How to read the results area by area
An employee satisfaction survey is not a single grade but a map of eight areas. Each page corresponds to one area and in each it pays to look for something different.
- eNPS and overall satisfaction: look mainly at the development between years. More important than the number itself is whether it is growing and how many people would choose the company again.
- Clarity of expectations: those who do not know what is expected of them can be neither satisfied nor productive. A weak result is a task for managers, not for the HR department.
- The purpose of the company in their own words: read all the answers. When the descriptions differ markedly, people are not pulling in the same direction, because everyone sees a different goal.
- Conflicts and stress: read both questions together. Frequent stress without conflicts points to overload, frequent conflicts to relationships or unclear responsibilities.
- Direct manager: the seven qualities show what managers are good at and what they are not. Passing on information and assigning work can be learnt the fastest.
- Pay and the rules of remuneration: dissatisfaction with the rules tends to be a bigger problem than the level of pay. You can explain or change the rules without increasing the budget.
The question on how much longer the work will satisfy the person is an early warning. A growing number of answers counted in months means departures that you can still prevent.