Employee Satisfaction Surveys: Top 20 Pros and Cons

What is Employee Satisfaction Survey?

Employee Satisfaction Survey is a kind of survey done on employees by the HR department of the organization to get a fair idea about their level of satisfaction. Based on this survey the organization would understand their issue and would take required efforts to make the employee comfortable at the workplace.

Employees play a very vital role in the growth of the business. So it is the employer’s responsibility to provide employees with the best of facilities.

The importance of employee satisfaction surveys is to enhance the performance of an employee. Satisfying the employee is the utmost important need for any organization or company.

Managers and business powered people mark their presence with full commitment to get through employee satisfaction surveys. It is often considered that the satisfaction of any employee or the amount of happiness any employee is having is directly proportional to the involvement she/he has with her/his organization.

“The more the committed employee, the more will be such satisfaction of positive surveys.”

While considering the employee satisfaction surveys’ objectives, an advance process is to understand the employee’s conditions and considering that the amount of time and effort is kept for the growth of an organization is important than any personal benefits.

Reasons to Conduct an Employee Satisfaction Survey:

1. Your employees will be much more engaged
2. Turn out more productive
3. Reducing the turnover to a minimum
4. Totally different from employee performance review
5. You will be getting unbiased and impartial feedback
6. It Provides Anonymity

Employee Satisfaction Survey Types:

There are basically 3 types of employee satisfaction surveys and they are

1. Standard Survey:

In this survey, basic to advanced level questions, logics and options are used

2. 360 Review:

In this survey, specialized analytics is used

3. Pulse:

In this type of survey, effective analytics is used through which employee behavior and morale can be analyzed.

Features for Employee Satisfaction Survey:

1. 360 Leadership Assessment
2. Cross-team Benchmarking
3. Employee Score Card
4. Pulse App
5. Organization Health Index (OHI)

Pros and Cons of Employee Satisfaction Surveys:

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Pros of Employee Satisfaction Surveys:

Following are the benefits of employee satisfaction surveys, some of them are enlisted below:

1) Increased involvement:

Surveying is the best way to get into the heart of every employee and knowing what problems they are actually facing and trying really hard to help them get rid of such problems.

For the majority of an employee, it becomes very difficult to put forward their problems in front of their boss. The survey helps anonymously saying things they wish to say and what changes they want or what are they feeling with the workforce they are associated with. It is easy and involves the involvement of several employees.

2) A great medium for communication:

Employee satisfaction surveys are a way employees can communicate with the managers or upper class of people working with them in the same organization for the upliftment of the organization.

It helps in creating a line of communication between different groups of people working in any company. As the surveys are done anonymously there is no threat for any individual to put the things they are feeling or wanting to say without being judged by those feedbacks. It is best for the means of communication.

3) An improvised approach:

Make the employees raise their voice over the issues they want to bring to the company and those they have been holding back for a long time.

The employee satisfaction surveys help the individual employee to mark their presence for making any desirable change they want to execute in the organization.

The provided feedback takes seriously by the higher authorities so that they can benefit both the employees as well as the organization.

4) Anonymous:

The majority of employees working in any organization don’t want to state they’re true emotions about what they feeling towards their job to share as they have a fear of being criticized.

This is a common fear occurring in almost every employee’s mind. This anonymously giving opinion through a survey helps them to speak their heart out without any fear. They will give the survey with utmost honesty and won’t bring any topic other than what concerns themselves.

This becomes valuable as the survey helps in focusing on some points which cause trouble either to that particular employee or the company indirectly.

5) Flexibility:

The surveys designed that they will serve more flexibility to the end-user or the employee in their specific workplace.

If a survey made that highlights employee satisfaction which will help the management of the company to know what makes the employee working under them delighted or sad about anything that concerns their workplace.

With a strong opinion, one can help the company to plan and manage the relevant changes in their work plan and bring out the best from every employee.

6) Creative:

When the employee working in any organization asks for any help regarding anything or if their opinions ask through any survey, it is a boon for the organization as every individual is different.

