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Employee engagement surveys are a critical HR tool, designed to unlock your organization’s potential. They gauge employee well-being, drive talent retention, boost productivity, and support continuous HR improvement.
Much like conducting scientific research, the journey of knowledge and business intelligence within the realm of human resources starts with simple questions. These questions can vary widely. They’re born from curiosity, assumptions, and a desire to understand the intricacies of your organization’s people. The key is to focus on what’s essential, practical, and relevant to your unique organization.
In this article, the specific type of question you aim to answer with robust evidence is not the primary focus. Instead, the emphasis lies on the approach and methods you employ to design and collect data for your employee engagement survey in the most effective manner possible.
We will show you how to shift from relying on your gut feelings to using a more solid, scientific, and data-driven approach in your employee engagement surveys. This change will help you improve your HR-business intelligence, make decisions and recommendations based on real evidence, and implement effective programs and initiatives where they matter most – for both your people and the organization as a whole.
The success of your organization depends on your role as an HR architect, and we’re here to support you. So, get ready to learn more about creating and conducting a quantitative staff engagement survey.
An employee engagement survey serves as a valuable tool for gauging the sentiments of your workforce concerning their overall work-life experience. These surveys, usually in the form of questionnaires, are tailored to capture employees’ thoughts, feedback, and perceptions related to their work environment and their overall experiences within the organization.
In HR, you’re tasked with answering essential questions, such as:
The insights derived from these surveys are a treasure trove for HR professionals. They provide a deeper understanding of the workforce’s engagement levels and well-being, ultimately leading to a more motivated and productive team. These surveys play a vital role in ensuring that the organization can adapt to change and sustain a people-centric approach, where employee satisfaction and commitment are at the forefront of HR strategies.
To fully comprehend the importance of employee engagement in HR, we suggest you read our article Employee Engagement – Definition, Relevance & Strategy.
Creating a good employee engagement survey requires thorough preparation, and it’s always crucial to have a clear problem statement. When the survey is based on interviews or questionnaires, a well-defined problem statement serves as the foundation for subsequently formulating clear questions. But how do you formulate effective questions for a survey?
When conducting employee engagement surveys, one of the many decisions you have to make is the inclusion of different types of questions. In quantitative research designs, we typically have the option to design our research around:
Such structured questions are valuable in obtaining clear, structured data, facilitating analysis and comparison, and are often employed to assess demographics, preferences, attitudes, and behaviors.
Open-ended questions in an employee engagement survey differ from their closed-ended counterparts as they invite respondents to provide detailed, free-text responses. These questions encourage respondents to share their thoughts, feelings, and suggestions in their own words.
For instance, an open-ended question might ask employees to describe their biggest challenges at work or provide suggestions for improving the workplace. These responses are valuable for uncovering nuanced insights, identifying unexpected issues, and gaining a deeper understanding of the employee experience. They offer context to the quantitative data gathered from closed-ended questions and help interpret the “why” behind the numbers, making them an essential part of a comprehensive employee engagement survey.
You need to consider whether it’s most appropriate to use closed-ended questions or open-ended questions in employee engagement surveys for several reasons:
Benefits of using close-ended questions:
Benefits of using open-ended questions:
We explore the employee engagement framework, including what employee engagement is and how to measure and improve it effectively in your company.
An employee engagement definition, in short, refers to the emotional commitment and level of enthusiasm that employees have toward their jobs and their organization. However, this might be an oversimplification. Employee engagement is a multifaceted concept that goes beyond initial impressions.
But, much like the transformation of a simple acorn into a sprawling oak tree, the concept of employee engagement has undergone a remarkable evolution since its early days in the 1990s. It has grown to become not only an academic discipline but a pivotal operational practice in the realm of organizational human resource management.
As it gained widespread recognition, the concept of employee engagement, akin to the branches of an oak, has taken on a multitude of diverse forms and shapes. However, there is a significant departure from the analogy of the oak tree. Unlike the tree’s natural evolution, the concept of employee engagement isn’t meant to outgrow its origins.
With the burgeoning popularity of this field, we witness an unintended consequence—an increase in inconsistency and confusion regarding the application of employee engagement as a means to study well-being within modern organizations.
