Survey research can be used to assess the attitudes and opinions of virtually any group or sub-group. Most of my work has been in the areas of consumer and B2B market research, but from time to time my focus has shifted toward surveying employees. This makes perfect sense as our employees are the single largest contributor to organizational success. They can make or break a deal, even though they may not be in sales. They can have an overwhelmingly positive or negative impact upon customer satisfaction. They are also one of the primary reasons our customers return time and time again.
So do you think it makes sense to take a pulse check by conducting employee surveys? Checking in with your employees and responding constructively to their suggestions is one of the easiest ways to increase employee loyalty. This leads to reduced churn and lowers hiring costs, which can be substantial depending upon the level of the position. This leads me to a question that was presented to me in a recent survey. The question is in multiple-response format and focuses on the respondent’s work personality.
This could have been asked as a series of Likert scale items, or perhaps even as a semantic differential. These techniques are certainly valid and have a long history at measuring personality constructs. However as a multiple response item it is simplistic in nature and puts the power in the hands of the respondent. They can choose as few or as many statements as they believe adequately fit their work personality. Since these items are binary (0 if not selected and 1 if selected) they can be summed to form a composite scale. This provides a basis for a segmentation of employees based upon their work personalities.
The impacts that a well-oiled and actualized workforce can have on the success of sales, marketing and customer satisfaction efforts are well documented, as are the internal effects of building teams around employees with synergistic personalities. Keeping a pulse check on your employees will pay dividends in both the short and longer-term.
Learn more about employee surveys in our upcoming webinar:
Avoiding Awkward Moments in Employee Feedback.
In fact, we just added a second session due to popular demand! Signup now!