How to Do Employee Surveys

Employee surveys can measure employee satisfaction, pinpoint internal issues and enhance communication between employees and management. They are relatively simple to administer and with the right incentives, employees will eagerly share their thoughts and feelings.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Questionnaires
• Pens or pencils
• Incentives

1. Determine the need for an employee survey. Do you want to determine employee satisfaction? Have there been big changes, and the staff needs an opportunity to communicate back? Are there employee-retention problems?

2. Brainstorm for questions. Involve management with the employee questionnaire by having them contribute questions and categories.

3. Determine the best way to administer the questionnaire. Should employees be mailed the survey and given a stamped envelope to return it? Should they fill it out on their lunch hour and hand it in as a group? Is an online survey more appropriate? Would a focus group result in better answers than a written survey? Different methodologies will affect the response rate and have different costs involved.

4. Create the questionnaire by wording the questions in the clearest way possible. Keep the questionnaire short by asking only pertinent and relevant questions. Mix up the questions by asking for answers in yes/no and true/false format, a rating-scale format (rate from 1 to 7 or Excellent to Poor) and the occasional essay or open-ended question.

5. Edit the questionnaire by having several people proof the survey, looking for vague questions, typos, errors and double-barreled questions. Test how long the survey should take to complete.

6. Administer the survey by inviting employees to participate. Mail, hand out or email the questionnaire to all employees. In a cover letter, explain why the survey is being administered and ask for their cooperation. Remind them to finish and return the questionnaire by the due date. Send or make several reminders up until the due date. A high response rate is desired, but it is rare to have all surveys returned for tabulation.

7. Tabulate the survey by tallying the answers. Put the results in a pie or line chart to show responses. Determine the response rate and calculate what percentage of employees responded positively or negatively to each question.

8. Summarize the results in a short presentation. Share the results with both the employees and management. Offer examples of good responses and positive comments. Also address any problems with possible solutions and recognition that management has heard their concerns.

Tips & Warnings

• Increase the response rate by offering an incentive. As employees return their survey, give them a small gift. Or add a small token to the envelope itself when mailing out the survey.
• Try to keep the survey as confidential as possible. If employees feel safe to reveal their true feelings, you will have a much truer response.
• Do not ask questions of your employees that you have no intention or possibility of changing.
• Do not ask “double-barreled” questions, which are two questions in one. For example, "Do you use the break room and kitchenette?" This is actually two questions.