Everyone will have their own thought about the problem and their very own conclusions as well this will eventually help in the formulation of a better, new and improvised plan which will ultimately reflect the growth of the company.

7) Better understanding:

While conducting any employee satisfaction surveys in the organizations, various messages passing to the employees or other people associated with the organization whose opinions and thoughts important for the growth of the company always value by any company.

This helps in the proper management and deliverance of individual employee’s growth and also helps the employees ease in taking their true opinions through a survey that execute in the organization.

Employees will come to know what help and how that can help the employees to increase their growth exponentially.

8) Delicate: 

If any employee working for the organization is feeling unhappy, lose focus or hr/she use by the other employees or any higher authority, she/he might be finding it difficult to say what their concerns are face to face.

This delicacy should not affect the growth of the organization. This is one important aspect of conducting surveys.

9) Helpful:

Employee satisfaction surveys help both the company and the employee to seek and devote energy and time to doing what they prescribe to do. The survey is fruitful for the company in various possible ways and the employees as well.

They can maintain and manage the regularity of the organization and the different employee will serve their purpose of devotion with honesty and putting forward their opinions.

10) Creative:

Every individual or every employee will serve for the best of the growth of the organization and this creative approach helps them to grow more and better in many ways. This creativity helps the employee to understand every problem and think out of the box to provide the solution for it.

This creativity helps them the organization for a better upliftment and ultimately helps the employee to understand the company more and the people working there.

Cons of Employee Satisfaction Surveys:

Following the drawbacks associates with employee satisfaction surveys some of them enlisted below:

1) Increased quantity but no quality questions:

Often in various employee satisfaction survey questions being asked are not what the organization should aim at asking.

There are often times when the number of the question was more than 10 which loses an employee’s lack of interest and eventually she/he just tick without even reading the question and hence the employee satisfaction survey purpose behind taking such surveys goes in vain.

2) Once year conduction:

Employee satisfaction takes place in the majority of the organization only once in a year which means that the employee can only say about their problem once every year and whose solution not fixed.

Often it sees the employee who asks for a change has left the organization. The amount of time any survey took place and the time needed to process that task is way too much.

3) Unsatisfied employees:

The major drawback is that the surveys don’t actually measure how to satisfy the people are in the workforce they are working in. While being happy and satisfied are almost related entities, they are different and have their importance in every aspect.

Apparently, job satisfaction is the most important thing considered at any job. While considering all the advantages and disadvantages, what every employee thinks about the job is more important which is the majority of the times ignored.

4) Time-consuming:

The survey takes place in various workforces, it takes a hell lot amount of time in displaying its result. If any survey made in February then its result might come at the end of October or December which should not be the case.

The time the results get out, not everyone remembers the questions that asked in the survey and hence its purpose becomes unsuccessful.

5) No fruitful result:

The survey aims at providing a solution to the employee by considering their problems and asking for their opinion to help them change those but what actually happens is something totally different.

The company is too rigid to make any changes and they will eventually do what they aim at doing. The companies just create an imaginary vision but actually just manage the tasks that they actually want to perform.

6) Negativity:

The survey doesn’t pinpoint the actual problem so that can help for fixing it both rather they misuse this concept. But they just spread the negativity by not focusing on the actual problem

The company neglects the opportunity they had for the upliftment of the company and spread them to the best of every employee’s work but it all just goes in vain.

Some team member becomes happy if they got the desired output they were asking for, while some are given no attention. Every focus turns to be more on lowering down the total score of the team.

7) No growth of the employee:

The survey responses make it very biased and there are companies where they intentionally ask the employees to mention their name while taking the survey and this way they can easily approve the voices of the ones who are the company’s favorite and hence ignoring the suggestions of the rest of the employees.

The response rate with which the results announced is tremendously low and often helps no one. The growth of the employee hinders.

8) No ownership:

The survey takes place for the whole employees and not for any individual but the problem arises when there is the involvement of various other people working under the solution of the problem behind the asked questions in any survey.

Nobody takes ownership but rather is busy doing something or the other to grab the attention of the company and in return provide the outcomes that are best for their personal benefit.

