Recruitment is one of the highest costs that a company must manage. In an industry like construction, where turnover rates can be extremely high, it becomes increasingly important to develop robust retention strategies. One of the first steps is to determine and manage how happy your team members are. This article will go over three of the top ways to measure employee satisfaction. The best part? It does not have to cost you a single penny.
#1. Annual Employee Surveys
You can find out how satisfied your employees are by simply asking them with a survey sent out once or twice a year. The critical part here is to make sure that you are collecting the correct data so that you can correlate and draw meaningful conclusions.
For example, you should ask questions about employees’ relationships with their managers and how they feel communication could be improved. You should also make sure that they include their position and how long they have been with the company. This will allow you to determine if there are certain key moments or opportunities to step in to improve someone’s experience.
#2. One-on-One Interviews
Ask managers to list their top team members and schedule personal meetings with each of them. This allows you to dig deeper into some of the questions you asked in the annual survey and get to know people a little better. You can also discover any potential issues that they have with their position or manager and find ways to course-correct before they start looking for a new job. When you make an effort to get to know your team, you let them know that you care and see an opportunity to advance within the company.
Your one-on-one interviews can (and should) also include exit interviews. When someone puts in their notice, make sure that you take the time to speak with them and understand why they are leaving. It is essential to track this information so you can discover any negative trends in the company and make the necessary changes.
#3. Anonymous Complaint Submission
There are some issues that people will not feel comfortable speaking about; perhaps it is a sensitive subject, or they are afraid of retribution. One way around this is to create a way for team members to submit their concerns anonymously. This could be shared on an internal employee hub or sent around as a link circulated every few months. You could also just have a good old-fashioned box for people to drop their written concerns into. Either way, it is important to take these submissions seriously; asking people to share their concerns is only half of the battle. If you really want to improve employee satisfaction, you need to take action to address their concerns.
