AN INTRODUCTION TO EMPLOYEE RESEARCH TECHNIQUES Employee research techniques have evolved significantly over the past few years. Initially, companies and organizations viewed it as a human resource driven initiative that gave their employees the opportunity to "let off steam" and it was not regarded highly enough outside of HR for the results to be acted upon. Today, it is seen by the most enlightened organizations as a major business improvement tool. These organizations understand that the main way of gaining the major competitive edge is by increasing employees' capability to improve customer service. But why is this? The answer is because customers have a greater range of choices than in the past and are becoming increasingly better informed and more discerning than ever before. This translates into them having very high expectations and, if they feel they are being "short changed" in any way, they take the initiative and switch their allegiance. This reduction in consumer loyalty creates difficulties for organizations in retaining existing customers, causing them to increase the amount they spend on recruiting new customers. Numerous choices have also brought greater competitiveness to the market and it is difficult for an organization to differentiate itself from the competition in terms of production range, quality and price. As a result, the main differentiator for organizations has to be the quality of service that the customer receives. Think about the last time you went out to a nice restaurant for a special meal. Regardless of the quality of the food and the price, if the service was poor, you forget how good the food was and you will probably not visit that restaurant again. Following on this same principle, there is a significant amount of research demonstrating that employees have the greatest single impact on customer service. In the eyes of the customer, the employee they interact directly with is "the face" of that organization and heavily influences how they feel about the organization. It is vital for the interaction to be a positive one, not just for the customer, but for the employee as well. If the customer is happy, they spend more money with the organization, which naturally improves the organization's overall business performance. Likewise, higher employee satisfaction levels can come about as customer satisfaction and business performance levels increase because of the pride and kudos that come from working for a successful company. Our research has indicated that the most successful organizations have satisfied, motivated, flexible, committed and well-trained employees who believe that they are able to personally contribute to the success of the organization and are therefore fully aligned behind the organization's products, strategy and goals. These organizations get the most from their employees because they consider them to "their greatest asset" and they are prepared to invest in them in the same way as they invest in technology, product/brand development and customer segmentation. In essence, this means considering employees as a key stakeholder group in the same way as customers, shareholders and other corporate "investments." This leads to a critical need to understand and proactively manage the impact that any organizational change will have on your employees in order to protect the investment made in employees. One approach is to proactively use employee surveys to understand what the key motivators and dissatisfiers are for them. Insightlink can consult in this matter and has help numerous companies and organizations resolve employee concerns. Our extensive research proves that committed and loyal employees have a direct impact on each company's performance and profitability. This critical link between employee satisfaction and organizational performance was also clearly established by the U.S. Department of Labor - in a comprehensive review of more than 100 studies, people practices were found to have a significant impact on improvements not only in employee satisfaction, but also in the organization's productivity and financial performance.

Table of Contents Introduction Research Benefits Types of Employee Research Deciding on Methodology Satisfaction Surveys Planning for Employee Surveys Web vs. Paper Surveys Questionnaire Design Survey Completion Analysis and Reporting Action Planning Prioritizing Actions Formalizing Action Plans Reviewing Action Plans CLICK HERE to download a printable PDF copy of this guide Where do you fall within the Loyalty Matrix? » Committed Loyalist? » Change Seeker? » Compromiser? » Opportunist? What's your guess? Take our short demo survey and find out now. An Insightlink 4Cs Survey can let you see this valuable data on employee engagement within your organization. Did You Know? Our repeat clients who have used our 4Cs Action Planning Workbook average a 7% increase in overall satisfaction on follow-up employee surveys. You should click here to download report samples. Employee surveys are a low cost investment in the success and profitability of your company. Research shows that companies with higher levels of employee satisfaction financially outperform their peers. Get a no-obligation quote today and find out how improving employee satisfaction can also improve your bottom line.