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A satisfied employee performs well. But then,
how satisfied are your employees? Indian IT organisations are increasingly
using employee satisfaction surveys to find this answer. These surveys
are however much more than the evident “feel good” activity
to prove that the organisation cares for its employees. While it
is true that an employee satisfaction survey (ESS) generates a feeling
of well being and belonging with the organisation, the greater truth
is the fact that in a globally competitive environment it is an
effective tool that can control attrition rates, improve productivity
and consequently impact the bottomline of the company. ESS forms
the basis through which the organisation can chalk out plans for
the betterment of its employees and also its own health.
While most large Indian IT organisations regularly
conduct such surveys, a number of smaller companies (100 plus staff)
have also started understanding the benefits. “Internationally
the trend has been going on since early 90s. From 1995 onwards,
IT companies in India started focusing on employee relationships,
HR managers were hired and various measures were taken to retain
employees,” says R Balasubra-manian, vice president of India
operations, Market Probe, which conducts such surveys worldwide
for many organisations. The surveys have to be a top management
initiative but it is typically the HR people who have to build the
right kind of environment to conduct it. While employees should
be assured that the survey is anonymous (and they will not be tracked),
it should also be ensured that they understand that it is not a
process through which they can increase their pay package. The purpose
of the surveys should be clearly communicated to them. Balasubramanian
suggests that an ombudsman should be appointed (depending on the
size of the organisation). It should also be made clear that the
survey is not a performance evaluation.
The significance
ICICI Infotech conducts employee satisfaction
surveys twice a year. “We believe that employee satisfaction
surveys are a valuable tool for assessing job satisfaction, overall
workplace productivity and work culture. It gives an insight into
employee perceptions and attitude towards the job as well as the
organisation,” says Manoj Mandavgane, general manager of HR
at ICICI Infotech.
At Emerson Network Power (ENP), ESS is a yearly
activity. Sanjay Mandlik, country champion of HR and TQM at ENP,
says, “The purpose of the survey is to understand the organisational
climate. The contents vary widely and they include almost all the
important aspects of the organisation, such as structure, communication,
leadership, conflict, reward systems, interpersonal relationships,
organisational effectiveness, responsibility and so forth.”
Mandlik lists the other factors:
- To address the concern areas that the organisation needs and
to work out a developmental plan for the company.
- To benchmark key human issue.
- To build employee involvement in the process
- To validate the various initiatives taken by the organisation
- Build greater transparency in the organisation.
The other uses are in planning improvements in
efficiency and morale, adds Mandlik. It is an opportunity for self-renewal
of organisation. The study can bring comparison among different
units.
The process
Being a very sensitive process, such surveys should
be conducted in a trusting environment. Mandlik reminds that the
process requires trust of the employees at the highest level: “However,
even if the neutrality and fairness of the management is established
far from any doubt, still, ESS is always considered as the balance-sheet
of the management’s approach and every chance of manipulations.”
He believes that it is advisable to get the survey conducted through
an outside agency and get the analysis done by experts. This will
develop confidence among the employees. The questionnaire for the
survey is however developed after a one to one discussion with senior
and middle managers and focus group discussion with other employees.
The scores vary according to the acceptance of the management programmes
as perceived by the employees.
An in-house team comprising the MD Core Group
assisted by the HR team, conducts these surveys at ICICI Infotech.
The process, informs Mandavgane, involves determining the dimensions
on which the satisfaction level should be measured and formulating
the questions. The parameters are: organisation and strategy, corporate
culture, employee role, teamwork and cooperation and services of
all support groups including HR, administration, training, CFO and
infrastructure. “Considering the sensitivities involved in
the survey, anonymity is a pre-condition. A structured questionnaire
comprising of nearly 100 closed-ended questions are uploaded on
our knowledge management portal. Timelines are set and communicated
to the employees to complete the questionnaire. This is followed
by data analysis and report generation. The results were customised
to facilitate appropriate interpretations.”
At Mphasis an outside agency as well as the internal
team work to design the parameters and formulate the questions.
“The surveys are subjective and a potent tool to build employee
relationships. Conducted twice a year, it constantly opens the communication
channels,” says Sunita Rangwani, manager-HR of Mphasis. The
Web-based surveys have been conducted regularly for the last few
years and have shown that 80 percent of employees are satisfied.
Market Probe advices its clients to opt for Web-based
surveys, which says Balasubramanian, is ideal as it ensures privacy,
is hosted on the agency’s website, and an individual is given
one individual id and one password. “We strongly advocate Web-based
surveys which are also cost effective. The template for the questions
is prepared by us and customised according to the organisation,”
adds Balasubramanian.
After the survey
At Mphasis, feedback from the anonymous survey
is collated and an action plan formed with its own time limit. Short-term
and long term goals are earmarked. A special committee (comprising
software engineers to global head of HR) evaluates the action taken.
A few initiatives taken as a result of the surveys in the last couple
of years were: introduction of events and cultural activities, informal
gatherings (called Gupshup) and knowledge-sharing practices.
Pointing out that at ENP the satisfaction level
is increasing, Mandlik informs that the data is used for action
plan and to revisit the management programmes. An action plan is
designed to work towards the issues highlighted in the survey. The
representatives of cross-functional teams work in redesigning the
action-plan. “Increasing the satisfaction index is just not
restricted to the HR but it becomes the key objective for all functional
heads. The survey data acts as trigger for amendments of key programmes.
Improving the quality of all the processes whether it is manufacturing
or HR, is the new task for all the functional heads.
The benefits
The benefits of the surveys are many. Says Mandavgane:
“Positive survey results will let employees know that their
employer cares about their well being as individuals, provides a
healthy and productive place to work and is committed to further
improvements in employee satisfaction. Other benefits come in the
form of enhanced interactions leading to openness and trust and
increased accountability.” He adds that these surveys enable
the organisation to identify cost saving opportunities, productivity
improvements, assessing training needs, and gauge employees’
understanding of the company mission. The problem areas can be detected
at their early stages before it gets escalated into issues of grave
concerns. The biggest benefit is that the minute you spot a weakness
through the survey, you can go down and attack it at the root.
What makes employee satisfaction surveys a much
awaited event is the fact that it is an opportunity for the employees
to air their views and grievances. An interesting trend observed
by Market Probe in their employee satisfaction surveys internationally
is that Indian employees score higher in their commitment to their
organisation than the US.
Send feedback to
sudipta@expresscomputeronline.com
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