The very essence of employee engagement becomes obscured in the midst of this transformation, leaving us to grapple with the challenge of aligning its core principles with its expanding interpretations. However, we don’t need a multitude of complex definitions or branches when it comes to employee engagement. What we truly need is clarity. We need to ensure that an evidence-based approach, rooted in decades of well-established research, is easily accessible. Furthermore, we need to bridge the gap between the scientific realm and the practical applications of employee engagement in HR.
This article aims to help you better understand some challenging questions:
What is employee engagement and how can we create a simple way to measure employee engagement effectively?
While simple answers to these intricate questions may remain elusive, our objective is to contribute to the ongoing effort to comprehend employee engagement. We aim to do this by retracing the concept to its origins and provide a systematic overview of how it has been operationalized by different scholars and researchers over the past decades. This, in turn, should pave the way for a more concise framework for proactively, strategically, and operationally addressing employee engagement as a means to nurture happier employees, more effective teams, and enhanced organizational outcomes.
We will delve into some of the most validated constructs and definitions of employee engagement that the academic research field has to offer. This is in pursuit of setting a benchmark by replicating sound, evidence-based approaches and standards from the world of science.
Once we’ve clarified the definitions and constructs, we’ll shift our focus to the practical dimension. Here, we’ll inspire you to implement measurement scales that effectively capture the various facets of employee work engagement while ensuring validity and reliability.
Finally, we’ll wrap it up with insights on how to cultivate and enhance engagement within your organization, enabling you to harness the myriad benefits of high employee engagement.
To effectively study and understand any phenomenon, we require clear and unified approaches to grasp that specific subject. In the realm of Human Resources (HR), a precise definition becomes crucial due to variations in understanding among different consultancy branches, HR departments, and top-level executives.
The confusion often arises from whether employee engagement equates to elements like job satisfaction, commitment, or motivation. And when it comes to satisfaction, employee engagement and satisfaction are evidently not the same psychological construct, so merging them in one measure can simply be counterproductive.
But this conceptual ambiguity not only introduces imprecision, but also leads to a view of criticism, with some dismissing employee engagement as a mere rebranding or a superficial trend in HR.
However, employee engagement is not merely another superficial HR concept. The view has led some to argue that ‘the concept of employee engagement needs to be more clearly defined … or it needs to be abandoned’. Skeptics have long argued that the term ‘engagement’ is likely to fall out of usage at some point because it lacks substance or distinctiveness. As well as being challenged for a lack of clear definition, it is also seen to be a relabelling of existing constructs, and thus redundant.
Unfortunately, this criticism sometimes overshadows the importance of employee engagement in thriving organizations, where the neglect of it is more evident than proactive efforts to improve it.
We stand with CIPD in the discussion on and well-argumented criticsm about how consultancy and management practices often creates more “old wine in new bottles”, “fads and fashions” or “been there, bottled that” – see their discussion report from January 2021.
Because a number of consultancy firms have developed (their “own one-point-of-questionable-truth”) composite measures of engagement along these lines. Gallup’s Q12 is just one example of a tool widely used by consultants and practitioners, but it doesn’t always meet the standards of academic research. Some scholars have raised concerns about its validity and consider it a composite measure lacking in scientific rigor.
When developing a reliable measure, it’s not enough to group survey items together and give them a name. Validation is key. The measure should be tested against similar and different constructs to show it behaves as expected in theory. To put it simply, merging various measures into a single score doesn’t work like magic. It results in a confusing mix of metrics, making it hard to interpret the data.
For instance, when an organization wants to gauge employee engagement, it might involve many aspects such as alignment with company goals, using one’s strengths, satisfaction with pay, and relationships with managers. Combining all of these into one score makes it difficult to understand what’s driving differences or improvements. This could very well be the reason why Bailey et al. (2015), in a systematic study review, chose to exclude studies relying on the Q12 due to concerns that it serves as a broad, all-encompassing measure lacking in validity.
Advocates of composite measures might argue that you can break them down, but this can lead to a loose collection of measures that may not provide clear insights. While it’s understandable that employers are interested in various aspects of employee experiences, it’s crucial for measures to be precise and focused. Often, it’s more effective to consider these aspects individually – especially if you wish to investigate the relationship between engagement and relevant independent variables in a regression analysis (which, essentially, requires the dependent variable to be measured!).
