Employee Satisfaction Survey

Introduction

The most obvious reason why people work in a company is to make a living.  People depend on remuneration or salary to provide the basic needs of food, clothing and shelter.  Moreover, the salary must also be able to cover health and personal care, education, rest and recreation well as some savings for emergency cases and retirement.  Finally, remuneration must also enable him to acquire a property or some possession.  These define the minimum needs for human dignity.

Under these premises, jobs are vital for the labor class, which comprise a great majority of people around the world because they depend entirely on the sale of their labor skills to support and sustain their needs for survival.  However, while the pay or salary that supports a person to survive is the most basic reason why a person needs to work, it does not follow that pay is the most important motivator for people to work.

The survey

A short employee satisfaction survey to 20 people was conducted and revealed intriguing results about the perspectives of people about their work. The survey question was composed of 10 questions.  (Appendix 1) The first seven questions are basically answerable by yes or no (i.e. agree or disagree, satisfied or not satisfied) except that 5 choices are given to capture the intensity or level of the replies.  The 8th and 9th question allows a person to select among a list of possible answers and the last question is a short essay question.

Generally speaking, the larger the sample size of the population to be surveyed, the higher the accuracy of the results of the survey.  However, due to financial and time constraints and simplicity, a sample of the population that is represented of the demographics of the area was not represented in sample that was surveyed.  One of the major limitations of this survey is the sampling method.  The focus in sampling will be the selected quality of the people to be surveyed in order to represent the demographic circumstances of the whole population.  “The main goal of a customer survey is to produce an accurate picture about the population” (Foreman, E.K. 1991) For the foregoing project on employee satisfaction survey, only 20 respondents were randomly selected from the acquaintances and friends of the researcher. As such, its findings may not necessarily be representative of the general sentiment of the working people but it nevertheless provided insightful hints and trends on what to expect when a similar survey is conducted properly.

Results of the Survey

Overall employee satisfaction is low.  Survey results show that a great majority of employees are indifferent on the overall satisfaction about their employment.  Only three in 20 respondents say they are satisfied and two others replied otherwise.  This may have stemmed from the fact that most of the employees are also indifferent to the type of work that they do whether they like it or not.  95% of the respondents also believed that they are underpaid or not paid fairly by their employers.

In terms of their relationship with their bosses, 35% of the respondents are not satisfied, 25% are indifferent, and another 25% is satisfied while remaining respondents did not answer because they are the boss in the company. In taking the extra mile in providing one’s efforts to the company, majority of the respondents were also indifferent.  15% on the other hand, agrees that employees should give extra effort for the company’s success. In one instance in the survey, one respondent included a comment that the success of any organization relies profoundly on its people hence; every employee should dedicate him/ herself to the achievement of company objectives.

For recommending the company as an employer and planning to stay in the company, most respondents are also indifferent.  This would mean that they are somewhat satisfied in their companies yet are always on the grab for any better opportunity that may come in their way.

Interestingly, while pay is the basic reason why people go to work, survey results show that pay is not the most important factor that makes a job desirable.  65% of the respondents believed that self fulfillment is what makes a job desirable and undesirable. That pay or salary makes a job desirable is shared by 25% of the respondents. On the other hand, 25% also says that working conditions e.g. relationship with the boss and co-employees affects desirability of a job.

Finally, the last essay type question in the survey generated interesting findings in terms of what factors will make a job desirable.  Although a high salary was given as a major factor, most respondents focus on non monetary benefits of a job such as Good manager-employee relations, It should provide meaning to your life and enjoying what you are doing, among others.  The complete summary of the survey results is in Appendix 2.

Conclusion

Survey shows that many employees are indifferent with their work i.e. neither satisfied or dissatisfied which is not necessarily a balance in contentment but may contribute to the high turnover rate of employees in many companies.  This would mean that while they are satisfied with their current employment, they are always ready to go and leave when a better opportunity comes.  Because of this, companies should try to address this loophole by creating opportunities for employees to grow in the company professionally and in terms of salary through training and a systematic career development plan for employees that will ensure their continuous promotion through a merit and loyalty system.

Following Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, there are indeed other things that people seek in work beside the monetary benefits that they received as evinced by the survey.  (Greenberg, J and Baron , R., 1993) In fact, salaries and other fringe benefits only cater to the lowest level of needs in the hierarchy.  Among those needs sought by people in their jobs are things that money can’t buy, so to speak.  One of the most important things that people look for jobs as shown in the survey is the self fulfillment.  This satisfaction is beyond the physiological needs that a job provides but falls on the category of growth and fulfillment needs of a person.  It seemed that the biggest reward that motivates a person to be dedicated to his or her work is the self fulfillment one obtains in performing the job.  The nature of the job should give people the opportunity to directly make a big difference or contribute his or her fair share in the stability if not advancement of society.  Incidentally, the opposite of which makes the job unsatisfactory.  Lencioni (2007) proposed three signs of a miserable job namely anonymity, irrelevance, and immeasurement.  Anonymity pertains to when employees feel ignored, neglected, unknown or anonymous when their manager disregards them as if they don’t exist.  Irrelevance refers to when employees find themselves or their work useless or worthless to society.  Finally, imeasurement describes the incapacity of an employee to find fulfillment or success.

Work is supposed to provide a sense of self importance because one’s work has an important contribution or impact to a person or to society.  While the survey did not necessarily provided this information, the job dissatisfaction factors however obliquely evinced this position through negation – the lack of self fulfillment is what makes a job not satisfactory.  Incidentally, the importance of enhancing the manager- employee relationship is crucial also in realizing self fulfillment as well as increasing knowledge.  Employees seek for the priceless opportunity for a person to improve himself because it is in a person’s work that he is able to assert his personality.  This means that work is the best form of continuing education.

Appendix 1

Survey One

How is your overall satisfaction with the company or employer?

Do you like the type of work that you do?

Do you think you are paid fairly for the work you provide?

Are you satisfied with your boss?

Are you willing to give extra effort for your company’s success?

Would you recommend your company for a friend to work in?

Do you plan to stay in your company for good?

What makes a job most desirable? Choose one

What makes a job most undesirable? Choose one

Appendix 2

Survey Results

How is your overall satisfaction with the company or employer?

Do you like the type of work that you do?

Do you think you are paid fairly for the work you provide?

Are you satisfied with your boss?

Are you willing to give extra effort for your company’s success?

Would you recommend your company for a friend to work in?

Do you plan to stay in your company for good?

What makes a job most desirable? Choose one

What makes a job most undesirable? Choose one

What factors will make your job desirable ?

• High salary
• Good manager-employee relations
• It should provide meaning to your life
• You should enjoy what you are doing
• Flexible hours to give time for your family
•  More benefits e.g. healthcare, allowance
• It allows you to learn and grow professionally and as a person

References

Foreman , E.K. (1991). ‘Survey Sampling Principles’. Marcel Dekker, pp 90-102

Lencioni, Patrick M. (2007). The Three Signs of a Miserable Job. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated

Greenberg, J and Baron , R. (1993). Behavior in Organizations: Understanding and Managing the Human Side of Work. Allyn and Bacon Publications. p116-125