How to measure the satisfaction of your collaborators

Happy employees mean the company is functioning well. Precisely, you would like to test the water within your own company: are your colleagues happy? To what extend? Why? What isn’t right? What can you do to improve things? 

A positive atmosphere and culture is essential, so that your collaborators come to work with a heavy heart. If you’ve already worked in a company with a high turnover rate, you know how much it can affect the culture of a company. Measuring the satisfaction of one’s colleagues, through a survey shall help you improve the collaborator experience within the company. Rightly, you would like to implement this but how ?

Clearly identify what you wish to find out

Before writing down the questions for your survey, identify the points on which you would like to get more information. Would you like to cover all the topics which could make an impact on the satisfaction of your collaborators? Or rather focus on 2 to 3 aspects only? A big survey will give you more information but if your questionnaire is too long, you’re going to piss off everyone and end up with almost no responses. Back to square one. Think in advance about the points on which, you would like to get more information. 

Ask the right questions

Good responses means good questions. After having identified the points you would like to cover in your survey, think about the way through which you would like to ask these questions. Avoid questions which already assume a certain type of response like “do you feel super depressed due to this awful wallpaper in the offices?”. Use a more or less neutral language, emotionally speaking, but which is also understandable by others. To obtain as much information as possible, favor open questions and avoid yes/no answers. Here are a few examples that you can adapt in your own way and use them again: 

• At what point do you feel your work being acknowledged, at the office?

• Is it easy for you to express your difficulties at the office?

• To what extent does your work make sense to you?

• What does success in the company mean to you?

• If you could change something at the office, what would it be? 

Guarantee anonymity and don’t rat out names to your boss

« How come he’s not happy? Given his super income? I am going to have a quick word with him”. To avoid hearing these words from your boss, guarantee your interlocutors, that their responses shall remain anonymous. It’s natural to highlight oneself in front of one’s boss and superiors. So, when one wishes to express dissident opinions, it’s like the danger zone. The simplest option is not asking the names of your interlocutors for the survey. Be clear about it in your little introduction, at the beginning of the survey. This way, the interlocutors will be more honest, and you’ll be able to obtain more exploitable responses. 

Use the right tools

You have a wide range of choices as for the tools you wish to use Google Forms, Typeform or even Survey monkey. They’ll allow you to implement such a survey. The Supermood platform we spoke about in our report on the best service providers of Office Managers, helps take things up a notch in terms of the satisfaction of your collaborators. Find the tool that suits you the best and you’re on a roll!

Collect your responses and implement changes

Even if the atmosphere in your company seems perfect through every angle, carry out a satisfaction survey in-house and test out the waters with your collaborators. It’ll potentially help you identify those problems, which were hidden until now. Don’t be afraid to unearth the issues in-house, this is how you’ll be able to make things move forward. Once you’ve got all the responses, go through the results with your superiors during a meeting. Do you see surprising yet unexpected results? Is this contrary to what you were expecting? Which actions can you implement at once, to improve satisfaction at work for your collaborators? Think about a plan to correct the imperfections and implement this, without losing sight of the satisfaction for your collaborators. A few months later, carry out a new survey and see if your actions have been rewarding. By dint of doing so, you’ll find the perfect remedy and you may get the right to an arrogant title like “Great Place to Work”. 

Attentiveness is often the key. Don’t take the satisfaction of your collaborators, lightly. Make the most of the benefits which can be triggered through an in-house satisfaction survey!

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