Boosting Your Company’s Competitiveness with Employee Surveys and HR Surveys

by US Army Korea – IMCOM

Boosting Your Company’s Competitiveness with Employee Surveys and HR Surveys

Both in good economic times and when times are highly challenging, companies need to compete aggressively to grow and thrive. Business leaders sometimes rely too heavily on their own knowledge to make important decisions, without getting valuable input from employees throughout their organization. 

Your company’s managers and other employees have extensive information and insight about your company’s processes, products and services, customers and other key drivers of business performance, competitiveness and profit. Employees know the barriers to their own performance and what it will take to make your company significantly more competitive and profitable. 

The fastest and most effective way to tap the knowledge and insight of your employees is to conduct employee surveys and other types of HR surveys. A full service survey company can design and conduct your employee survey at a fraction of the cost of the payback they will provide. They provide value by knowing the right questions to ask and the right way to ask them. They also know how to optimize participation in your employee surveys, they are able to generate useful results reports quickly, and they are able to analyze your findings objectively and provide recommendations for achieving significant results. 

Employee satisfaction surveys/employee engagement surveys should include at least 40 questions and as many as 70 questions organized in logical sections/topics in order to gather information and insight about a broad range of issues. In addition to asking employees to provide ratings for each question, they should also have the ability to provide their comments and suggestions after each question. A comprehensive employee survey typically includes the following topics: 

- The Work Itself / Work Environment / Safety

- Decision Making / Empowerment

- Quality, Customer Service & Work Performance

- Innovation and Change

- Processes/Procedures

- Reward & Recognition / Compensation & Benefits

- My Manager

- Training/Development/Opportunity

- Teamwork / Collaboration

- Communications

- Employee Engagement

- Senior Management Effectiveness

- Commitment to Company Direction

Once employee satisfaction surveys/employee engagement surveys are conducted and the findings are analyzed it is important to take action based on the findings and to track progress in achieving increases in employee and business performance and competitiveness. Conducting the assessments annually will determine how well change is being managed and executed, and identify new problems and opportunities that have surfaced during the past year.

Other types of employee surveys/HR Surveys that will enable your organization to identify opportunities to save money and increase performance and competitiveness include employee benefits surveys (identifying employees’ preferences for and satisfaction with your benefits program), sales force surveys (identifying what needs to be done to increase the performance of your sales people), employee turnover surveys (identifying reasons for high turnover and how to increase retention) and HR scorecard surveys. Human Resources scorecard surveys assess HR customer satisfaction with the full range of HR services typically including benefits planning and administration, HR generalists/HR business partners, compensation planning, HRIS, recruiting/hiring and other HR services.

Conducting an employee survey is significantly less costly than performing consulting studies to identify problems and opportunities, and it is the best way to gather comprehensive feedback from your employees on a wide range of HR issues. Whether your company is highly profitable or it is losing money, surveying your employees and taking action on the findings will generate significant increases in performance, competitiveness and profit.

Interview with Curt Coffman, co-author of First, Break All the Rules and Follow This Path.
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The Importance of Customer Feedback Surveys

by evansville

The Importance of Customer Feedback Surveys

Do you want to drive your business forward? Do you really know what your customers think about your business? In order to ensure that you achieve both of these things you may wish to consider conducting a customer feedback survey. With the help of such a survey not only are you improving your customer retention and profit but you are also advancing satisfaction levels and prompting interest in new products and services that you offer. Basically, with the help of a feedback survey from your customers, you are building up a relationship with them, which will enable you to tailor your business more towards their needs and enhance the chances of increasing your own sales.

A customer feedback survey isn’t just about asking a few simple questions, you need to ensure you focus on the aspects that matter.  This includes the underlying purpose of the survey and the best methodology of reaching your customers. Depending on the type of business you run, there are a number of options available to you including mail and telephone surveys.  However one of the most effective methods that we are seeing today involves online surveys, or combined online and mail surveys.