So. Why was a clear definition and understandable conceptualization important again? Because creating a work environment where employee engagement thrives is crucial for organizations, as it leads to positive outcomes like lower turnover, reduced absenteeism, higher job satisfaction, increased efficiency, and productivity.
To become more data-driven and implement progressive HR initiatives, research consistently emphasizes the significance of employee engagement. It all starts with defining the core concept and how it has evolved over the years in various evidence-based interpretations explored in applied research.
And hence, we move forward to where we position ourselves, when we assist, consult, advocate and what-not our clients about employee engagement. A definition. A clear one that’s scientifically grounded.
In recent years, our exposure to quantitative employee surveys have increased – which also applies to the organizational field of research. The rise in digital survey platforms and easier distribution methods has led to more frequent workplace survey invitations, but it’s also caused a drop in the response rate.
This leads to Survey Fatigue:
“When respondents lose interest in your surveys because of the overwhelming frequency of survey requests or the extensive effort and questions involved in completing them.”
This, in turn, can create unfortunate barriers to the validity and representativeness of your engagement surveys in general. As employee engagement surveys gain increasing popularity, the quest for high response rates and valuable insights presents growing challenges. Organizations seek to assess their employees’ work life, but these hurdles cannot be ignored.
In this article, we’ll unveil the concept of survey fatigue and provide strategies to combat this silent adversary of quantitative research designs.
When it comes to employee engagement surveys, there are a couple of key issues related to survey fatigue that you should be aware of.
There are several factors contributing to declining response rates.
Firstly, there’s a proliferation of surveys, as more and more companies and organizations use them to gather opinions. This, along with the growing number of survey service providers and an increasing interest in data-driven decision-making, is causing what we call survey fatigue.
Another important point is that people who don’t respond to surveys are often more likely to contemplate leaving their jobs and generally report lower job satisfaction and less contentment with their supervisors compared to those who do respond.
What this means is that if a company’s HR department doesn’t receive feedback from these dissatisfied individuals, the data they collect may not accurately represent the reality. It could provide a more positive but inaccurate picture of the situation.
A research review performed by McKinsey showed that the number one driver of survey fatigue among participants is when they believe the organization won’t take any action based on the survey results.
On the flip side, when organizations not only run employee engagement surveys but also actively share relevant information and take appropriate actions based on the feedback, it encourages more employees to take part in current and future surveys.
Clearly, the crucial takeaway here is that employee surveys should be seen as a tool for making meaningful improvements, not just a metric by itself.
As we all know by now, employee absenteeism can slowly eat away at an organization’s effectiveness and team performance. Whether it’s a pattern of frequent short-term absences or infrequent but longer ones, absenteeism is a big challenge for how well a company functions. It’s closely linked to an individual’s overall well-being.
So, let’s dive into the connection between absenteeism and engagement and see how the HR department, armed with data, can tackle absenteeism trends within their organization. Absenteeism isn’t about pointing fingers or labeling people as lazy. It’s more about the work environment and what’s happening around it. And one of the first steps is to collect the right data to understand and pinpoint areas in the workplace that might cause unwanted absenteeism patterns and then take appropriate actions to overall improvement.
All of this is for the benefit of the company, the organization, the team, and, of course, the individual employee. That’s turning insights into real impact.
Absent employees are (super logically, we know) unable to fulfill the scope of their work role – either as an individual or as a team member of the organization. It’s no surprise that one unfortunate outcome of absenteeism is that the workload and departmental pressure often shift to other members of the organization.
Our main focus here isn’t to dwell on the well-covered negative consequences of absenteeism, as these have already been thoroughly discussed in HR research. Instead, our primary goal is to understand how absenteeism works in practical terms, specifically, identifying what drives this phenomenon. Getting a practical grasp of this is the crucial first step toward taking effective action.
What do the most productive workplaces have in common? The answer comes down to a very simple truth – they have a high engagement level among their employees.
Later in this article I will tell you about how you can boost your employees’ engagement and retention with our HR Impact platform, Woba.io – but first, let’s delve into the significance of employee engagement.
