Employee job satisfaction is a direct cause of customer satisfaction. Ask any celebrity chef what the key to their favorite recipe’s success is, and they will praise the quality ingredients; ask a designer what makes their collection special, and they will surely mention fine silks and authentic diamonds.
In a company, people are the most precious asset and the most valuable resource; therefore, it is obvious that results depend on the efficiency and engagement of the employees.
Happy employees build the path to success
How you make the people working alongside you happier is a challenge, but employee satisfaction studies can be the solution you are looking for and can help you chart the right direction toward that solution.
However, dealing with people makes the situation more complex: besides qualifications, qualities, and training, which are constants (at least in the short term), human productivity is fluctuating, being strongly influenced by how a person feels and is motivated.
Happy, satisfied employees who feel integrated within the company and identify with their work will deliver much better results, and they won’t do it just out of obligation. In short, happy customers go hand in hand with happy employees.
Why an employee satisfaction study?
Therefore, for optimal results, it is not enough to evaluate your customers’ satisfaction; you should also periodically check your employees’ satisfaction.
Employee satisfaction studies are by no means a new idea — annual studies, usually conducted in December, are an old tradition in many companies worldwide. However, recently, general questionnaires are starting to be replaced by other, more dynamic and current ways to obtain relevant feedback.
Employee Wellness Programs
Once you have a perspective on the team’s morale, the next step is usually implementing a program to increase their well-being. Team leaders who want to improve employee well-being turn to Employee Wellness programs.
An Employee Wellness program aims to maintain and increase the well-being of those you work with, both physically and mentally, by offering them the bonuses they value most.
Besides the obvious and immediate benefits of being surrounded by more smiling colleagues, these programs have long-term advantages for the company — cost reduction, process efficiency, and improving public image are just a few.
For more ideas — specifically 121 — about Employee Wellness, we suggest a free e-book compiled by MKOR specialists themselves.
How do you know if your employees are happy?
Before implementing an employee wellbeing growth program, however, you must know where you’re starting from – how they feel day-to-day at the job, what changes they would make to the company structure and their tasks, what they like and what they don’t. Currently, salary represents only a small part of a person’s motivation for coming to work.
A study conducted by IRES reveals that Romanian employees want cultural tickets (61%), sports vouchers (57%), and facilitated access to medical and care services (55%) as their main benefits.
The same study shows that Romanians are not as unhappy at the workplace as we might be tempted to believe: on a scale of 1 to 10, they evaluate their professional quality of life with a score of 7.5. A satisfactory score – but not excellent, and excellence is the motto of many companies that are always ready to do something extra for their clients. Excellence should, in this case, start from within.
A manager up to date with the latest trends and a responsible company always seek to be one step ahead and ensure the best experience for both those in the public eye and those behind the scenes. Nowadays, there are numerous methods, perspectives, and opinions on the ideal way an internal satisfaction study should be conducted within the company.
And, certainly, there is a perfect way for each individual company – but none for all companies. The ideal study is based on the needs, expectations, goals, resources, and preferences of each organization.
What type of employee satisfaction study is right for your company?
Broadly speaking, employee satisfaction studies can be classified into four main categories, depending on two variables: frequency (frequency) and complexity (scope).
1. Always-On satisfaction studies
Therefore, when studies are conducted frequently but do not require a complex structure and a complete analysis of the company, they are Always-On.
These studies are facilitated by modern technology, so that with a few clicks any employee can offer suggestions, warnings, or ideas in real-time, about any aspect related to the company, under the protection of anonymity.
2. Spot satisfaction studies
Spot type studies are neither very frequent nor deep – they are easy to implement, and most of the time they are useful in the case of events, conferences, structural changes of the company, and special situations, to capture the immediate reaction of those involved and put it into practice when needed.
3. Anchor satisfaction studies
Anchor studies, complex but rare, are the classic ones, such as the end-of-year questionnaire. Used for decades by numerous companies (which support their efficiency), they contain a multitude of questions to analyze in depth how employees perceive the company’s situation.
4. Pulse satisfaction studies
The fourth category, Pulse studies, aim to truly take the pulse of the organization. In other words, they are scheduled at frequent, announced intervals, and usually involve most, or even all, of the staff. Often, they come as a result of other studies to address specific problems or issues and to catalyze progress.
Conclusion
As you can see, satisfaction studies can take many forms – the important thing is, as in the case of a successful outfit, to choose exactly the size that fits you.
They are not hard to understand, but their creation, planning, implementation, and interpretation can be a challenge for any company, large or small. But it is a challenge that, once successfully overcome, can be an important step in the evolution of the company and the team through the development of people – professionally and personally.
Every company deserves a grade higher than 7.5!
Let’s be honest, probably no study and no grade 10 company will make someone come to work on a Monday morning, in bad weather and heavy traffic, with a wide smile on their face. But if they are smiling right after the first coffee, the company certainly deserves more than 7.5. 🙂
If you want to see more smiling people around you at work, MKOR can help you with the entire process of conducting an employee satisfaction study – we are here to help you grow. MKOR consultants will respond to you as soon as possible here.
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