gauge employee engagement in the workplace? Please share in the Comments field below.

Use the data you have gathered to report back to management on where there are currently issues, and areas that should be addressed to avoid issues.  Have a plan ready for how you can address employee engagement issues.  Remember – engaged employees are productive employees – happier in their roles and willing to pitch in to get the job done.  This translates to improved customer service which makes for happier customers.  Happy customers are satisfied customers, which leads to increased profitability for the organization.