Left alone it doesn’t take long for a building with a single broken window to rapidly become a building with many broken windows. Problems that are fixed when they are small will stop them from developing into larger problems.
When considering the level of employee satisfaction the same is true. Dissatisfaction spreads like wildfire and in a surprisingly short period of time you’ve got morale problems of the kind that are notoriously hard to fix.
To ensure that your employees are satisfied you need to appreciate any day to day problems that they may have and deal with them quickly. Keeping the initiative is important and it is nearly always better to give a little and often.
This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing the problem when it’s small is also when it’s easiest and when it’s cheapest. Employees prefer it if the management takes the initiative without being prompted and by taking the initiative the manager is acting in a position of strength. Employees like strong, confident management and the management will gain the respect of the workforce if they take time to understand the issues.
Compare that with managers who are out of touch. They arrive late at a problem so they are on the defensive, and with their credibility eroded they have to concede to demands which in turn leads to further and less reasonable demands. It’s not big and it’s not clever.
How then can an organization monitor the morale of the employees without a big budget and an abundance of spare time?
Deploying online employee surveys would appear to tick all the right boxes. Online surveys are quick, easy and low cost. Surveys can be created in minutes and deployed in seconds, with the results compiled in real time; and by using email and websites they cost nothing to disseminate.
A corporate intranet is the ideal delivery platform.
By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.
With the real-time results that are a by product of online surveys the mood of the employees can be accurately gauged and individual and collective concerns highlighted.
Organizations can use survey results to highlight problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target specific concerns. With good intelligence managers are able to identify specific problems and prepare a considered response.
A major advantage of regular surveys is that it allows a company to address small problems in a timely manner avoiding ‘the straw that broke the camels back’ syndrome where a relatively insignificant incident unleashes a torrent of pent up concerns.
It should not be forgotten that most employees appreciate being consulted and asking their opinion is not seen as a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.
Very occasionally management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank; this is fortunately just one of those occasions.