Improving Employee Satisfaction Survey Results

“ Motivating employees to work at their full potential is the main premise of successful management ’’ — Eraldo Manovac

Many Great Place to Work-Certified companies is aware that they have established strong company culture, but they want to know how they can improve their chances of being named to one of our Best Workplaces lists.

When we were advising these companies, we discovered three key success drivers in their Trust Index employee survey results.

Acting in these areas will likely result in the most rapid improvements in your culture, which will be reflected in your Employee Satisfaction – Anoma Tech 

1. Fill experience gaps:

When human resource managers look at employee survey results at a high level, they frequently look at overall scores, which are calculated by adding up each employee’s response and taking an average. However, an average can conceal the fact that different groups of people can have drastically different work experiences.

If you only look at averages, an organization with male employees scoring 90% and female employees scoring 50% appears to be the same as one with everyone scoring 70%. However, the first organization has some serious issues to deal with.

While a gap of this magnitude is uncommon, nearly every organization has some experience gaps. There are two reasons to identify and close these gaps.

“ Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put into words is all that is necessary ’’ — Margaret Cousins

Raising the scores of your more marginalized groups raises your average, but it also improves the experience of all employees, not just those in marginalized groups. Organizations that are diverse, inclusive, and equitable outperform those that are not and have better workplace cultures.

Providing an equal experience for all is so important that consistency of experience across demographic groups is one of the most important criteria used to determine who makes our Best Workplaces lists.

When we say that an organization is one of the best places to work, we mean that it provides a world-class experience to all employees, not just some or the majority. Organizations with higher overall scores can and do lose list positions to more consistent organizations.

2. Recognize and leverage your strengths:

Humans experience something that psychologists call the “negativity bias.” It causes us to assign more weight to negative things than positive ones. It may be because of this bias that when looking at survey results, leaders will often spend most of their time on the areas where their scores are lower. While it’s certainly important to look at those opportunity areas, it’s equally important to focus on your strengths.

The best businesses don’t just do everything well. They have distinct areas of strength that set them apart from the competition. Look for and highlight the characteristics that distinguish your organization.

For example, perhaps your company takes pride in being innovative, and you have survey results to prove it. Rather than resting on your laurels, seek out new ways to innovate. You already have a winning formula, so it’s just a matter of leaning in rather than starting over.

The survey may not provide direct information on your areas of strength. The values of your company can often tell you what your strengths are or should be. For example, if your organization values collaboration and your scores are good but not exceptional, you have an opportunity to capitalize. Good scores on cooperation may be sufficient for another organization, but because it is unique to you, it is worth focusing on.

“ Always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers ’’ — Stephen R Covey

3. Recognize cause and effect:

No aspect of Employee Satisfaction – Anoma Tech occurs in isolation. If an employee believes that their manager is uninterested in them, for example, that lack of personal connection may lead to the employee believing that they are being passed over for promotions or raises.

We might miss the forest for the trees if we only looked at feedback on how employees perceive promotions rather than how they perceive management’s interest in them as people.

To understand how different aspects of the employee experience interact with one another, it is critical to take a holistic approach.

Some aspects of Employee Satisfaction – Anoma Tech is more likely to have these connections than others. If management, for example, does not communicate well, it is difficult to get much done.

Personal relationships can also have a significant impact on overall experience: if an employee does not believe that their manager is honest, relatable, or caring, they will interpret all of their manager’s actions negatively.

Understanding the links between various aspects of the employee experience can help guide your decision-making when it comes to action planning. If you want to improve your scores in a specific area but find something impeding a positive experience Employee Satisfaction – Anoma Tech you should focus on the root cause rather than the symptom.