IDS HR StudyPlus 777, July 2004

Employee attitude surveys

• highlights trends in employee attitude surveys, such as the increasing popularity of online surveys and a closer alignment of surveys with business objectives
• examines the content and layout of the questionnaire and looks at how companies seek to involve a broad cross-section of staff in the design
• discusses the most appropriate means of distributing the questionnaires and the methods used to encourage a good response
• looks at how internal and external benchmarking can help put the results in context and at how the findings are communicated to staff
• considers the importance of effective action planning, on which employees are likely to judge the success of the whole exercise
• includes six detailed company case studies
• provides comprehensive details of the services offered by 31 providers of attitude surveys.

This IDS HR StudyPlus looks at how companies are increasingly using staff surveys to measure employee engagement in an effort to improve business performance. Employee 'satisfaction' is now perceived by many companies as only a first step - a happy employee is not necessarily a productive one - whereas engagement and commitment, it is argued, can be shown to have a positive impact on the bottom line.

By conducting employee attitude surveys, employers can show they are listening to their staff. Taking action on the findings further demonstrates that employees' views are valued and can pay dividends in terms of improved morale and commitment. Moreover, an attitude survey can be used to explore specific issues, such as the reasons for high employee turnover.

Many organisations opt to use an external supplier to undertake, at least parts, of the survey process on their behalf. By doing so, they can benefit from the supplier's specialist expertise and resources, knowledge of best practice and experience of working with other organisations. Moreover, the independence and objectivity of the third party can help to reassure employees that their responses will remain anonymous and therefore influence return rates. The Guide to suppliers, a major section within this publication, is devoted to choosing a provider of employee attitude surveys.

What's in this StudyPlus?

This 108-page publication contains the following sections:

Overview

Aligning employee surveys with business objectives

Analysis

Looks in detail at the main stages in the survey process:

Designing a survey –

• using in-house or external resources
• involving staff in preliminary research
• drawing up the questionnaire
  

Conducting the survey –

• distributing questionnaires
• carrying out an online survey
• encouraging a good response

Acting on the results –

• analysing the responses
• communicating the findings to staff
• devising action plans at organisational and local levels.

Company practice

A detailed look at the approaches taken to employee attitude surveys by six organisations: British American Tobacco; EDF Energy; Inmarsat; Loop Customer Management; Somerfield; and Waterstone's.

Guide to suppliers

Choosing a provider of employee attitude surveys:

• a checklist of the key considerations when selecting a supplier
• comprehensive details of the services offered by 31 specialist providers.