The traditional notion that “the customer is king” has evolved. Modern companies now understand that employee well-being is essential for delivering top-notch customer service. This translates to creating a healthy workplace that cultivates engagement, productivity, and employee loyalty, which has become crucial for business success.
Employee Engagement holds significant importance in strategic HR for several compelling reasons. Research demonstrates that engaged employees yield various positive outcomes, including:
As a result, a wide spectrum of people leaders – ranging from HR professionals to Chief People Officers and People & Culture managers – grapple with a significant challenge: How do we effectively measure employee engagement? In simpler terms, how can we tap into the collective intelligence and inner states of the entire organization? And how can we translate this knowledge into tangible business impact? This intricate question demands a comprehensive breakdown, and I’ll endeavor to provide one.
The foundation of Employee Engagement still holds relevance, dating back to 1990 when Professor William A. Kahn first introduced the concept of Work Engagement. Subsequent research has consistently revealed the links between engagement and positive outcomes like job satisfaction and strong workplace support.
A key figure in this field is Professor Wilmar Schaufeli, an expert in Organizational Psychology. His research on job burnout and employee engagement underpins the scientifically-backed indicators we employ in our Employee Engagement Survey.
Emotional intelligence. What is it anyway? We all know the traditional logical intelligence, but it’s near cousin, perhaps not so much. The role of emotional intelligence (abbreviated as EI) has emerged as a critical factor in personal and professional success. It’s soon become much more than just a buzzword, emotional intelligence encompasses a set of essential skills that allow individuals to navigate emotions, build meaningful relationships, and thrive in diverse environments. This bestows a professional with the ability to be perceived (And perhaps be) and understanding and well-liked figure in the office setting.
From effective leadership to fostering a positive work culture, emotional intelligence plays a pivotal role in shaping the success of individuals and organizations alike.
Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to recognize, understand, and manage one’s own emotions, as well as the emotions of others. It involves being aware of our feelings, empathy towards others, and harnessing emotions to facilitate better decision-making and interpersonal interactions. There are five key components of emotional intelligence:
Leaders who possess high emotional intelligence tend to excel in inspiring and guiding their teams. By honing their Emotional Intelligence skills, leaders can create a positive and inclusive work environment, resulting in increased employee satisfaction and productivity.
Wondering how you can become this kind of leader? Let’s get you started – here’s how leaders can utilize emotional intelligence:
Job satisfaction. Ah, yes. It is one of the most important factors for employees all over the world. A lot of people will claim paychecks, career-advancement or something else is what drives them – but it all boils down to the same thing: Overall job satisfaction.
Job satisfaction is the key to unlocking the true potential of both employees and organizations. It goes beyond merely earning a paycheck or a new promotion; it’s about finding fulfillment, purpose, and joy in what we do each day. Job satisfaction ignites a powerful spark within us, driving us to give our best, thrive in our roles, and contribute wholeheartedly to our company’s (and our own) success.
In this blog post, we embark on a journey to explore the essence of job satisfaction, how it impacts individual well-being, and how advanced surveys can be your compass for the HR-manager to navigate the path to a fulfilling work life for every employee.
Job satisfaction thrives on having a sense of purpose. It’s the moment we realize that our work has meaning, that we are part of a greater mission, and our efforts make a positive impact on our colleagues, customers, or even the world at large. Whether we’re helping people, advancing technology, or creating art, finding purpose in our daily tasks fuels our passion and inspires us to excel.
Advanced engagement surveys empower organizations to understand how well they align with their employees’ purpose and assess if individuals see a meaningful connection between their role and the company’s mission.
The journey towards job satisfaction often involves continuous learning and development. A growth mindset allows us to embrace challenges, learn from failures, and persistently seek opportunities for growth. When we feel encouraged to enhance our skills and knowledge, we become more engaged in our work and open doors to exciting career paths.
With the use of a good survey tool, you’ll get real-time insights, and have an easy time identifying areas that require investment in employee development, such as training programs, workshops, or mentorship initiatives, nurturing a culture of continuous learning.
Well-being in the workplace is crucial for employees’ welfare and productivity. A healthy work environment not only creates happy employees but also has a positive impact on the company’s results and success. It’s essential to explore the importance of well-being and share methods to create a positive work environment where employees can thrive.