Before you actually deploy your survey, make sure you read through it very carefully a number of times, or get someone else to do it as a means of checking that you are asking the right questions and also that you are asking them in the correct way. What this will do is help you not only construct the survey but also ensure that you are getting the best feedback from it.

One of the most important aspects of these surveys is analyzing the answers that you receive. This should actually help you decide what sort of questions to be asking in the first place.  For example, closed-ended questions are a lot easier to analyze than open ones, so keep your customer feedback survey simple but informative. It is also helpful when you are analyzing the results to achieve as many completed surveys as possible.  So don’t dive in too eager to examine the results.  Let you survey gather up responses over a matter of weeks and then collectively analyze these results.

Another great feature that you may not be aware of where customer feedback surveys are concerned is the fact that you can also use them as a means of publicizing aspects of your service that your customers, until now, have been unaware of. So not only are you gathering the information needed to improve your service but you are also promoting your business in the process.

No matter what type of business you run or for that matter what size your business is, you will benefit from the help of a customer feedback survey. It will help you manage your business initiatives and push your business to improve in all areas. Also whether you receive negative or positive feedback it is important that you take the points on board and use them to make any necessary changes. Although it is hard to face up to criticism, what would you rather do, admit you are doing something wrong and fix it or watch your business fail because you did nothing about it? I think we all know the answer to this question and I think this alone is enough to demonstrate just how important customer feedback surveys can actually be.

teacher survey
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Comprehensive Employee Surveys Boost Employee and Company Performance

by Manitoba Historical Maps

Comprehensive Employee Surveys Boost Employee and Company Performance

Identifying and Diagnosing Problems that May be Killing Your Organization: 

Conducting comprehensive employee surveys is like doing a full-body scan of your organization. They can identify cancers that are eating away at and threatening your business. Comprehensive employee surveys typically include 40-70 questions. This is contrasted with limited-question employee surveys that have 10-25 or so questions. 

Five reasons for conducting comprehensive employee survey: 

Five key reasons to conduct comprehensive employee engagement surveys, employee satisfaction surveys and employee opinion surveys include: 

1 – Well designed comprehensive employee surveys tell you what you need to know to achieve significant increases in company performance and competitiveness. Comprehensive employee surveys assess the magnitude of known problems and opportunities, and identify hidden problems and opportunities that are impeding competitiveness and profit, negatively impacting customers and creating risks that can be very costly and sometimes embarrassing. 

2 – While ratings for each employee survey are important in telling you about how engaged and satisfied employees are, employees’ comments often are even more important than the ratings. Comments tell you why employees provided high or low ratings for each survey question and comments collectively tell you what needs to be done to address problems and take advantage of opportunities identified in the survey. 

3 – Whether your organization has fewer than 50 or more than 50,000 employees, it is likely complex with many problems, challenges and opportunities. A limited question employee survey such as the Q12 employee engagement survey that is offered by Gallup. The Q12 survey, which includes only 12 specific questions, can’t possibly identify all of an organization’s employee-related and other important problems and opportunities, and point to the necessary solutions. Comprehensive employee surveys assess a broad range of topics, providing detailed quantitative and qualitative information and a roadmap for achieving breakthrough increases in employee and organizational performance. 

4 – Most employees are willing to tell you the “good, the bad and the ugly” when they are confident that their responses, including ratings and comments/suggestions are anonymous and they have no fear of retribution due to their honest survey responses. 

5 – The information, perceptions and insight gathered by employee engagement surveys, employee satisfaction surveys and employee opinion surveys eliminates the need for guessing about what is right and what is wrong. Comprehensive employee survey data enables organizations to avoid costly decisions, initiatives and actions taken by managers (sometimes based on recommendations from consultants) that are based on insufficient or wrong information and guesses about causes of problems. 

