Plan for an Employee Survey - Coursework Example

A Plan for an Employee Survey Name Course Lecturer Date Introduction Employee surveys are among the most effective tools that are used by management to assess its strategy’s effectiveness, as well as maximizing its human resources’ potential. For several decades, organizations have been using employee surveys to help the management understand the way individual workers perceive their job satisfaction, working conditions and advancement opportunities. While these surveys may be used for various purposes, managers are more and more using them as strategic tools for maximizing productivity and meeting financial as well as other organizational objectives. The popularity of the conventional employee survey that used to measure solely employee happiness or satisfaction is declining (Morganson, Major, Oborn, Verive, & Heelan, 2010). Currently, firms are using employee surveys to ask the workforce to evaluate the work setting and the provided support to help attain business goals. This paper will contain a plan for conducting an international survey for Jollibee employees that includes what the employee survey can achieve, and challenges faced in effective administration of the survey. It will also include costs, risks and likely difficulties and their management, anticipated or likely benefits and how to deliver them, as well as how to know if the survey has been conducted professionally and ethically. What the survey can achieve The use of the employee survey can achieve a number of things. To start with, the survey can act as a warning indicator. The warning signs encompass a wide array of organizational matters, such as corporate values and ethics, union vulnerability and workplace safety. Concerns on safety may entail physical injury to workers due to unsafe work environment, substance abuse, workplace violence and security to personal and company property (Frank, Finnegan, & Taylor, 2004). In this case, the company can use the survey to establish gaps amid the procedures, policies and objectives concerning safety and actual safety matters, as perceived by the workforce. Moreover, the data collected from the survey can be used to ascertain whether the ethical standards and values structure established by top management are actually being circulated and disseminate throughout the organizational culture (Frank, Finnegan, & Taylor, 2004). This can be achieved by asking employees about their perception on how ethically or unethically the company’s activities are carried out. In addition, the survey can be used to measure whether the company is people’s employer of choice. According to (Harley, Ramsay, & Scholarios, 2013), most firms are using worker surveys to assess the ambiance within their staff. The surveys measure an organization’s attractiveness as the employer of choice for the recruitment and retaining of key workers, and employee engagement. The desire of being people’s employer of choice stems mainly from a looming deficiency of talent that is demographics related. This desire also derives from stiff competition to hire and retain workers, especially skilled employees, in the worldwide economy. A mounting awareness of inevitable demographics is generating a greater pressure for HR practitioners to concentrate more on keeping talented workers and ensuring that they are actively occupied in their jobs. Growing organizational awareness on the significant turnover’s costs, in relation to lost productivity, lost opportunities and training, is also driving the need for employee retention (Frank, Finnegan, & Taylor, 2004, p.13). Furthermore, the employee survey can act as a leading indicator. Drawing from Veldhoven (2005), employee voice makes a significant contribution to management’s decisions. A mounting number of studies have started using employee surveys to link the leadership practices of a firm, customer loyalty, employee perspectives and its continuing financial performance. This constitutes the most hands-on use of employee surveys to predict organization and customer outcomes. In an organization where employees consider customer orientation, employee involvement and training and quality emphasis as emphasized, employees have a higher likelihood of reporting higher job satisfaction, and increased knowledge and association with the firm’s values and vision. Moreover, proper evaluation of the employee survey can enable a firm to target its action plans and resources to areas that have a high likelihood of driving performance. The survey can also be used to evaluate the company’s program. Harley, Ramsay, & Scholarios (2013) maintain that, employee surveys are commonly used in assessing major company initiatives’ effectiveness or influence the initiatives’ design through the input of employees. This may include staff programs like worker benefit package. In such a case, a firm can survey workers to assess the attractiveness of other benefit packages, and then modify or create the ultimate package on the basis of employee feedback. Initiatives relating to diversity are among the common organizational programs whereby firms heavily depend on data from employee survey. Through proper collection and segmentation of data from employees, an organization can be able to establish key workplace aspects that impact retention among certain subgroups of workforce population. Challenges faced in effective administration of the survey There are a number of factors that may hinder effective administration of an employee survey. One of the main challenges is limited time. For employee surveys to be effective strategic