Workplace Challenges
Frank and honest employees can add value to a workplaceSurvey says ...Large and small companies alike send out employee surveys in hope of improving the way they do business. LISA BRANDT |
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 [ 2007-11-16 ] |
Managers and owners are looking for feedback from the people on the front lines who know better than anyone where inefficiencies and problems lurk.
If you've ever had a job that required you to work with others, you know there's no shortage of people with firm opinions about how things could be done better, faster and smarter.
The challenge for the company is to extract this valuable inside information and transform it from chatter around the water cooler to serious discussion in the boardroom. There, executives can decide whether it's worthwhile to act on.
Rogers Broadcasting Ltd. (which owns the radio station I work at) implements such surveys and employee reactions to them range from eager anticipation to dread to suggestions that a conspiracy is afoot.
While some see a survey as an opportunity to air their legitimate grievances others suspect they will later be targeted for airing their frustrations about the company, their managers or their colleagues.
Tony Viner, president and CEO of Rogers Media Inc., is a big believer in collecting responses from the company's many staffs.
"I've been a fan of using employee surveys for years. With improved technology and survey methodology, I can now have detailed survey results within weeks of the close of the survey."
Viner says employees can feel safe about telling the truth as they craft their answers.
"The anonymity of the survey makes it safe for employees to tell me how they feel about the company and the way in which they are managed," says Viner. "We strongly encourage employees to be honest in their feedback and we are honest in reporting back the results... good or bad."
Employee surveys can contribute to the evolution of a small company or a major corporation. And the employee who's not afraid to be honest can feel valued, instead of like just another cog in a big wheel.
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