Illustrative Comments: 

Following are illustrative comments received from sales people in an employee surveyconducted for a company with several thousand people selling office equipment to business across the U.S. The comments demonstrate the need to conduct comprehensive surveys and to take action based on the survey findings. Does your company have any of the following issues and problems? What other problems are hurting your organization’s performance?: 

Departments Communicate Effectively with Each Other:

“Sales and Service have NO communication with each other as sales has an “air” of UNFOUNDED superiority toward Service.” 

Feel Comfortable Going to Manager with Problems:

“My manager has absolutely no people skills and I can never go to him in order to obtain help with my work. I feel he has a problem with me personally and continues to push me into a state of hating the job I once loved. He does not assist or lead us in any manner, he only piles on more work each day to the point that my job cannot be completed.” 

Feel Good About Working for Manager:

“My manager does nothing to address really important issues. We do not have enough time to properly complete our work. Processes are too complicated and cumbersome. Answering the phone is a big factor in not being able to complete our paperwork, emails, voicemails, etc. We are constantly taking on new customers problems and not having the time to take care of the old problems. This leads to frustration.” 

Company Communicates Effectively:

“Management is very rude and disrespectful when communicating with employees on a day to day basis.” 

Feel Good About Job Overall:

“I would feel real good about my job if I had more knowledge about my job, and more training. Also having a manager that I can go to for assistance would make the job a whole lot easier. I cannot ask my manager anything related to my job. She knows nothing and refers me to others for assistance.” 

Have Information Needed to Do Job:

“Sales people do not have access to any of our customer information. The Customer Service Center took our file cabinets and now they have lost thousands of our customer files. Furthermore, we don’t access to Oracle info (even read-only rights) that would allow us to pull meter readings, etc.” 

Have Sufficient Authority for Job Responsibilities:

“I feel like every little thing I do is being watched very closely and any wrong decision is treated like I just killed a man. I do not feel like I can properly assist customers with that mind set, for the fact that I have to tell them to hold on TRY and get a hold of someone and once I finally do go back to the customer tell them what upper management said, if they have any questions or disagree I have to put them back on hold and do this game of back and forth back and forth.” 

Am Inspired to Do Best Work Every Day:

“I will do my best regardless of what I am doing. It often feels as if there is no difference in result no matter how much effort I put in. I am too reliant on multiple depts and sales rep and things don’t get resolved. Over time, that gets to you.” 

Manager Encourages Environment of Openness/Trust:

” My manager frequently threatens us with write ups and employment termination.” 

Manager Listens to Concerns/Interested in My Ideas:

“My manager is very ineffective with communication and frequently degrades employees in staff meetings in front of the entire department. If we disagree with her or question the validity of instructions she responds negatively or not all.” 

One Thing Company Could Do to Increase Engagement:

“Listen to these surveys, and engage the workers in more open honest feedback. Address our concerns.” 

Job Performance Is Evaluated Fairly on a Timely Basis:

“I only had 1 review in over 2 years & never spoke a word to anyone about it – I was evaluated on paperwork being done on time & with little mistakes – I thought I would be evaluated in other areas & not just that- It was very disappointing that no one called me to review it verbally ; it was all done on line- I even asked about 1 part & never heard back from anyone on it” 

Would Take a Lot to Get Me to Leave:

“Our department has a very high turn around. The stress, inconsistent communications and extreme workload have caused over 8 people to leave in the 10 months I have been here. Migraines, ulcers and regular headaches are common complaints from people in my department because of the pressure and inconsistent management approaches.” 

Training Classes Effective:

“I have not been given the opportunity to attend any classes, even though I asked. I was told I can take only online classes because of budget restrictions, but I feel in person classes are necessary for me and the entire department; specifically in Customer Service skills” 

Management Values Employees:

“This is something that is told to us constantly, with compliments and comments. However, none of the employees at my level feel they are valued with pay and respect which would be more honest indicators.” 