tools, adequate, current, precise and reliable data has to be collected from the employees through questionnaires (Dundon et al., 2004). On the contrary, due to limited time, employees do not take the required time to fill the questionnaires, which results in some of the questionnaires being partially filled. This leads to collection of inadequate data, which cannot be relied on to make organizational decisions or formulate strategies. Sanchez (2007, p.50) further asserts that, the lack of a properly designed communication plan to support the survey is a challenge. In many cases, the aim of conducting the survey is not made clear, the commitment of the firm to follow-ups does not have credibility and the responsibilities of management are unclear. Ironically, even where organizations have spend considerable resources and time in addressing matters established in the employee survey, internal communication undertakings usually fail to ascertain the link amid management actions and survey results. Hence, the firm fails to benefit from its investment in the survey. Moreover, most surveys generate a large volume of data that is hard for managers to interpret. Additionally, report books for data are often difficult and dense to understand. Usually, the results of the survey are presented in a way that takes up the shortcomings of the data processing software of supplier instead of the end user’s needs (Sanchez, 2007). Consequently, the findings of the survey may overwhelm managers and disengage them from the follow-up procedure. In such a case, most managers tend to adhere to vaguely stated directives from top management instead of considering the data valuable intelligence giving them the insight they need to enhance organizational performance. Furthermore, timing of the field work of the survey is challenging. Mostly, survey timing does not consider employees’ availability, the organization’s requirements or business planning procedure (Sanchez, 2007). For instance, a firm may wish to have the results from the survey ready for presenting at a conference for senior management. The HR manager may be told in October to have the survey done before the year ends. Consequently, the survey might be conducted when maximum participation of employees is impossible or at a time when the results cannot be availed on time to direct the organization’s plan or influence decisions on future investments. Costs, risks and likely difficulties The employee survey has several costs, risks as well as likely difficulties. In the first place, time and resources are required in designing the questionnaires, distributing, filling and collecting them from the employees (Dundon, Wilkinson, Marchington, & Ackers, 2004). Time is usually a limited resource in an organizational setting and thus, to help avoid wasting time in conducting the survey, employees would be allowed to carry and fill the questionnaires from their homes. In addition, to help minimize the costs of producing questionnaires, few but comprehensive questions would be used. Moreover, presented with an array of diverse survey results, the management often face difficult in establishing and prioritizing matters for follow-up purposes (Sanchez, 2007). Most managers use survey results to back up pre-existing ideas regarding the real problems or simply identify problems using the absolute survey scores. However, interpreting survey results this way has some difficulties since survey scores tend to be biased by factors such as national cultures and content. To manage these difficulties, I would prioritize matters for follow-up on the basis of the likely consequences of such matters on organizational performance and employee welfare. Sanchez (2007) maintains that, the employee survey faces the risk of non-action. A bigger percentage of employees invest effort and time in taking part in survey in order to raise their expectations, hopes and views in relation to the operations and policies of an organization. However, in most cases the management does not carry out follow-up subsequent to the survey. Non-action has the possibility of promoting cynicism and jeopardizes other future efforts to obtain feedback from employees. In order to ensure that the management takes the necessary action following an employee survey, I would explain to the management how non-action can have serious consequences to the welfare of the employees and the organization in general. Employee survey also faces the risk of biasness (Sanchez, 2007). There is a high possibility of employees of giving a negative feedback on issues relating to compensation and benefits in order to have them reviewed in their favour. I would deal with such bias by holding a meeting with the employees prior to filling the questionnaires and explaining to them the significance of honest in the survey in formulating the best policy for them and the organization. Anticipated or likely benefits There are several likely benefits that Jollibee will enjoy from using the employee survey. To start with, it will be in a position to see the way it is operating from various viewpoints across the structure of the organization (Voorde, Paauwe, & Veldhoven, 2010). I would suggest that the employees fill the questionnaires independently in order for each of them to present his or her view regarding different organizational matters, such as job satisfaction, supervision, compensation and other employment benefits. As a result, the company will be able to assess such matters from different perspectives, which will in turn lead to the formulation of the ideal strategies and policies for company. In addition, the survey is