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What are staff feedback surveys?
A happy, engaged staff means a productive organization. High morale among staff members leads to fewer mistakes, less deadtime, and happier customers.
There's a reason for that. Staff members are the backbone of a company. They provide customer service, handle difficult situations, communicate information to staff and management, and so much more. Without staff members, your organization would be dead in the water.
If staff happiness is so important, staff feedback surveys are too! Staff feedback surveys, as the name suggests, are just feedback surveys targeted at staff. They are usually designed to ask questions about staff morale, staff satisfaction, staff happiness, and other similar staff-relating topics.
Staff surveys include everything from annual comprehensive surveys to mini-surveys that can be given throughout the year (think pulse survey or employee opinion survey). Most staff feedback surveys will be relatively short (5-10 questions) and implemented through staff feedback software.
Why staff feedback surveys are important
A staff feedback survey is a great way to identify any issues within an organization that staff members might be facing so that managers can take action on those issues before they turn into bigger problems. Staff feedback surveys give staff a voice and the chance to address any issues they might be having.
If staff members are unhappy with their work environment, feeling under-appreciated or facing unsafe working conditions staff feedback surveys are essential in elucidating problems and facilitating positive change. Staff feedback surveys also give staff a sense of empowerment, by allowing staff the opportunity to give managers their feedback. Even disengaged employees may finally feel connected to their organization. An anonymous survey is especially useful when dealing with disgruntled employees. Many staff members don't feel comfortable speaking up about issues in team meetings or to managers, but the anonymous feedback option in staff surveys helps make everyone's voice heard.
Other benefits of staff feedback surveys:
- Employee morale is improved
- Staff engagement is improved
- Happier employees lead to staff retention and low employee turnover
How to give staff feedback surveys
If you've decided to implement a staff feedback survey the first thing to consider is your aim and what you hope to accomplish. Is this a staff morale survey, an employee engagement survey, an employee satisfaction survey, or something else? What kind of actionable insights are you hoping for? Do you need info on employee sentiment in order to start an employee happiness initiative, or is this about gauging your employees' attitude toward an upcoming merge?
Once you've figured out the type of staff feedback survey you want to give staff members it's time to set up the online survey and write the questions. If you're using survey software, you should be able to find templates for the type of survey you'd like to give. This will provide a good starting point, although you should be sure to customize the survey so it matches your aims, your core values and your company culture.
Once your staff feedback survey is set up and ready to go you need staff members to take it. Best practice involves giving your team a heads-up that a survey is being conducted and sharing with them why their feedback matters. Let them know this is their opportunity to influence both staff experience and the company as a whole.
The staff survey shouldn't be emailed to staff since the responses are anonymous, but ideally shouldn't be on paper either since that's too easy for people not to fill out. Most staff feedback survey software allows staff to take their staff feedback surveys on a web-based platform using any device. This makes the employee survey as easy as sending an email and increases participation rates since staff don't have to print it out or complete it on pen and paper.
When the survey is complete the employee survey data will be analyzed by your survey softwre, and survey results presented in an easy-to-read report. Staff feedback surveys often include a way for staff members to make suggestions where necessary. The employee feedback survey questions can be written so as to take staff input for changes or improvements. It's important to read any comments or responses to open-ended questions and take appropriate action in response to concerns or problems that may be pointed out. A failure to act can lead to a lack of faith and lower participation in future surveys.
Staff feedback survey metrics
Staff feedback survey metrics are important because they allow you to track changes in staff sentiment, morale, and satisfaction over time. Metrics also allow you to compare your company data to industry benchmarks.
The best way to get qualitative metrics from your survey is by using standard phrasing in questions that are given according to a specific scale. For instance, if you wanted a metric on staff satisfaction you could ask staff to rate their job satisfaction on a scale from 1-10. Later you can employing a Likert scale that allows you to analyze survey data on a scale from 1-10, providing clear insights.
Other staff feedback survey metrics might include staff attrition, engagement level, or staff retention. All of these are valuable staff feedback survey metrics because they show how staff members feel about their job and whether they would recommend your company to friends and family.
Final tips on staff feedback surveys
Ensure that your staff knows their responses are collected in an anonymous matter, stored on a safe server, and that their privacy is protected. If staff members don't trust you they will likely not fill out your staff surveys at all or complete them in a cursory way, but if staff feel like they can speak up without fear of repercussion, you'll get more valuable staff feedback survey metrics.
Staff engagement is also important to the employee experience. If staff members are engaged in their work they're more likely to show greater staff morale. To engage staff you need to have a clear vision for your company, let existing employees know how their work contributes to this vision, and provide regular opportunities for staff members to be involved in the day-to-day decisions made at your company. It also helps if you use continuous feedback software like the free Slack app Matter to make constructive feedback a regular part of your company culture.
A staff feedback survey is a great way to discover staff satisfaction issues in your company and make improvements that better staff experience and increase staff engagement. Making changes based on staff surveys will help you develop a more satisfied, engaged, and loyal workforce and improve employee retention rates.