Things You Like Least About Your Job:

“My manager’s inability to communicate without offending. He is constantly telling everyone how thin my co-worker is and saying she is a size 2 and then offering me Hoodia to lose weight because I’m a 12. That is SO INAPPROPRIATE AND INCREDIBLY RUDE.” 

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The Importance of Residential Surveys

by scrumble

The Importance of Residential Surveys

Survey is an activity based on calculations. It is unavoidable in modern times to fix the boundary line of a property. In ancient times, man live in forests and hills when survey was not required. But, when property rights got evolved depending on the desires and dreams of human beings, measuring a land using modern gadgets has become the order of the day. This sort of measuring is called survey to fix the authority on a property or to streamline the authenticity of the owner of the property.
A survey is nothing but an inspection of a building to assess the damage if any and to set it right at the earliest opportunity. But, it will lead to bigger complications viz. property loss and at the worst loss of very precious human lives. So, for peace of mind and confidence, the survey is a must on periodic intervals. These surveys are, generally, of a technical nature and further guidance is required to arrive at a clearer picture of the economic viability of the building. If you propose to buy any property, you should conduct a survey before signing in the contract. A survey can actually protect your money. If you feel that there are pending issues, you can discuss about the final price of the property after allowing for repair expenditure.
Types of Residential Surveys
Mortgage Valuations
Valuation and survey – both are different in basic nature. Mortgage lender carries out a limited check on the property to find out the actual worth of the asset. You have to pay for the evaluation. They may issue a copy of the report not necessarily including all the details of the evaluation. There may be problems which may require huge sums to set right.
Home Buyer Survey and Valuation Report
HSV, otherwise known as Homebuyers report is a survey complying with a preset format proposed by RICS (royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). Conventional assets built in the last 150 years, found to be in reasonable conditions, fall within this category of the HSV. It won’t cover all aspects of the property and only concentrates on emergency features. For properties in need of major repairs or renovation, this HSV usually applicable.
Building Surveys
A building survey, otherwise known as a structural survey is a holistic visual inspection of a property and presents a detailed report. This is carried out in case of listed buildings, older properties, and unusual constructions, buildings to be renovated or altered. It gives information on the method of construction, materials used, details of the defects noted, problematical areas, environmental aspects impact on surroundings, possible effects on society, long term concerns etc.
Structural Inspections
Also called structural survey, this is a visual inspection of the structural features of the property and specific issues pointed out by others. It offers suggestions for repairs or suggestions for expert comments.
Home Energy Rating Survey
It provides Energy Efficiency and Environmental Impact Rating on an existing property. By virtue of this, energy bills can be reduced and energy efficiency can be improved. Using relevant software, assessments are carried out by an accredited assessor.
Energy Efficiency Rating (SAP Rating)
The all round total efficiency of the building is measured by energy efficiency rating. When the rating is high, the dwelling is more energy efficient. Correspondingly, the fuel billing should be lower.
Environmental Impact Rating
When the property generates some sort for impact on the environment, it is measured by EIR. When the rating is higher, it creates the least impact on the environment.

Internet Marketing Tools – Structuring Surveys to Get Desired Results

by scrumble

Internet Marketing Tools – Structuring Surveys to Get Desired Results

Surveys are awesome internet marketing tools, but how do you get the answers you are looking for? What is the best structure for a survey to get good results? What is the best way to ask questions on a survey? Should you ask multiple choice questions? Or are open-ended questions better? Or should you ask a combination? How do you know what type of questions to ask when?

I would start by asking why are you bothering with a survey at all? I mean, really why are you putting the survey together and what do you hope to get out of it? If you are just throwing a survey together because I said it was a good idea, or based on some other survey you have seen on the internet, then you haven’t really thought it through! You have to know where you want to go with the survey.

Your reason for putting together a survey will help guide the type of questions that you put in the survey.

Whatever you do don’t ask questions that you can’t use the answers to! Don’t ask something that you don’t know how to do something with that data. Don’t waste your time asking questions that you think you should be asking.

