Why is employee satisfaction important?

Happy employees have higher productivity and help bring the organization together. Self-fulfillment at work is as essential a component as salary, and often the secret to a successful organization is a positive work environment, in which workers feel valued and supported.

Did you know…?

• On average, 85% of employees are not actively engaged with the company (Gallup 2017, USA)
• Disengaged workers are less happy, less productive, and more likely to leave the company (Gallup 2017, USA)

In fact Deloitte, in a report on future trends in the field of human resources, concludes that companies need a new approach based on culture and job satisfaction (Deloitte 2017)

In the next part of the article, we go on to summarize the main ways to measure job satisfaction.

How to measure job satisfaction?

These are the 4 formats for evaluating employee engagement most used by companies:

1. Ad-hoc surveys

Ad-hoc surveys are carried out in case of need for specific information related to specific topics and are not carried out periodically. For example, before a change of office, a survey can be sent to define the needs of the new premises.

2. Employee satisfaction by stage of the Employee Journey

Employee satisfaction by stage of the “Employee Journey” includes the surveys that the employee completes at each stage of his life cycle in the company. This type of measurement helps companies align the organization with a common vision of the employee's experience and prioritize resources and financing for improvement projects of the most important moments. The "Employee Journey" can be summarized in five stages: Recruitment / Incorporation / Development (Role changes, Promotions, Performance evaluations) / Exit. Many are the companies that create specific surveys at each stage. This survey is automatically sent to the employee, for example at the signing of the contract after onboarding, after the annual evaluation process, when changing the role and finally after leaving the company.

3. Annual work climate

Annual work climate survey campaigns consist of long, anonymous questionnaires that take about 15-20 minutes to complete, and are typically structured around key indicators of employee engagement.
It is the most common and widespread way to measure employee engagement. It is a very useful tool for making high-level decisions but, due to its annual frequency, it is not enough to have the pulse of the team at a more operational level and apply frequent corrections.

4. Work pulse (Pulse surveys)

Pulse surveys are becoming increasingly popular in the field of employee experience measurement. They are different from work climate surveys because they are shorter, easier to complete, and frequent. Many times companies choose a daily, weekly, biweekly or monthly cadence. By being more agile, they give employees the opportunity to provide feedback more frequently and organizations the opportunity to react more quickly to those comments.