Workplace well-being refers to employees’ overall welfare and satisfaction with their work situation and work environment. It is really all about creating a positive and healthy work culture where employees feel engaged, motivated, and valued. Workplace well-being encompasses not only physical aspects such as safety and health but also emotional, mental, and social elements that impact employees’ daily work life.
A well-being-oriented workplace strives to create an environment where employees thrive both personally and professionally. It’s about building a work environment where employees feel motivated and happy to come to work every day. Well-being is not only beneficial for the employees themselves, but it also has positive consequences for the entire company. A well-being-oriented workplace often experiences increased productivity, lower absenteeism, improved employee engagement, and higher employee retention.
There is a long, long list of factors that come into play when considering what contributes to well-being and what potentially leads to dissatisfaction. Just as many variables are described in theory and practice, just as many unseen and personal variables must be taken into account in your daily activities within the organization’s offices and meeting rooms. In this article, you will gain insights into many of the areas that you can actively influence at an organizational level – and thus create a better place for everyone.
Working hours and workload play a crucial role in employees’ well-being in the workplace. A well-balanced work schedule and appropriate workload are essential to ensure that employees are satisfied, productive, and motivated in their jobs. Let’s explore how these factors impact well-being in the workplace:
Physical working conditions play a crucial role in employees’ well-being in the workplace. The physical work environment refers to the physical settings where employees perform their tasks, including the layout of the workplace, furnishings, lighting, temperature, air quality, and ergonomics. These factors can directly influence employees’ well-being, health, and productivity.
Here is some insights into some of the factors to consider if you are unsure about the adequacy of your physical working conditions:
Work culture plays a crucial role in employees’ mental well-being in the workplace. Work culture is the collective set of values, norms, attitudes, and behaviors that characterize the workplace and influence how employees interact, communicate, and perform their work. A positive and well-being oriented work culture creates an environment where employees feel motivated, valued, and engaged. Let’s explore how work culture affects well-being in the workplace:
Employees thrive when they have clear career opportunities and chances for personal and professional development. A company that invests in its employees’ growth creates an environment where employees feel valued and motivated to contribute to the company’s success.
Health and safety representatives play a critical role in ensuring a healthy and safe work environment for all employees. As the official representative of the employees, the health and safety representative serves as a bridge between the employees and the management and is tasked with ensuring that the workplace complies with applicable rules and standards. However, only a few health and safety representatives limit themselves to regulatory matters, as they also push for softer values and ethical issues in everyday situations.
This article will delve into the health and safety representative’s key tasks and responsibilities to provide some clarification on what employees and managers can expect from their health and safety representatives.
One of the health and safety representative’s primary tasks is to identify and evaluate potential workplace risks. This involves observing work processes, conducting risk assessments, and collaborating with both management and employees to implement appropriate safety measures. Here, the skilled representative may utilize surveys and forms to gather the necessary data.
In today’s globalized and interconnected world, diversity has become an essential aspect of any thriving organization. As HR leaders, it is our responsibility to create an inclusive workplace that values and celebrates the unique contributions of every individual. In this article, we will explore what diversity means, how to achieve diversity, the meaning of inclusion, and strategies for effectively turning theory to practice.
Before we get started, let’s take a look at what diversity means – especially in a workplace context. Diversity in the workplace refers to the presence of individuals from various backgrounds, including but not limited to race, ethnicity, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, and abilities. It encompasses the unique perspectives, experiences, and characteristics that individuals bring to the organization. Embracing diversity means recognizing and appreciating these differences as valuable assets that enrich the workplace and drive innovation.
This should entice most people to strive for diversity – it’s foremost an ethical pursuit, but it’s also good for business, as it drives innovation and produces varied perspectives.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing work environment, fostering a culture of psychological safety has become increasingly vital. Psychological safety is the foundation for trust, open communication, and collaboration within teams and therefore enables individuals to express their ideas, take risks, and learn from failures without fear of judgement or reprisal.
In this article, we explore the concept of psychological safety and its profound impact on team dynamics and overall employee well-being. Get ready to create a psychologically safe workplace where individuals can thrive and unleash their full potential.
