Don’t Leave a Broken Window Broken
If not repaired it doesn’t take long for a building with one broken window to quickly turn in to a building with a lot of broken windows. Resolving problems when they are small will prevent them from developing into larger problems.
The same is true when considering the level of employee satisfaction. Dissatisfaction can spread like wildfire and in the blink of an eye you can have the type of morale problems that are notoriously hard to resolve.
To ensure that your employees are happy you need to understand what their problems and concerns are and it is important to deal with them early on. Keeping the initiative is really important and the secret is that it is better to give a little and often.
This turns out be a vicious circle. Fixing the problem when it’s small is also when it’s easiest and when it’s cheapest. If management wait to introduce change until they are prompted by employees then they risk having to implement change from a weak position. Employees look for strong, confident management and having a proactive approach and taking time to understand the employees’ issues will gain the respect of the workforce.
Compare that with managers who are out of touch. Arriving late to a problem they are on the defensive, their credibility at risk as they may have to concede to demands which can lead to further and less reasonable demands. It is neither big nor clever.
The issue, then, is how to go about monitoring the morale of a company without a big budget and without much spare time?
The most obvious solution is to conduct an online employee survey. Online surveys are quick, easy and low cost. Instead of weeks and months surveys can now be designed and published in hours and minutes, by harnessing the power of the internet invitations can be sent out instantly and free of charge using email, links on websites and postings on social networks; the results are collated in real-time and can be automatically displayed as charts.
A corporate internet is the perfect delivery platform.
By linking through to an online survey website a company can regularly conduct surveys so they become part and parcel of the daily operations.
With an online survey’s ability to produce results in real-time the mood of the employees can rapidly be gauged and concerns highlighted both on a collective and individual level.
Organisations can use survey results to identify problem areas and then use follow-up surveys to target specific areas of concern. With good intelligence managers are able to identify specific problems and prepare a considered response.
A major advantage of regular surveys is that they allow companies to address relatively small problems in a timely manner and avoid ‘the straw that broke the camels back’ syndrome where what might be seen as a insignificant incident explodes into a torrent of pent up anger.
When management show willingness to consult with the workforce it is appreciated by most employees, not viewed as a sign of weakness but an indicator of good decision making.
Every now and then management problems can be solved with something that is quick, easy and won’t break the bank; enjoy.
-
Projector Screens
Projector Screens.