You want to ask questions that you can take immediate action on – action based on what answers people give you.

One of my favorite ways of doing that is to ask what their biggest question is on a certain topic within your niche. Then, on top of that you can continue with multiple choice questions.

The more important thing is to make sure you are ready to act upon the data. Don’t spend a ton of time building a survey… and don’t spend a ton of time gathering the data until you are ready to be able to use it. Until you are ready for all that data you really don’t need it – you are just wasting your time.

A good rule of thumb is to figure 10 minutes to put together a survey, maybe a little longer the first time, but after that 10 minutes to put up the survey and send it out in an email. That way you get it out fast and get results fast.

That guideline will help you decide how to format your questions, won’t it? I mean, if you have a great tool that makes multiple choice check boxes and such easy to create, then you can use that option.

One of the disadvantages with multiple choice questions is you are kind of “leading the witness”…they only have specific responses they can give, so it might not give you the whole picture. It might just be the closest thing to what they want. It can also bring up things that they hadn’t thought of on their own, but sound good when you suggest it.

By letting them tell you what their biggest question is first you get some great feedback and then their mind is already tuned into what they want to learn as opposed to what you are proposing to teach them.

Use surveys as one of your internet marketing tools-know what you want to get out of the survey. Then ask a good open ended question and follow it up with some supportive multiple choice questions. But make it fast and get it done and be ready to act on the information you get back. If you do that you are letting your list help you build your business.

The Importance of Structural Surveys for Homebuyers

by Sids1

The Importance of Structural Surveys for Homebuyers

The Importance of Structural Surveys for Homebuyers

There was a time when almost all homebuyers commissioned a structural survey on the property that they were intending to purchase. This article takes a look at why more and more homebuyers are prepared to purchase a home without a full structural survey.

What is a Structural Survey?

Almost every property ever built suffers to some degree from movement and in some cases the movement is so severe as to undermine the value and integrity of the property. Older period houses were built on very little foundations, mostly a dept of about 200cm and made up of coke to help with the rising damp and a wider spread of bricks below ground level which acted as the foundations. In a way this was reasonable practice as it was a wildly held belief at this time that brick built homes would only last about 30 years.

As we have since found out however, there are millions of these homes still around today and almost all of them have to some degree suffered some form of subsidence. The most crucial aspect of any form of subsidence is to discover if this is an on-going situation or if it is something that has occurred many years ago and has now stopped.

Without a full structural survey on the property that you intend to purchase you will have no idea of the structural integrity of the property and you could be making one of the largest financial mistakes of your life.

Given the cost of the average home today and the fact that you are likely to be paying for it for a period of 25 years and will in the end pay back during the life of the mortgage around three times the amount borrowed, it is unthinkable that you would make such a financial commitment that will cover most of your working life without bothering to commission a full structural survey. It’s quite clear that as the age of our period housing stock grows so will the risks increase with regard to structural problems so why would you take such a risk?

Worst Types of Structural Problems

Probably the worst types of structural problems are subsidence which insurance companies nor appear to be excluding from their house insurance. The simply won’t take the risk because they odds are not in their favor.

Subsidence is a failure of the house foundations to support the load and can happen to any part of the house. One such location on Victorian houses is the front bay window. These bays were build on even less foundation than the main building and have in the past been prone to dropping more than any other part of the house. In cases where the drop is excessive the only real remedy is to remove and rebuild at a cost of about £25,000. Clearly, it would have been a whole lot cheaper to have a full structural survey and then you would have been aware of the problem before you purchased the property and included it your negotions.

Conclusions

You would have to be mad to buy any kind of period property, flat or house, without having a full structural survey. You can find a local surveyor and compare costs for any kind of structural survey at Surveyors Supermarket, the UK’s fastest growing price comparison site for homeowners.

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How Important are Employee Surveys?

How Important are Employee Surveys?

