Conducting an employee satisfaction survey

Christian de Waard

Employee satisfaction can be described as the sense of wellbeing that employees gain from their work and is the basis for every employee within every organisation. The sense of wellbeing that employees experience influences several aspects of their work life, including: commitment to the organisation, job motivation, enjoyment in going to work and being a team player.

Once an employee has a sense of dissatisfaction it can negatively influence their motivation and commitment. This can in turn mean that an employee might look for a different job, but it can also mean that it will lower their level of performance or negatively affect their colleagues.

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The importance of employee satisfaction

sa – tis – fac – tion (n.)
1 the act of satisfying or state of being satisfied
2 the fulfilment of a desire
sa – tis – fied (adv.)
1 contented, pleased; <-> dissatisfied

The influence of employee satisfaction on employee performance is clear. Satisfied employees feel good about themselves and because of this are better able to perform and communicate.

If someone feels as if they cannot work well, they can react in three ways.

  1. The first reaction is withdrawal. For example arriving late, being absent or resigning.
  2. An employee can also react to dissatisfaction with a passive and uninterested attitude.
  3. Finally, a possible response to dissatisfaction is assertiveness or aggression, which results in actual damage.

These reactions show that dissatisfaction has negative consequences for an organisation. Employee satisfaction is thus of vital importance for your organisation’s success. Having your staff assessed on their job satisfaction and acting on the results is an essential mean of achieving your organisational goals.

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Why conduct an employee satisfaction survey?

There are five main reasons as to why it is beneficial for organisations to conduct an employee satisfaction survey:

1. Shows staff satisfaction levels throughout your organisation

Conducting an employee satisfaction survey will provide you with detailed insights into the levels of satisfaction in your organisation. For example, you will be able to see which branches in your organisation have the highest satisfaction levels, as well as the satisfaction levels on a team level.

2. Provides valuable data and insights

Once your employee satisfaction survey has been completed, you will have access to a wealth of valuable data and insights. The insights you’ve gained will enable you to see which subjects influence satisfaction levels.

3. Highlights the successes and challenges

After careful analysis of your employee satisfaction survey, it will become clear where the successes and challenges in your organisation lie. With such information you can make sure the challenges are addressed, whilst helping to ensure that the positives in your organisation become best practices.

4. Compares your organisation

Comparing your employee satisfaction survey results with a good benchmark allows to see how your organisations stands in comparison to others. By creating such insights, it can really help you decide where to take action, and where not to.

5. Identifies long term trends

When you conduct regular employee satisfaction surveys, you can compare your current scores with those from the previous survey in order to follow trends in the results. This will provide insight into the effectiveness of the improvement measures you have taken.

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