9) Survey failure:

The more the number of questions will be, the more will be the chances of its failure. The important point to consider is to find a balance between the surveys and avoiding any chaos that can happen.

The survey tends to avoid planning for the results and eventually, the last survey overlaps the new and no conclusion drives to be seen. The engagement of the employee is a good way of seeing a stand-alone solution for a problem but after the survey gets implements no solution actually happens.

10) No personal profit:

The job satisfaction surveys very much useless and often no result tends to happen after taking tons of surveys every year and they just mean for the personal benefit of the company and fooling around the employee working under them.

It is easy to sigh off the survey and not giving the appropriate answers to the questions. No workplace feels or says the things an employee is actually feeling or want to say. Everybody wants something or the other to do but rarely anything happens.

Writing Survey Questions:

When writing a survey question you need to fulfill a few goals that actually require such types of questions to be more effective. They are

1. Use a limited number of words in the question
2. The question should showcase the same meaning for every respondent
3. The main subject or the topic should be clarified clearly in the question.

Things to Consider When Writing Employee Satisfa ction Survey Questions:

1. Allowed for all possible responses
2. Be able to read out loud
3. Do not make use of emotionally charged words
4. Avoid leading questions
5. Avoid negations
6. No double-barrel questions
7. Avoid any type of jargons
8. Be specific
9. Be direct
10. Be simple
11. Be comprehensible

Employee Satisfaction Survey Questions With Categories:

Here are a few questions that use in performing employee satisfaction surveys. For a better idea, the questions segment into different categories.

Relationship with the supervisor:

1. Do you feel like your opinions are heard and valued by your superior?
2. Do you think your career has scope for self-improvement such as skill upgrade?
3. Do your managers, and other seniors encourage you to perform best?
4. Do you think you will get enough for the dedication and commitment you show in your work?

Work/Life balance:

1. Does your job creating extreme stress for you?
2. Do you think your supervisor understands a healthy balance between work and personal life?
3. Do you believe your office culture helps you to strike the right balance between your work and personal life?

Fairness at work:

1. Do you think the organization has the right plans for improvement for all employees?
2. Do you know that the administration is just towards overseeing policies concerning employees?
3. Do you feel your manager treats all the colleagues equally?

Feedback:

1. Do you get valuable feedback from your manager?
2. Does your manager appreciate you when you have worked superbly?

Job passion and self-evaluation:

1. Do you consider to go beyond your limits to complete the work?
2. Do you think your job brings a positive change in other’s life?
3. Do you feel always ready to resolve client issues?
4. Do you think the executives respect your own family time?
5. Do you feel any growth in yourself like learning other skills, and enhancing your skills other than your regular job?
6. Are you included when leadership related vital decisions are made?
7. Do you feel your supervisor valued you?

Teamwork:

1. Is your team supportive enough at work?
2. Does your team motivate you to give your best at the job?
3. How do you feel for being part of your team?

Information:

1. Did your company provide you with all the required information and tools to perform your duties well?
2. If something unexpected comes up, do you know who to reach for a solution?
3. Have you ever struggled to get data to make better decisions at work?

Organization relation:

1. Did you understand what your job demands to reach company objectives?
2. How satisfied are you with your job?
3. Do you believe that there is a chance for individual career growth development and improvement inside the company?
4. Will you work for the same company for the next 2 years?
5. Is there a clear understanding of the critical targets of the organization?

Conclusion:

In order to conclude, various ways might inculcate changes smoothly and easily in any organization, asking for the survey is one of those things.

The advantages of the survey should take more seriously and one should try to neglect the disadvantages associated with it. Surveys are meant for the satisfaction of the employee and not anything else. One should consider the serenity of the surveys and each employee should give proper attention to the surveys and should focus on everything as a whole.

The growth of the individual will be dependent on the growth of both the employee and the organization as well. The more seriously the survey and its outcome will be, the more the fruitful it will be for the organization.

There will be satisfaction for the employees only if the surveys are conveying the right result and nothing else.