Psychological safety refers to individuals feeling safe enough to be and express their authentic selves, voice their opinions, and contribute without fear of negative consequences.
According to Project Aristotle, carried out by Google from 2012 and two years going forward, the study proved that psychological safety was, and is, the core aspect of nurturing talent and giving employees the safety to express ideas, concerns and flourish in the workplace.
A workplace with a high level of psychological safety encompasses a sense of trust, respect, and acceptance within teams, enabling open dialogue and the freedom to take social risks. When team members experience a sense of psychological safety they are more likely to engage in candid discussions, share diverse perspectives, and contribute innovative ideas. As a result, you will see happy, creative and collaborative individuals in your workplace.
There are several good reasons to promote psychological safety in your workplace. The best reason is probably to make everyone feel good about their daily lives, but beyond that there are some very excellent benefits to promote and maintain psychological safety.
First of all, psychological safety promotes open communication, allowing issues to be addressed proactively and it will ultimately prevent conflicts from escalating. Allowing people the ability to feel safe about self-expression, sharing their feelings and putting ideas into words is a powerful tool and essential for achieving the full potential of both workplace and employee.
Secondly, it fosters a learning culture, where individuals feel comfortable seeking feedback and experimenting with new approaches. Once employees learn that failure is acceptable and the risk of ridicule is minor, they will dare to try, test and quite possibly: thrive.
As an added bonus, psychological safety improves employee well-being, reducing stress and anxiety associated with fear of failure or criticism. It ultimately boosts employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention – making your workplace more effective and innovative.
Want to enhance employee engagement and retention in your work environment? Discover the benefits of using Woba’s employee engagement survey.
Stress has gradually become a widely used term in many respects.
It is positive that there is a focus on this important problem. Absolutely.
But it’s a shame that stress has become such a used – and in many ways – diluted term.
Especially stress at the workplace is an incredibly important problem to deal with. In fact, you should ideally focus on preventing – and completely avoiding stress at work.
Because once the employee has been hit hard, it is difficult to get well again – and as you know, long-term sick leave costs an average of DKK 1,000,000 for the company.
As you can see from the visualization here, you can use the stairs to place yourself and your employees in relation to stress level.
The ladder can give you a constant and continuous tool to know if there is something you need to pay extra attention to in relation to the stress level at your workplace.
It is also a really good idea to introduce the ‘Stress Ladder’ to all employees, so that everyone has a chance to register symptoms at the forefront – instead of being left with a sick note at the back.
We will all move back and forth on the Staircase – all depending on the work and personal situation. The most important thing here is that the situation on the 2nd and 3rd step is taken care of, so that the employee (or yourself) can move back again to step 1.
You cannot avoid experiencing stress symptoms in between. It’s perfectly okay and natural. The problem only arises when you have been in the condition for so long that your body and brain can no longer cope. And then it gets dangerous.
So use the stairs – and keep up to date with where your employees and yourself are at all times. Because of course – as a manager, you can also be pressured and called in sick!
And yes – The Health and Safety Assessment is ‘the child’ in this scenario. Because it is your safest and best way to good well-being and a good working environment in the company. Precisely by giving you the necessary insight into the employees’ thoughts, experiences and measuring the temperature of their daily well-being, well-being and feeling of being an important part of the company. The main role in your workplace assessment is – and will always be – the questions chosen in the measurement itself. And a Workplace Assessment can be decidedly useless if you are not asked about exactly the right things in relation to exactly YOUR company and YOUR employees.
So, the first step in The Health and Safety Assessment process is to map which question frames are relevant for your industry. It is clear that if it is a construction site, then there are different questions in The Health and Safety Assessment than if it is, for example, a company with only office work. After all, The Health and Safety Assessment must take into account both the physical and the psychological working environment. In relation to the physical working environment, the various risks of heavy lifting, crooked working positions and working with dangerous chemicals are looked at. With the psychological work environment, the focus is on stress levels, profits, flexibility and work pressure, among other things. So, what industry is your business in?
Once you have mapped the industry and which premises are primarily applicable in relation to the working environment, you can start choosing the right question frame.
