Recently I learned that a well-known company administers a well known 12-question employee engagement survey and charges clients upwards of a buck-twenty-five for the privilege to do so. That’s $125,000 for 12 questions!
I find that mind-blowing.
Working for a great organization should not be limited to employees who work for rich organizations.
I believe that everyone deserves a great workplace. So, in an effort to level the playing field, here are nine questions* you can ask your employees today, to predict their engagement and (drum roll) your company’s financial success:
On a scale of one to five, rate your level of agreement with the following statements:
- Client satisfaction is a top priority in our company.
- People within our office always treat each other with respect.
- The quality of the professionals in our company is as high as can be expected.
- We have no room for those who put their own (selfish) personal agendas ahead of the interests of our clients or the company.
- Management gets the best work out of everybody on our team.
- The quality of supervision on client projects is uniformly high.
- Those who contribute the most to the overall success of the office are the most highly rewarded.
- Around here, you are required - not just encouraged - to learn and develop new skills.
- We invest a significant amount of time in things that will payoff in the future.
How do our clients use these questions?
- To predict financial results and employee retention. These questions predict over half of all variance in companies’ profit performance. These questions also indicate employee engagement, which is a key indicator of their likelihood to stay with their employer.
- In the “Due Diligence” stage of a merger or acquisition. Companies that are sniffing out an acquisition target administer these questions to the employees of the acquiree. Poor survey results can prevent a bad investment, while strong results can predict future financial success.
- To navigate out of the recession. These questions guide management efforts and corporate priorities.
- To measure their progress over time. When used initially, these nine questions provide a baseline. Then, it’s time to prioritize. Coming back and re-surveying in 12-18 months is a good way to hold leadership accountable and ask, “Are we getting better?”
- To benchmark against great workplaces.
How to do this at home
Administering a survey to all employees is not complicated or expensive. You can design a paper-based or online survey and ask respondents to rank their level of agreement with each statement. Response options should include (at minimum): 1-Completely agree, 2-Agree, 3-Neither agree nor disagree, 4-Disagree, or 5-Completely disagree. (Please trust me; there’s good research to show that “Completely Agree” is better than “Strongly Agree.”)
Of course, if you’d like to administer this survey for you - or our longer 43 question survey - drop me a line (Telephone: 888-922-9596, ext. 702 or email: rr@nextgenerationconsulting.com.) Investment levels begin at a (relatively) budget-friendly $10,000.
Bonus Material:
- Responses to these nine statements predict over 50% of all variance in companies’ profit performance regardless of location, size, or lines of business.
- It’s critical to ask younger employees these nine questions. The views of 30 year olds in your firm predict 57% of the variance between financially successful and non-successful companies, while those of employees 40 and older can only account for 24% of the variations in financial performance between companies.
- If you really want to jack up your financial performance, consider administering the survey every 14-18 months, and focus on the factors that contribute to agreement with the nine statements between surveys. For example, aligning compensation to contribution, or ensuring that your managers and supervisors are focused on excellence. If you can improve staff responses from “Agree” to “Completely Agree” on their rating of quality of client relationships, for example, you are estimated to double your company’s financial performance.
* Where did these questions come from? Glad you asked! We’ve been studying great workplaces since 1998, and have developed a longer, 43 question survey we administer for our clients. Our analysis, coupled with the research done by David Maister , leads to these nine questions and their predictive power. I strongly recommend reading Practice What You Preach by David. Even though he’s focused his life’s research on professional service firms, his advice is excellent for any company trying to become both financially awesome and a great workplace.
