Why employee research is important for your business and what the benefits are of local employee research offerings for SMEs In the past, companies viewed employee research as primarily a human resources initiative. Obviously, high employee satisfaction levels reduce staff turnover and reduce recruitment costs. Employee surveys were seen as an opportunity for staff to “let off steam” and the results seldom received attention outside the HR department.

Today, employee research is seen by the most enlightened organisations as a major business improvement tool.1 In the late 1970s groundbreaking studies by Sears and Roebuck showed a clear link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction and sales performance.2 Recent research conducted by Ipsos Markinor has shown that the relationship between customer and employee is vital, as the employee delivers on the brand promise of the business. In the services industry, customer satisfaction may be influenced by your employees by as much as 30% .3 Almost two-thirds of top-performing companies in the United States report using external employee surveys on a regular basis4 and most local blue chip companies also prioritise investment in employee research. Local small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can learn from their larger corporate counterparts. Just because your staff quota is smaller does not mean that understanding employee satisfaction levels is any less vital in the successful running of your business. Employee research tools We.Be.Staff Staff commitment and well-being survey V2.0 Advantages of this approach The tool has been used successfully by a number of blue chip companies all around the world. Conventional staff surveys only explore traditional employee issues such as satisfaction, remuneration, benefits and recognition. These are important, but not sufficient to attract and retain people and maximise productivity. Satisfied employees often leave for another company, while dissatisfied employees often stay – one needs to know the attraction of the alternatives. This tool looks at emotional commitment both to one’s organisation and to one’s actual job. In today’s world, it is also essential to look at people as human beings. We.Be.Staff measures people’s work-life balance, their work-related stress levels, their work-focus and their optimism on the premise that happier people are more productive, work better with their colleagues, and promote their organisation more positively and actively. The opposite is true for unhappy people – they take more sick days, bad-mouth the organisation, and are disruptive. Is it applicable to the small business market? It is well suited to organisations of 30 or more people, but could possibly be used for slightly smaller firms as well. However, in smaller organisations the founder is still in quite close day-to-day contact with her/his staff. What can it do for your business? Provide a focus to managing people which regards them as real human beings and more than simply workers, creating a happier, more motivated and productive team that speaks positively about the business and deliver better quality service. Ballpark investment required for a small business with between 15 to 50 staff members: This depends on the company structure and the extent to which employees have access to the Internet: the Web-based solution is substantially cheaper than if one has to interview people on a face-to-face basis due to technology barriers or literacy problems. Self-completion is also a viable option. For a Web-based solution for 50 people, the cost may be between R25 000 and R30 000. Synovate ExM Employee (ExM is short for experience management) ExM Employee helps clients discover the human resource management practices they need to increase employee engagement and enhance the customer experience they offer. Advantages of this approach ExM Employee factors in the emotional element. Too many employee satisfaction studies simply tell you what’s wrong without taking the next diagnostic step. Using a simple, yet powerful causal model, ExM Employee defines and tests the cause and effect relationships between the human resource management practices of your organisation and the level of engagement of your employees. Grounded in theories of organisational behaviour and years of practical application, ExM Employee provides strategic insights into the extent to which employees’ engagement is driven by the heart (emotional) rather than the head (rational); and tactical insights into the specific aspects management needs to focus on in order to improve business results. Is it applicable to the small business market? Yes, ExM is applicable to any type of business, although it is typically used by larger companies where communication with employees can be more problematic due to their larger size. What can it do for your business? 1. Create employees that know how to translate goals and strategies into their everyday activities. 2. Build an organisation that actually lives its customer strategy. It does this, in part, by anticipating customer needs and requirements. 3. Establish an organisation where employees feel confident that the company’s marketing message is consistent in what it stands for and, as a result, makes promises to customers that are realistic. 4. Create a corporate culture in which employees feel successful and believe they are working for an admirable company. 5. Enable employees to feel valued within the company. Ballpark investment required for a small business with between 15 to 50 staff members As ExM is a highly customisable tool, Synovate can only provide a cost estimate once they have a good idea of the clients’ requirements and expectations. Employee Engagement Assessment This structured questionnaire has been developed by HR and training specialists, and aims to establish the level of loyalty within your employee base. Advantages of this approach It is a self-completion survey that can be administered online or in hard copy format, and is thus suitable for all sectors and job levels. Employees with low levels of literacy are usually assisted or fully interviewed. A census approach is used rather than sampling, affording all employees an equal opportunity to participate. Is it applicable to the small business market? As this tool is quantitative in nature, it utilises statistical models to interpret the feedback, and thus works best in organisations with over 100 employees. What can it do for your business? The survey will enable management to identify drivers of loyalty as well as any barriers that may influence the relationship in a negative way. By understanding what drives loyalty, intervention can be put in place to address or enhance these aspects, resulting in a more loyal workforce, which in turn should have a positive impact on your customer satisfaction level. Bridget Dore Sources: 1. An Introduction to Employee Research Techniques, InsightLink Communications, 2005. 2. Gibbons, J. (2006). Employee engagement – A review of current research and its implications. The Conference Board of Canada. 1-21. 3. Anneke Greyling, Client Services director, Ipsos Markinor 4. Best Practices, LLC (2005). Employee Engagement and the Service-Profit Chain. Benchmarking Report. Chapel Hill, NC.