I am not happy. My chair has just broken and the printer has still not been fixed. The problem with the company is that it is going to the dogs. The boss really doesn’t seem to have a clue as to what is really going on.
There was a new person that started last month, no one bothered to introduce them and they were given a job that they had no clue how to do; why didn’t they ask me to look after him? For a start I could have let them know them a new set of plans have been released so even if they did know what they were doing the drawings they are using are out of date anyway. I don’t know why I bother sometimes.
Some of us went out for a drink after work last night. No one is happy and Sally from Accounts says that she has just about had enough and is thinking of asking for a rise and if they don’t give it to her she is going to quit.
The management here just don’t have a clue, we are losing money through our inefficiencies and every time they come up with a new initiative they are so far off the mark that it just demonstrates how out of touch they really are.
I think I’ll ask for a pay rise, if Sally from Accounts can get one I can.
And so it goes on.
These are the sort of thoughts that start to play on the minds of individuals when a company loses touch with their employees; the broken chair, the lack of appreciation, the blaming of ‘management’, even questioning the futility of what they are doing. Trivial problems fester and a cynical and negative mindset develops. Can you be sure that this isn’t the sort of thing that is going on right now in your organisation?
What should be social events held outside the office become no more than a forum for complaints and negativity grows among people who feel unable to effect change. Diverse frustration will often amalgamate into a demand for an increase in remuneration, as though like a cheap fix more money will briefly reduce the pain.
If ignored by management the concerns of this employee will inevitable find empathy with their colleagues own individual concerns, where the only common demand might well be a demand for an increase in remuneration, more paid holidays and a reduction in working hours, all of which will not fix the broken chair, ensure that new personnel are in future properly introduced, trained and managed nor help management identify areas of inefficiency.
Organisations have a habit of compartmentalising people, physically through offices, cubicles and workstations also in terms of responsibility. It can prove productive if there is effective and strong management in place to support this structure, but over time weak or inappropriate management can infiltrates the management chain and if it does it can be expected that cracks will start to appear.
Looking at an organization from the top down all the corporate garden can appear to be in full bloom as middle management either disguise or are just unaware of festering problems.
A very skewed view can be the result of relying on a limited number of indicators, just as a one eyed person finds judging distance difficult. By establishing procedures that sample the mood from different perspectives throughout the organisation good management will be able to form a rounded picture.
The benefits of establishing good, frequent and extensive communication channels are both direct and indirect.
A senior management team that is known to have their ear to the ground will command great respect and will keep middle managers from becoming complacent knowing that they can no longer dismiss the senior managers searching “How is everything going?” question with a non-committal “Fine”; It is my experience that if someone replies with “fine” you need to dig deeper and ask if they really know what is going on.
Most principals of organisation will not have the luxury of spending time walking the floor and discussing the issues of individuals but through online employee surveys they can achieve the same benefits.
Online surveys provide an ideal method to establish good and effective communications between the employer and employee. Using a survey hosting service they can now be created and published with ease and speed.
Surveys can be deployed in seconds by utilising the Internet and intranet, they can be completed easily by employees and the results analyzed in real-time exposing the ‘problems’ and giving early warning towards common themes of dissatisfaction.
Online employee satisfaction surveys have the ability to get to the heart of an organisation, confirm not only that the engine room is working but that there is sufficient coal in the bunker.
The benefits that online surveys bring are considerable, not only are the real issues identified, but employees feel that their voices are being heard and that their views, right or wrong, have a forum.
Online surveys won’t in themselves resolve a problem but they will give senior management the opportunity to address the problems and concerns of their employees, at least if people then leave the organisation they will be doing it for the right and not wrong reasons.
Although monetary concerns can often be cited as the main reason good people decide to leave a organization dig a little deeper and it is often found that it is more to do with one or more of the following:-
- the workplace environment;
- a lack of accomplishment
- limited training and feedback;
- lack of a career path;
- over worked;
- lack of trust and respect with their senior managers.
Good communication between the employer and employee can help identify the individual and common concerns of the employees and will give the senior management team the opportunity to address root problems and not just the symptoms of employee dissatisfaction, enabling them to demonstrate to their employees that they are valued as an important resource.
Each individual organisation needs to customised their own employee survey so that it is relevant for them. To get an idea as to how effective online surveys can be try completing the sample employee satisfaction survey, then view the results of the satisfaction survey and just think of the benefits to management being able to measure so easily the heart beat of the organization.