In today’s competitive world it’s necessary for companies to do whatever they can to keep their employees happy and motivated. Many of them facilitate the use of surveys in an attempt to find out information on staff morale, create internal policies, and plan the company’s future.

If conducted with the necessary forethought, surveys can send out an important message to existing employees, namely that their input and concerns are valued and taken into consideration when the management team makes particular decisions concerning the organization. This message can create a higher sense of moral and loyalty, as well as providing employers with important information regarding the future.

Surveys can either be analyzed in-house or outsourced to a RPO service. Online survey software is universal these days and quite easy to use, you can even develop your own questionnaire inputting specific questions to highlight a particular issue or concern you may have. There are all types of surveys online that can help you with employee satisfaction. It’s best to do some research yourself as you know best what will fit in with your company and style. Be clear on what you want the survey to achieve, perhaps you want to assess the morale in the workplace, evaluate how employees feel about recent changes, or just want a general overview so improvements can be made.

Your ultimate aim from the survey is to get as much relevant feedback as possible, and to succeed there are certain aspects that need to be considered. First, and foremost, it’s necessary that the forms are anonymous, if employees understand that they can say absolutely anything they like without putting their name to it, then they will be confident to speak the truth without fear of reprisal.

Don’t make the survey too long as employees will just become bored and this could lead to incomplete answers, best to keep them short and simple and angled at the topic you are interested in. If there are various issues then it may be a good idea to split them into several surveys and present them at different times.

Successful employee surveys should vary from 20 to 40 questions, no more than this is advised, and its objective to reveal what you need to know about your employees. Surveys can use yes/no questions or a scale -1 agrees completely whilst 5 totally disagrees with the statement. Once the survey is complete the results have to be compiled using a database that analyzes the results and converts them into bar charts or other graphics where they can be interpreted easily.

After the results are analyzed, it’s important you provide feedback to your employees, if they don’t see anything happening they are likely to conclude that their opinion is irrelevant and this can only result in lowering morale. If they have expressed concerns or doubts about something in particular then management has to address these issues if they are to gain the confidence of their employees and improve the work situation.

Hopefully, some of the survey results will point out areas of high employee morale and so won’t need significant attention. You need to focus on those areas where employee morale gets low scores as they have the most potential for improvements. Develop an action plan and put it into practice, before you do this however ensure your employees are informed, or even involve them directly. Involving employees in any changes can lead to positive results and creative solutions to recognized challenges.

Focusing on the weak areas in your company where employee morale is low can accomplish measurable increases in employee morale, productivity, attendance and loyalty from employees.

If money is tight then use survey software to create and administer your surveys, they’re quite easy to use guiding you through the process of developing your own unique surveys geared toward evaluating various aspects of employee attitudes. Either custom make your own or choose from a library of existing surveys templates covering a wide range of topics.

Another option is to incorporate the resources of employee survey firms who specialize in developing and administrating surveys. Hiring a consultant also guarantees employees that they have anonymity. This assurance will increase the probability that employees will complete the surveys with honesty because they have no threat of reprisal.

Employee survey companies can be found online that will develop, administer and analyze survey results for you, these can relate to topics such as employee satisfaction, relations between management and employees, benefits, training, or company policies and procedures.

The Truth About Online Surveys – Get the Truth Behind Online Surveys and Start Earning Real Money Today!

by Wikipedia Saves Public Art

The Truth About Online Surveys – Get the Truth Behind Online Surveys and Start Earning Real Money Today!

The Truth About Online Surveys

At one point or another most people will come across an ad on the internet that says, “make lots of cash with online surveys”. Many people are curious to know how this works and whether or not it’s an elaborate scheme or some or other money making myth. The Truth About Online Surveys

Truth is that online surveys is the most effective way for companies to gain access to the opinions of consumers. Large corporate companies pay research marketing firms to gather information on existing and potential new products. They do this so that they are equipped to make better decisions regarding product development and current market sentiment or popularity of their existing products.

