The objective of the information provided in this document is to help evaluate the need for measurement within your company, while also providing some insight into the considerations and care that needs to be taken when measuring either employee or customer feedback.  It is not intended to be a comprehensive list of strategies.  Although many common denominators exist between businesses, in many instances each business environment is unique.  This then often requires slightly differing approaches to achieve success.  

10 important things to consider when measuring Employee or Customer Satisfaction:

1. Are the questions designed to give you actionable results?
2. Have you considered which of the various data collecting research options e.g. telephone, face to face or on-line options will give you the best results?
3. Have you developed a communication strategy?
4. What is the best sample size to ensure your results have validity?
5. What type of data analysis format will ensure your management team best understand results?
6. Consider how many questions to ask to avoid survey fatigue?
7. How do you ensure confidentiality to maximise survey feedback?
8. What commitments have you made to best manage expectations after measuring?
9. Will your survey data be analysed by someone with an objective point of view?
10. How much time should you allow between measurement surveys?

10 key measurement or survey success factors to drive ROI!

1. Transparency of results
2. Easy to understand questions
3. Appropriate length of the survey
4. An effective communication strategy
5. Test the online process
6. Ensure questions validate, but don’t contradict each other
7. Analyse the verbatim comments for trends
8. Provide clear instructions on how to complete the survey
9. Sensitively communicate results to stakeholders
10. Develop practical recommendations from survey research outcomes

Benchmarking your company’s performance

Most people compare company performance at several levels.  Go into any boardroom and you will hear discussions regarding Margins, Gross Profitability, EBIT, ROI etc.  All of this information assists leaders and managers in establishing where they stand in their performance.  Both internally, and against industry or market trends.  Similarly there is significant value in understanding how a company is performing from the point of view of its people.

We know from hundreds of pieces of research that the more your workforce is engaged and satisfied with their jobs, the likelyhood of their productivity increases.   In fact there is a direct correlation between satisfaction and productivity. 

So how does your employee environment stack up? 

- Are your people engaged in your vision?

- Is there room for improvement?

- How satisfied are your workforce? 

Here are some interesting benchmarks that you may wish to compare against your company:

Note:  These results are based on over 2,000 participants across companies in various industries over a 5 year period.  Our experience tells us that they provide an important benchmark for comparison.

Results indicate that most people feel their existing place of employment is no different to previous experiences.  Compared to than other places they previously worked;

• 46% of people felt they received no more recognition

• Only 36% felt they had better freedom to implement ideas

• 48% said that ‘management listening to their ideas’ was no different

• 52% ‘trust’ issues were the same

• Only 36% felt that communication was better

Consider that nearly 20% of respondents were either ‘Never’ or only ‘Sometimes’, ‘satisfied with their job’ provides some insight into the impact on performance and productivity.  Imagine the impact on your bottom line if you had a piece of machinery that with some fine tuning, would provide you with 20% more output?

Taken in the context that remuneration is not the main driver for changing jobs, but rather the breakdown of the relationship with the direct Manager, these results demonstrate the significant opportunity that exists to stimulate performance.

If we now turn to the customer, similar indicators are available to establish performance and improvement opportunities. 

‘Customer satisfaction’ is a regular performance measure for many customers.  However, research now indicates that ‘satisfaction’ related to service may not be the appropriate emotion to measure.  Depending on your business and market segment there could be many other emotional drivers that reflect more accurately ‘customers’ happiness or dissatisfaction with your products and service.  A good example of this is demonstrated by a study completed with tourists at a holiday destination.    The measure and feedback on ‘relaxation’ was far more telling than just ‘satisfaction.  Knowing what to ask customers to get useful actionable data is a critical component.  It demonstrates to customers that you ‘know how they think’, and what is important to them regarding service levels.

Consider the “Loyalty Effect”!  Initially researched by Fredrick Reicheld with Bain & Co, (Harvard Business School Press 2006) Reicheld argues that the challenge with multiple complex measurements can be simplified by asking customers one single question.  “How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?”  He argues further that one doesn’t need complex sets of questions, expensive surveys and statistical analysis.   The ‘ultimate question’ will provide any organisation with a measurable index to track how customers feel.  This single figure can also be directly correlated to company bottom line performance. 

 Perhaps the best outcome is achieved when there is an overall feedback strategy that combines the ‘Ultimate question’ with a range of indicators that allow the company to identify specific service performance deliverables.  Without this, how do you know ‘What your customers value in doing business with you?’.   

Colin Chodos has extensive experience in customer and employee surveys with exceptions results. Go to www.corporatebehaviour.com.au to see more!

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