Staff Satisfaction/Opinion Surveys

sambu · August 2002

Do any of you have any examples of staff satisfaction/opinion surveys which you could share with me? We are a relatively small organization (60 employees). Thank you.

Dmurphy · August 2002

Our organization is about the same size. We did a survey on employee satisfaction with benefits 2 1/2 years ago. Unfortunately I do not have a copy of the survey, only of the results. Employees were asked to rank ALL benefits in order of importance to each of them, with a couple of questions and space for comments. We did make some changes based on their feedback, but reaction was minimal. No surprise there. You cannot be thin-skinned when reading the comments.

What has made a difference here was hiring several experienced staff members (one in HR) who came from larger companies. They expected some benefits that senior management here had been unwilling to consider previously, and we have implemented some of their requests to the benefit of new and 'old' employees.

sonny · August 2002

What do you want to learn? As Dmurphy noted, their survey was geared toward satisfaction with benefits. I don't have any samples any more, but just a few thoughts.. do not make the survey too long. You will get more information then you know what to do with and then risk the wrath of the masses because you asked their opinion and didn't do anything with it. Avoid open ended questions, try to use a rating scale or forced response. Even in a small company it will be easier to manage your data, but do leave some space for comments/other. What are you going to do with the data? Might it be to address/improve areas of dissatisfaction or is it to present to the CEO.
Depending on your goal. .I have used (usually in smaller numbers) a simple thing. "lIST THE 3 THINGS THAT ARE BEST ABOUT (or best about working for) COMPANY XYZ." LST THE 3 THINGS WHERE XYZ NEEDS TO IMPROVE." Interesting and informative. IE not one director listed wage or benefits as an area needing improvement yet many did in lower paying positions or communication coming up repeatedly as one of the best things AND area needing improvement!! hmmm. (Again it was interesting to note that the higher ups felt communication was better than underlings) Sorry rambling here. . too much coffee. Good luck.

jules2001 · August 2002

I agree with Sonny. I also no longer have any samples, but it is good to use a rating scale and leave room for comments. I would also recommend that you are prepared to do "something" about the responses you get.

Gillian · August 2002

Depending on the environment at your company, you may want to consider having a third party conduct the survey. It is sometimes easier for third parties to be accepted as nuetral by employees. There are some key principles - first, guarantee confidentiality (a third party will take all the surveys away and give you a report), share results (the bad with the good) with employees and do something about whatever shows up as a need. If a company fails in these areas, the trust of employees will be lost.

Roberta · August 2002

I will be glad to e-mail copies of the one we recently implemented (approx. 400 employees). There are two versions to choose from. The Industrial Psychology department of Illinois State University was instrumental in developing the survey and then we adjusted it based on feedback from upper management.

Our QI department did the scoring and provided the final numbers.

Staff Satisfaction/Opinion Surveys

Comments