How to harness employee polls to effect change

Nobody knows the day-to-day operations of your organization like your employees. Their insight and advice are critical to making sure everything runs smoothly. Employee polls are an excellent way to get employee input on questions regarding your operations or even just to check on how employees feel in their workplace. Of course, you want to create an environment that is supportive and constructive. Creating employee polls allows your employees to feel heard and help them effectuate change in their working environment. 

Employees know operations better than anyone

Employees are on the front lines of every process that makes the day-to-day operations of your company run smoothly. Therefore, they know best what can improve their jobs and make things run more efficiently. For example, they may know how to automate some standard procedures. They might offer scheduling suggestions for serving customers or patients, allowing staff to spend more time with each one. You never know what your employees can improve regarding efficiency, so it’s highly beneficial to see what they have to say. 

Polls improve employee morale

The very implementation of polls is a step towards improving employee morale. It makes employees feel heard and shows that you respect their opinions and ideas. Placing value on employee input highlights their importance in the workplace and shows them your appreciation. Furthermore, it gives them the chance to speak up about concerns they may have about their working environment so that you can take action to improve the situation as needed. Reducing stress or conflict in the workplace can ease the burden on employees and ultimately creates a better customer or patient experience. 

Reasons to conduct a poll

There are many reasons to conduct an employee poll. One may be to get general employee feedback. You can cover a broad range of topics, including day-to-day operations and employee satisfaction. On the other hand, you may want to focus on one specific topic. You may want to get feedback on how to improve a specific procedure. Perhaps you want to gauge your employees’ happiness in their jobs. Make sure you have an idea in mind when you create an employee survey so that you can take action on the feedback you receive. 

How to conduct employee surveys

The most important thing about employee surveys is that they must be anonymous. If employees must attach their names to the poll, they may not be as forthcoming or honest. Of course, they may have the option to connect their name if they want a specific issue addressed, but it should never be required. 

Surveys can be done in person, by phone, or online, but in the modern world, they are usually conducted online. FirstUp allows you to create polls and track responses all in one easy-to-use platform. The survey must be easy to take; if it is too much of a hassle, employees may not do it. Or, you will only hear from the employees who have significant complaints, and you won’t get a general pulse of your staff. 

Polls are meaningless if you don’t follow up on them. Of course, the polls are anonymous, so you cannot follow up with each concern individually. Instead, seek out patterns among all of the surveys and meet with everyone to address those concerns. Such a meeting is a great way to continue the conversation and get further feedback. Sometimes, companies will employ a third-party moderator, but most employees prefer to discuss these issues directly with management. The most critical part of these follow-up meetings is that they should result in change. If employees feel like you are listening to them but not doing anything, you will not get the morale boost or team building you are seeking. However, if you work with your team to make improvements based on their feedback, you will show that their opinions are meaningful and appreciated. 

Conclusion

Employee polls can be significant in improving employee attitudes and even the operations of your organization. If done correctly, they are a handy tool for any management team to connect with its employees. Connect with Firstup to find out more ways to connect with your employees. We offer dozens of solutions, even to issues your employees may bring up in their polls!