What ideas or concepts contribute to employee engagement and motivation? Based on the thousands of employee comments we review every month, it is crystal clear that employee motivation is linked to how employees are treated by upper management in the workplace. Sadly, poor leadership can negatively impact employee engagement and lead to higher turnover if left unaddressed. That’s why it’s important to encourage and prompt feedback from your employees, specifically in the area of management and leadership.

We survey more than 6,000 companies and their 1,000,000+ employees each year, and we’ve tapped into our extensive database to see what employees are saying about their management teams. While our customers take action on the quantitative data we collect, we’ve learned that open-ended responses often offer the texture that supports – or invalidates – various interpretations of those data reports.

It’s powerful to know what your employees think! You can identify problems like poor supervision, communication breakdown, and mounting plans to leave your company before expensive turnover affects your business. Use this checklist for a quick read on your employee engagement.

 

It’s Nice to Know What You’re Doing Right

After poring over hundreds of open-ended comments, we’ve selected a few to share with you.  The anonymous, unaltered, employee comments below were taken directly from our Employee Engagement and Satisfaction Survey question:

“What does this organization do that makes it a place where people would want to work?”

“Provides a positively charged work atmosphere. We have our own ‘university’ with a curriculum of classes and training for product knowledge and improving relationships with each other and our customers.”

“The owners are truly loving and giving people that are very approachable. It is a family owned and operated company. The health benefits, vision, dental and 401k are great. We have a good amount of long term employees. We are closed on Sundays.”

“They really want the employees to be happy and successful by asking for input from the employees.”

“We have regular meetings for all employees and various departments where we get a “state of the union” including updates on issues that have been brought the attention of senior management. It is made clear that our concerns and issues will be heard- even though the suggestions may not be implemented, it is good to be heard and given an opportunity to discuss.”

“Everyone here treats you as family and welcomes you every day from day one. No one passes without saying hello or good morning/afternoon. Most important most everyone is willing to help you when in need if available at the time.”

“Everyone from the owners to the management staff are great. There are no egos, and everyone is treated equally and with respect.”

“I have been here for a very long time and cannot see myself working anywhere else. Everyone makes it easy to work here, from the owners to the management teams. They know how to treat their employees and they show their appreciation for us all the time with bonuses, holiday parties and day to day working conditions. I look forward to coming to work every day.”

“My supervisor is very understanding especially when unexpected things arise in my personal life. It is a pleasant place to work each day and the interactive relationships formed work well on a day to day basis.”

Uncovering Opportunity Areas

Also included in our standard Employee Engagement and Satisfaction survey is an open-ended question that uncovers opportunities for improvement. While the comments we’ve shared in this article are general, because more specific examples are often proprietary, know that the comments we might collect from your employees would be specific to your workforce.

 “What can this organization do to increase your satisfaction and productivity as an employee?”

“We seem to hire from the outside, rather than promote from within.”

“Communication in the department that I currently work in is very much lacking. There is a lack of consistency and a lack of guidance.”

“Be able to help clients after hours. Laptop, for example.”

“For my position there are times that I need a support person to help gather information to allow me to focus on sales and building account relationships.”

“Install working fans in Building C.”

“Be more open minded towards regional trends and differences.”

“Less talking about doing work (meetings) than doing actual work (executing).”

“Maybe encourage us more to participate in events related to our job to see what our competition offers and what is out there that we can incorporate in what we offer.”

“More recognition, or more positive attitudes. I know deadlines can be stressful as can monthly goals/making budget, but we all try our best to be our best and I feel like we don’t always get that positive feedback to uplift us! Sometimes when all you hear is the bad, it can get you down. So more positivity even in rough months!”

“Communicate, communicate, communicate.  Publish goals and direction, announce changes company wide.”

Qualitative Texture Behind Quantitative Reporting

The employee comments above clearly depict how the actions of company leaders impact overall employee satisfaction. When you survey your employees with Best Employee Surveys, you’ll receive a full Employee Comments Report detailing verbatim responses from your employees. These comments are delivered in an excel file and sorted by the workplace demographic category of your choice. By incorporating this report into your analysis, you’ll add the qualitative texture behind your quantitative reports. What would your employees say about your organization?

 

Get Started

When you’re ready to learn more about employee survey timelines, process and pricing, schedule a time to meet with one of our employer coaches. We’ll get all your questions answered.