Searching for an employee survey company? Drive Research will walk you through the objectives, approach, process, deliverables, and timeline involved with a Voice of Employee (VoE) survey. Employee surveys can prove extremely valuable for an organization. A good customer experience often starts with satisfied employees.
What is your culture like? What do employees like the most about their career? What needs to be improved? Learn more about the process below.
When is the last time you conducted an employee survey?
Objective
Organizations often partner Drive Research to conduct employee surveys. Employee surveys provide the necessary data to better understand what is important to employees, employee motivators, employee drivers to loyalty, and assess the culture and management directly from the voice of employees. The data and findings from the market research guide clients with fact-based and evidence-based decisions to improve employee engagement. This and other secondary objectives are often addressed in the market research. The data serves as the foundation and baseline for future measurements to see how employee feedback changes based on new initiatives.
Approach
Drive Research typically recommends the following market research approach for employee surveys. Our team recommends using an online survey delivered through email invitations. Online surveys are cost-effective, offer a quick turn-around, are measurable, and gather quality feedback from staff. The combination of these 4 benefits create a strong ROI.
Drive Research follows an exclusive in-house approach our team has built for VoE projects. Our method uses a step-by-step and task-oriented approach to project management from kickoff through completion. Each of these steps is detailed on the following pages of this proposal.
Process
Upon receipt of the signed proposal acceptance page, Drive Research will schedule a telephone conference call or in-person meeting with the client. A kickoff meeting agenda will highlight expectations, process,potential questions for the survey, timeline, and next steps. At the conclusion of the 1-hour kickoff meeting, Drive Research will prepare a living project workplan which details deliverables, responsible parties, and dates of completion. This workplan will be updated each week and shared throughout the project. The workplan ensures teams remain on-track.
Drive Research will utilize the feedback obtained from the kickoff meeting to create a draft survey document in Word. This survey will address the key objectives of the study including questions recommended by our survey team based on past employee survey project experience as well as customized questions for the needs of the client.
The survey sections include “Goal Language”. The goal language is shown to help the client understand why the question is being asked, what the results may look like, and how the results could be used to drive organizational strategy. This will not be shown to respondents. The survey document can undergo as many edits as needed to finalize before online programming begins.
Using a third-party administrator to manage the VoE project ensures honest and unbiased responses from employees. This level of separation is crucial in an employee survey project. Drive Research recommends clients send an introductory pre-survey email to employees 1 week prior to fieldwork. The survey team will pass the client a template email and language to use. The benefits of this pre-survey email are two-fold: (1) it introduces Drive Research as the sponsor and expert in the VoE space and (2) it boosts awareness and importance of the survey efforts with employees resulting in higher response rates.
Drive Research has a bank of over 100 employee survey questions which can be benchmarked to nationwide averages and industry averages. We can also create custom questions based on specific needs. The optimal length for the employee survey is 40 to 50 questions (including those listed in a grid series) which takes approximately 5 to 7 minutes. This includes 2 to 3 open-ends.
Potential survey category questions include:
- Mission and purpose
- Teamwork
- Quality and customer focus
- Compensation
- Feedback
- Workplace and resources
- Communication
- Opportunities for growth
- Work-Life balance
- Fairness
- Respect for management
- Respect for employees
- Performance and accountability
- Personal expression and diversity
- Satisfaction and engagement
- Demographics
Once the survey document is finalized, it will be programmed into our online survey software and tested. The survey will be PC, mobile, and tablet-friendly. The test link will also be sent to the client for review so the team can view the survey as if they were an employee participating. Some open-ended questions are included. Open-ended questions are free text responses with no button selections for respondents. These open-ended questions are proofed, categorized, and coded in the final report and take considerable time to read through and analyze.
Once fieldwork begins, the client will be provided a passcode protected survey link which tabulates employee data in real-time. The client can check-in on survey results 24/7 throughout the fieldwork. This will only be shared with key project personnel.
The recommended VoE process for clients includes an initial email invitation followed by a reminder email 48 to 72 hours after the 1st invite. This reminder will only be sent to those who have not yet completed the survey. Further email reminders can be sent at no additional charge if response rates fall below expectations.
Additionally, Drive Research offers targeted reminder phone calls which can be placed to non-responding employees in order to boost response rates. These calls will be conducted by a live telephone interviewer from the Drive Research survey team if needed. Additional surveys increase reliability and allow more flexibility in analysis to run cross-tabs and comparisons. Any incentive offered by the client as part of the employee survey will assist in boosting response rates. This can be discussed at the kickoff (e.g., Visa gift cards, Amazon gift cards, etc.)
Deliverables
The market research report will be compiled into a PowerPoint document and delivered in a PDF. This report will include detailed sections from each step of the market research. Our reports include an executive summary of key themes, recommendations and action items, an infographic, benchmark data (if requested), and an appendix of question-by-question results. The client will receive a full Excel CSV file of all survey responses.
Several cross-tabulations will be included in the report (e.g., locations, departments, tenure, etc.) Drive Research will debrief with client at the conclusion of the market research through a scheduled conference call. The report with any final edits along with supporting files will be emailed to the client at the conclusion of the project.
The interpretation of data and results is a true differentiator for Drive Research. Receiving the feedback is only the beginning of the process for us. We provide you with a comprehensive yet digestible VoE report. The report has several pieces that can be shared specific to separate locations or management teams. Since the reports are created in PowerPoint they are easily shared and can be used as part of presentation decks internally for the client. We look for ways to work with our clients to maximize the value and re-purpose of our reports.
After the project is completed Drive Research recommends sending a short thank you email to all employee contacts (both those who responded and those who did not). This email language template can be developed by Drive Research and sent to the client. The email should feature 2 or 3 highlights from the feedback and expected changes which are being reviewed as a result of the VoE. This final email ensures employees their feedback is being acted upon and you listened to their needs. It also helps with response for future employee engagement.
Timeline
The VoE market research project will take 4 to 5 weeks. Once the agreement page is signed and returned, Drive Research can send a standard NDA to the client or sign an NDA the client uses as part of its operations. The kickoff and survey set up takes approximately 1 week to complete, fieldwork lasts approximately 2 to 3 weeks, and reporting is completed in 1 week after fieldwork is closed. This timeline can be accelerated if feedback and sign-off is received quickly on Drive Research deliverables to the client.
Contact Our Employee Survey Company
Drive Research can assist your organization with its next employee survey. Our firm conducts employee surveys both through paper, online, and by phone. Each approach has its own unique pros and cons.
Questions? You can contact us via email at [email protected], call us at 315-303-2040, or message us on our website here.