How To Measure Employee Satisfaction and Improve It For A More Positive Working Culture
Research has shown that over half of employees in the UK are unhappy in the workplace, with one in four workers unable to recall anything that has made them feel positive about their work in the last month. Low employee morale can have a ripple effect throughout your company and productivity, as a result, plummets. Staff are left unhappy and more likely to leave, resulting in a high staff turnover which creates a higher cost in the recruitment process.
High employee satisfaction rates correlates to lower staff turnover and improved job performance. As a business leader, you must have the available resources to monitor, measure and improve employee satisfaction in your organisation to prevent your staff from wanting to leave prematurely and feeling unhappy in their role.
Employee satisfaction depends on a variety of factors in the working environment related to work conditions, staff benefits, rewards and facilities. If you want to make sure you have a highly motivated team of employees, then follow our guide to measuring and improving satisfaction in the workplace.
How To Measure Employee Satisfaction
First on the agenda is how to effectively measure employee satisfaction in the workplace. Put these measures in place and you will soon notice a difference in productivity levels and employee morale. Some individuals may be more satisfied with some aspects of their job, than others so it can be difficult to effectively measure their overall satisfaction. They may, for example, be overly satisfied with the facilities available to them in the workplace, but not so satisfied with specific tasks they are given, or levels of communication. It is important to keep note of key areas employees struggle with, to gain an overall picture of what needs to be improved in your organisation.
There is no right or wrong way of measuring employee satisfaction and the best method will usually depend on your organisation, including the number of employees you have, how much time you can commit to this process and the importance you place on having satisfied employees.
1. One to One Conversations
Schedule in one-to-one conversations on a weekly, monthly or quarterly basis to find out more about individual prospects, career goals and potential obstacles. Come up with a series of questions to ask your employees individually and assess their answers. Here are some examples of questions you could ask:
- Are you satisfied with your current role, if not, why?
- If you could change one aspect of your job, what would it be?
- Are there any training courses, or events you would like to attend?
- Do you think your team communicates well with one another?
- Do you see yourself working here in 5 years time?
2. Conduct Surveys
Ask all your employees to complete an online questionnaire that you have created, using specific questions and variations to trigger certain responses. Ask them to score on a scale from 1 to 10 with 10 being the most satisfied and 1 being the least satisfied. Here are some examples of questions to help measure overall satisfaction rates:
- How satisfied are you with your current workplace?
- How happy are you in your job role at present?
- How well does the workplace meet your expectations?
- How close is your current workplace to your ideal workplace?
Some questions may trigger lengthy answers, so it is important to make room on the
questionnaire for a suggested comments section, or detailed description section for your employees to make their views or opinions clear to you. You may also want to offer your employees the opportunity to give examples of where they feel the most satisfied/least satisfied in their role and explain why. Try to categorise your questions when creating the survey, to generate the most accurate data. Examples of categories may include but not be limited to:
1. Development – Do you feel you are given enough opportunities to develop and progress with your career? How satisfied are you with the opportunities we provide you?
2. Reward – Are you happy with the rewards we offer for hard-work and employee success? (salary, bonuses, free lunches etc.)
3. Autonomy – How much freedom do you feel you have in doing your job?
4. Corporate Image – How much do you like our company and what we represent?
5. Support – Is there enough support available to you within your team?
How To Improve Employee Satisfaction
1. Encourage Team Building At Work
If your employees have scored low on a question related to effective communication within their team, then it may be time to consider hosting some key team building activities in the office, to strengthen employee relationships. Encouraging team building at work can improve productivity levels significantly. When your staff can communicate effectively within their team and solve complex problems, their day to day tasks becoming more manageable, knowing they have additional support available to them.
2. Implement Flexible Working Hours
When it comes to scoring low on a question about flexible working, your employees are trying to tell you that they need to fit their work commitments around childcare arrangements, or that they need to work less hours so they can have more family, or social time outside of work. Approach your staff individually to determine the best solutions for them, and implement a new, flexible working plan, keeping your employees satisfied.
3. Hold An Annual Awards Ceremony
If the rating is low on the rewards section of the questionnaire, then it means you are doing enough to celebrate individual achievements and successes in your workplace. Host an Annual Awards Ceremony to coincide with a Christmas or New Year office party, complete with free refreshments, certificates or awards your staff can take home with them and a speech from you, as a business leader, to recognise and show support for all the hard-work and successes in each department. This will also be something for each individual to work towards throughout the year, when setting individual goals and competing for prizes.
4. Acknowledge Personal Accomplishments
In addition to hosting an Awards Ceremony, you could also acknowledge small, individual achievements throughout the year, from employees who have made the effort to walk to work instead of drive, to those who have completed their work before hitting a deadline, or have been extremely helpful and supportive of others in the office and volunteered their services. Just verbal acknowledgement of their accomplishments in team meetings, or at social events can be more than enough to make them feel valued.
5. Offer Corporate Discounts
Consider other ways of motivating your employees by offering them corporate discounts for gyms, restaurants, cinema and so on. It will certainly give them something to be satisfied about, when they know they can buy their cinema ticket for half the price, and is something they can share with other potential employees, when it comes to hiring.
Signs Your Employees Are Satisfied
Satisfied employees will be motivated to do a good job, be a brand advocate and have higher productivity levels, because their work surroundings nurture and support them, to make them feel a valued member of the organisation. Here are some of the key signs to look out for when measuring employee satisfaction rates.
- Satisfied employees are happier, more content and motivated to work.
- More productive and more efficient at managing and completing tasks on time.
- Absent fewer days and more enthusiastic about working extra hours, or working on weekends when needed.
- Better able to collaborate and network with others in the workplace.
- More likely to be a positive brand advocate for your company.
- More likely to stay at your organisation long-term lowering employee turnover rates.
Once you have collated and analysed the results, you will have the resources necessary to take action or find suitable solutions to issues that have been communicated to you. Always remember to inform your employees of these outcomes and keep them updated on future progress within the organisation. The results define how successful you are in achieving high employee satisfaction rates, so remember to take on board all comments made, and make a plan of action to ensure your employee’s voices are heard.
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