There’s a reason we have two ears and one mouth
You’ve likely heard the old Epictetus saying “We were born with two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak”. Words of wisdom applicable to countless personal and professional situations!
As a senior leader you know the importance of listening to clients, but do you listen to your employees with the same intent? When it comes to creating a motivated and engaged workplace, the employee is always right.
Are your employee engagement surveys really listening to your employees?
Engagement surveys are helpful but don’t really get inside the heads of your employees. Many surveys are used to measure employee engagement, morale, and performance against baseline versus listening and responding to your employees’ current challenges and needs.
An employee pulse survey in contrast is a fast and frequent survey that does away with complex questions and is designed to be done weekly, or every few weeks. Pulse surveys give quick insight into the health of your company and how your employees are doing – with questions relevant to your department, on a more individualized level that can be acted on.
Here are a couple ways you can use pulse surveys to pay attention to the needs of your employees.
1. Identify intention to leave – before it’s too late
Over 25% of employees report being burned out from their job, with over half of burned out employees stating they plan to leave. Couple that stat with Bersin by Deloitte’s recent research citing 14% of new employees leave within the first 12 months and you have a pretty compelling reason to “get into the heads” of your employees.
Quick pulse surveys:
- identify workload, morale and other issues
- obtain regular feedback from new employees on their impressions, expectations and challenges
- allow you to take immediate action, before it’s too late
2. Determine the recognition and rewards most meaningful to your team
Recognition from a manager is a huge motivator improving morale, retention and performance. Since employees are different, how they like being recognized and rewarded differs.
Do your employees thrive on public congratulations or private feedback? Do they like pizza days or prefer coupons to leave work early? Do they like collecting points for bigger items or redeeming immediately for smaller ticket gifts?
These insights help you design the right recognition program for your team so employees feel appreciated and want to come to work for your organization.
Listening to your employees regularly is a first step in improving productivity, engagement and retention.
CSISTARS recognition experts listen because we care. Book a complimentary demo or contact us for more information.
Lori is the VP of Recognition for CSI International Inc. She has a MBA with a minor in Human Resources, is a Certified Recognition Professional and member of the SHRM blog squad. Prior to joining CSI STARS, she worked at Mercer Human Resource Consulting and Youthography, a youth market research agency. Connect with CSI STARS on LinkedIn to learn how we cultivate a workforce that loves coming to work.