Surveys can be based on anything from laptop computers to hair shampoo. Retailers and wholesalers are in constant contact with consumers, but the company that produces the products, is not. This puts them at a disadvantage, because they have a very limited idea of whether or not their products is exactly what the consumer is looking for.

The Solution to this problem is market research by means of online surveys. Many years back surveys were performed on a one to one basis, much like an interview, which is why many refused to take part in them, regardless of whether you received remuneration or not. This method of surveys has now been replaced by online surveys, simply because it is much faster to gather the necessary information and a lot more cost effective due to the low staff requirement. The Truth About Online Surveys

That been said, the question on how to make money with surveys still remain. Well, the answer is simple. Market research companies recruit individuals of all ages and ethnicity to register on their survey panel, in order to send them information on available surveys. Most survey companies will send you a profile or personality survey to complete, this is done so that they can gather some necessary information about you, which will be used to send you surveys that fit their client’s profile requirements.

Once this process is completed they will periodically send you surveys to complete and this will be done by invitation through email. As soon as you have completed a survey your “account” will be credited with market points that is worth a certain amount of dollars. When your account reaches a predetermined amount, they will mail a cheque to you.

Large corporates pay research companies large sums of money to do their research for them and they use this money to remunerate their panelists. The aim is to register with as many survey companies as possible so that you can receive as many surveys as possible. You must religiously complete the surveys they send you, so that these companies will see that you are not some flash in the pan that’s going to waste their time. Once they see that you mean business, you will receive more surveys and even the opportunity to take part in focus groups, which can pay up to 0 per session. The Truth About Online Surveys

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Employee Surveys That Boost Profit & Competitiveness and Reduce Costs

by gillesklein

Employee Surveys That Boost Profit & Competitiveness and Reduce Costs

Employee satisfaction surveys and employee engagement surveys provide actionable insight and information managers need to compete and succeed:

Employee surveys identify opportunities for enhancing employee and customer satisfaction, loyalty and retention, and they identify many ways to reduce costs and increase revenue. Employee surveys also pinpoint problems that are constraining employee performance and that are driving customers away to your competition.

At a time when companies need to increase performance and competitiveness, employee surveys are a very easy and cost-effective way to learn directly from your employees about what your organization can do to increase organizational effectiveness and boost employee engagement in their jobs, driving productivity, quality and customer service, all of which are key drivers of profit.

Employee Surveys / Employee Opinion Surveys identify key psychological aspects of employee behavior:

Employee surveys identify what’s on the minds of your employees and the customers they sell to and support, including important psychological aspects that influence employee and customer decisions, behavior and actions. This powerful information does not appear directly in your company’s financial and other business measurements. Financial and other metrics measure results in terms or profit, sales, inventory, volumes and other hard data.

Very often business leaders think they know what is on the minds of their employees and what is going on in their company. Unfortunately most business leaders get their information and they form their opinions based on filtered information and advice that is often spun by people surrounding them based on political and other objectives. Conducting an employee survey / employee opinion survey is a great way to either validate leaders’ perceptions, or more likely, to provide accurate information and opinions that may challenge the perceptions of leaders. Because important business decisions are based on the perceptions of company leaders, employee survey results are an important source of information and insight for making better, more informed business decisions.

Employee Survey questions gather reliable actionable information:

Employee Satisfaction Surveys and Employee Engagement Surveys (employee opinion surveys) gather information, insight and suggestions from your organization’s employees about things that are important to both your business and your employees. They focus on both employee satisfaction and employee engagement, key drivers of employee performance and in turn, customer satisfaction and business performance. Some of the key issues that are typically included in employee surveys are:

Having information and tools required to do the job Clarity and effectiveness of communications within and across organizational units Leadership effectiveness and integrity Teamwork Confidence in management’s ability to lead the company Encouragement for innovation Consideration given to ideas and suggestions Empowerment to make decisions Commitment and effectiveness of diversity initiatives Manager understanding what motivates employees Fairness & consistency of treatment from managers and supervisors Employee recognition Commitment to customers and quality Performance evaluation and feedback effectiveness Training and mentoring effectiveness Career prospects at the company and opportunities for development and growth Satisfaction with compensation & benefits Work – life balance Commitment to working at the company Understanding of & commitment to the company’s mission, vision and values Willingness of employees to recommend the company as a good place to work