likely to present the company with an opportunity to enhance its performance by providing useful feedback about areas that need improvement (Voorde, Paauwe, & Veldhoven, 2010). In designing the survey, I would include questions that would require the employees to highlight areas that they are not comfortable with and their expectations on those areas. Thus, the company would be able to implement the necessary changes in those areas. Moreover, the employee survey will constitute an effective communication means among employees at all levels. Giving workers a proactive way of voicing their concerns and interests helps generate a positive work setting capable of empowering and energizing every employee (Holland et al., 2012). I would deliver this by fostering anonymity in filling the questionnaires in order for employees to feel free and confident in doing so. Furthermore, through the survey, Jollibee will be able to gather detailed and precise information in relation to attitudes and culture that comprise its integral workforce. According to Holland (2012, p.379), positive work relations may be effective in creating trust amid managers and subordinate staff, forming a workforce that really wants the entire firm to succeed. In order to gather such information, I would give employees several days to fill the questionnaires. This would avail them enough time to correctly answer the questions. I would also use comprehensive questions to ensure that adequate feedback on a given issue is given by the employees. Professional and ethical administration of the survey To ascertain whether the survey has been conducted professionally and ethically, I will assess certain aspects of the survey. First, I will see whether anonymity was maintained throughout the survey. Designing questionnaires that do not require an employee to mention his or her name is considered ethical, since it helps avoid clashes between employees and their superiors, especially where a negative feedback is given. In addition, I will check whether the questionnaires have the option of including personal information. Requesting for personal information, such as age, marital status, religion in a questionnaire intrudes into employees’ personal lives and is unethical. Thus, a professional and ethical survey should shun from the inclusion of personal information by the respondent. Moreover, nobody should be forced to take part in a survey. Ethically, the person carrying out the survey should seek the consent of each employee for participating in the survey. In this case, I will know whether the survey was conducted in a professional and ethical manner by ascertaining whether all the employees participated in the survey willingly or was forced to do so. Lastly, an ethical survey should use the obtained information exclusively for the intended purpose, which in most cases is enhancing organizational performance, employee satisfaction and improving working conditions. Accordingly, I will assess how the data collected during the survey was used. Usually, the respondents are informed on the purpose of the survey prior to the actual survey to avoid cases where the information collected is used for other purposes. Conclusion The things that the survey can achieve are act as a warning indicator, to measure whether the company is people’s employer of choice, act as a leading indicator and to evaluate the company’s programs. The challenges in effective administration of the survey include limited time, lack of a properly designed communication plan, a large volume of data that is hard for managers to interpret, and poor timing of field work. The costs, risks and likely difficulties of the survey include difficult in establishing and prioritizing matters for follow-up purposes, need for time and resources, non-action and biasness. The likely benefits of the survey include ability to assess company’s operations from various viewpoints, an opportunity to enhance organizational performance, and effective communication means. The survey will also facilitate gathering of detailed and precise information. References Dundon, T., Wilkinson, A., Marchington, M., & Ackers, P. (2004). The meaning and purpose of employee voice. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 15, 1149-1170. Frank, F., Finnegan, R., & Taylor, C. (2004). The race for talent: Retaining and engaging workers in the 21st century. Human Resource Planning, 27 (1), 12-25. Harley, B., Ramsay, H., & Scholarios, D. (2013). Employee Direct Participation in Britain and Australia: Evidence from AWIRS95 and WERS98. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 38 (2), 42–53. Holland, P., Cooper, B. K., Pyman, A., & Teicher, J. (2012). Trust in management: the role of employee voice arrangements and perceived managerial opposition to unions. Human Resource Management Journal, 22 (4), 377–391. Morganson, V. J., Major, D. A., Oborn, K. L., Verive, J. M., & Heelan, M. P. (2010). Comparing telework locations and traditional work arrangements: Differences in work-life balance support, job satisfaction, and inclusion. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 25 (6), 578 - 595. Sanchez, P. M. (2007). The employee survey: more than asking questions. Journal of Business Strategy, 28 (2), 48-56. Veldhoven, M. v. (2005). Financial performance and the long-term link with HR practices, work climate and job stress. Human Resource Management Journal, 15 (4), 30–53. Voorde, K. V., Paauwe, J., & Veldhoven, M. V. (2010). Predicting business unit performance using employee surveys: monitoring HRM-related changes. Human Resource Management Journal, 20 (1), 44–63. Read More