All new employees deserve a good start. And the same applies to employees who are moving on. One of the best things you can do to take care of the company’s Employee Branding and general well-being is to have complete control over these two processes, so that both hello and goodbye are said in exactly the right way.
(Source: Allied Workforce Mobility Survey)
Yes. Ouch! 25% is a really high number. And that is precisely why it is extremely important that you take the onboarding process very seriously. One is that recruitment itself has become more challenged in the current society, but you have to think far beyond ‘just’ the famous signature on the contract. The hard work only begins from the employee’s first day of work and then 45 days onwards.
22% of new hires who leave their jobs do so within the first 45 days of employment.
(Source: Bersin)
It goes without saying that the entire startup process is important. But what are the exact factors that come into play here? We have made a list of the factors:
Not surprisingly, research indicates that a good onboarding increases employee satisfaction. When the newly hired employee gets all the necessary knowledge, the best tools and creates close relationships from the start, the whole process will have a much better starting point – and the individual employee will feel welcome and safe in all the new impressions.
And general satisfaction and well-being bring many good things with them. It is scientifically proven that happy employees perform better. In fact, studies from Oxford University show that happy employees are 13% more productive than unhappy employees.
So yes, another important factor!
It pretty much goes without saying that employee retention is inextricably linked to employee well-being. The most important indicator of loyalty is well-being. And well-being does not come by itself. Well-being is the result of recognition, meaningfulness, relationships and job satisfaction – and all the different factors that now lie under those concepts. When an employee thrives, there is far less risk of him/her resigning. And that’s a pretty powerful incentive for any business. Terminations are the absolute most expensive entry in the accounts, as it costs the company around one million to replace an employee. And that well-being must be prioritized from the time the contract is signed.
If the employee has felt well and safely onboard, then she/he is also more engaged and motivated in the work. A good and safe onboarding creates peace of mind. And that calmness is essential for the individual’s motivation to do their best, develop and become even better within the field and engage more deeply in collegial relationships and the company’s values.
It is said that a realistic onboarding – at its best – takes approx. 3 months. This means that the newly hired employee is only expected to perform 100% 3 months into the employment. It’s a long time. But it only takes even longer if the onboarding process is not optimal. There are even studies that show that the time before performance can be further reduced if love is really put into the onboarding – and that is only preferable – for both employee and company.
High job satisfaction equals high efficiency and low risk of termination. When you are in a job that gives you daily joy and satisfaction, you will also want to stay there – for a long time! And then life is made extra difficult for all the thousands of recruitment agencies out there who are diligently poaching employees from one company to another. You create a much tougher framework for your employees’ loyalty and commitment when you ensure that they are satisfied with the job. And at the same time, you must ensure that if there is something they are not satisfied with, there must be a sense of security in being able to say it out loud – or report it in the ongoing well-being measurement.
The last parameter, which is also one of the most important. A good onboarding means a lower risk for a stressed employee. All beginnings and change are difficult. To everyone. So it is not surprising that just changing jobs, colleagues, locations, work equipment etc. causes a lot of unrest and uncertainty for the individual. If the onboarding is at the same time chaotic or unsatisfactory, then even more salt is rubbed into the big, open wound of change. And that can cause stress. A stress that costs the employee and the company dearly!
Do you know that a Whistleblower scheme is required by law from January 2023? This means that if your company has more than 50 employees, you MUST have a Whistleblower scheme that follows the adopted EU regulations.
You are employed in a company and suddenly discover that laws and regulations are being violated in the company. Now comes the whole dilemma because you know illegal things are going on, but you don’t want to jeopardize your own employment by going to your management with your knowledge. You really don’t want to focus on yourself as a person and as an employee in this scenario. And what if you report something and it doesn’t lead to any action or consequences? What if those involved find out that it was you who reported the whole thing, how will the working environment be in the future? There are really many unknowns in such a situation and the uncertainty will most often (with good reason) lead to you simply keeping your knowledge to yourself and letting things continue.
But what do you do? In its entirety, the Whistleblower scheme is a legal requirement which was introduced on the basis of creating the possibility to report various breaches of rules. It can be criminal offences, breach of confidentiality, misuse of financial resources, theft, fraud, embezzlement, fraud or bribery.
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