Benefits of employee satisfaction surveys, employee engagement surveys and employee opinion surveys include gathering information and insight for:

Increasing employee engagement and performance Increasing employee satisfaction, loyalty and productivity Strengthening leadership effectiveness Identifying hidden problems, opportunities and solutions Strengthening the focus on customers, quality and customer service  Focusing managers’ energies on areas with the highest priority and the largest payback Identifying causes of and ways to reduce employee dissatisfaction and poor performance Strengthening the culture of collaboration and change Reducing costly employee initiated turnover Facilitating smart risk-taking and innovation Enhancing your company’s “employer of choice” reputation Avoiding costly “employee abuse” law suits

Conducting an Employee Survey – Final Thoughts

Employee surveys / employee opinion surveys generate significant bottom-line benefits and a very strong payback when companies take action based on the survey findings. Survey companies have the experience, expertise and objectivity to conduct employee opinion surveys well and to quickly provide reports that are full of actionable information.

Structural Surveys – Are They Worth The Money?

by nick.garrod

Structural Surveys – Are They Worth The Money?

Structural Surveys – Are They Worth The Money?

As more and more homebuyers try to save money on their house purchase by cutting back onr structural surveys I decided to take a look at some of the risks involved.

Valuation Survey

First off, almost all property that is purchased with the aid of a mortgage is subject to a valuation survey. The valuation survey is done on behalf of the lender to establish the value of the property that you are purchasing. The survey is quite basic and does not include any kind of guarantee as to the structural integrity of the property.

Some property purchasers think that because they have already paid out for a survey then that is all they have to do but this can be a huge mistake.

So What Is A Structural Survey & Do I have To Have One?

Usually it is not a requirement by the lender or anybody else to have a structural survey and sometimes this can lead to problems as most people have no idea if the property they are purchasing has got structural problems or not.

The other point is that structural surveys do not come cheap and there is a growing tendency to risk it so to speak.

Structural surveys on any property are aimed at finding structural weaknesses in the property that could drastically affect the value. Here are a few examples of structural problems on a property that home buyers are unlikely to notice and can cost a small fortune to put right:

Dropped supporting walls commonly known as subsidence;
Hairline cracking to brickwork;
Dropped and cracked arches above windows;
Bulging outer walls;
Bulging roofs;
Uneven floors;
Cracked ceilings;
Dropped and cracked cornice.

Those are just a few of the major structural problems that property purchasers can inherit when they purchase a property. It may be that the problems occurred years ago and have now stabilized but they may still give you a major headache when you go to sell.

In the event that you purchase a property with subsidence that is ongoing then action will be required on your part to remedy which is likely to result in huge expenses. If you think your building insurance will cover you – think again as it is very unlikely that you are covered for subsidence.

Structural Surveys Can Save You Money

Twenty years ago almost everybody that purchased a property had a structural survey done so that they could feel safe. The main aim of a structural survey is for you to be aware of the major faults concerning your purchase before you make the commitment to purchase.

As is common, in cases where there are structural problems that need attention you will be able to use the survey to renegotiate the price of the property should you still wish to proceed. In cases like that then not only is your structural surveyors’ fees money well spent but in fact you may make a few thousand on it.

Conclusion

Purchasing any property involves a large amount of money and a huge commitment. When you consider the costs of the structural surveyor’s fees it might be wise to look at it as additional insurance and peace of mind for your investment and money well spent in the long term.

You can find local surveyors and compare costs for a structural survey or homebuyers survey at Surveyors Supermarket The UK No: 1 price Comparison Site For Property Surveyors.