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Employee Satisfaction Surveys

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The DecisionWise Employee Satisfaction Surveys contain a subset of research-based anchor questions that are designed to measure overall employee satisfaction. Other questions measure the factors that drive engagement and satisfaction in an organization.

The survey is customizable to the needs of every organization. The following sample only shows a limited number of the 50 total items found in the complete survey.

Employees need to have their basic needs met or engagement will suffer. The DecisionWise employee satisfaction surveys measure concepts that specifically impact employee satisfaction. Some of these items include:

  • I have received the training I need to do my job well.
  • I have the tools and resources I need to do my job well.
  • My supervisor treats people with fairness and respect.
  • I clearly understand what my supervisor expects of me.
  • My supervisor gives me regular feedback on how I am doing.
  • There are opportunities for my own advancement in this organization.
  • We work effectively across departments and functions.
  • This organization communicates well with all employees about
    what is going on.

We find some interesting correlates when looking at employee satisfaction survey questions. For example, a low score on the item “I have the tools and resources I need to do my job well,” is often identified as a negative driver of engagement.

Open-ended comments provide a wealth of qualitative information and provide detail on the reasons behind employee satisfaction survey scores. We recommend using two simple open-ended questions:

  1. What are the greatest strengths of our organization?
  2. What are the areas that need the most improvement in our organization?

Our research shows that using more than two open-ended questions significantly lengthens the time it takes to complete the survey and doesn’t yield that much more good qualitative information.

Measuring the employee satisfaction levels is a practice that has been refined at DecisionWise since 1996. DecisionWise uses a set of six anchor questions to measure the level of engagement in the workplace and additional questions to identify the drivers that lead to satisfaction. Some of these engagement anchor questions include:

  1. It is easy to become absorbed in my job.
  2. I would recommend Sample Company as a great place to work.
  3. Most days, I look forward to coming to work.

Employee Satisfaction Surveys vs Employee Engagement Surveys

An employee can be satisfied with a job without being engaged in the job. Employee engagement is much more than being content with pay and the ability to leave at 3 pm. That contentedness is merely job satisfaction, and though satisfaction is generally enough to retain employees, it’s not enough to ensure productivity. On the other hand, employee engagement does promote increased productivity.

Many managers mistakenly think that employee satisfaction can increase employee motivation. American psychologist Frederick Herzberg’s Motivation-HygieneTheory proposes that people are influenced by two factors: those that impact motivation and basic factors that influence job satisfaction. Both factors are key components to build engaged employees.

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