We recently conducted linkage research for a client who wanted to understand the drivers of why people left their company (voluntary turnover) and employee engagement. We also helped them determine what makes managers effective and whether higher performing managers did a better job of retaining their employees. Taking the results of multiple surveys (engagement survey, exit survey) and other data (manager performance ratings and actual turnover) we helped them answer these questions.

  One of the findings that immediately stuck out was the small difference in retention rates between managers of highly engaged and less engaged employees. However, when we looked at data over time, we see that the managers with more engaged employees had better retention rates. The long term impact of high performing managers on creating engaged and committed employees is substantial and in the short run may be missed. This is why it is important to try to integrate longitudinal data in your analysis when possible.
 

Link to more Case Studies

To Identify or Not to Identify - that is the question.

When we plan projects with new or existing clients we are often asked about identifying employee responses. The technology allows you to easily do so. However, the answer isn't as straightforward. If its your first survey, we highly recommend considering not to identify responses - that is, send a single url to all employees so that there is no way to track individual responses. If you have a history of successful surveying, then you may want to consider an identified survey if the following conditions exist:
- You commit to reporting results at the group level (typically 10 respondents, can be lower)
- You avoid using individual identifying information such as an employee ID to log-in to the survey.
- If possible, you use a third party to administer the survey so that there's a buffer to maintain confidentiality.

There are some benefits to identified surveys. I'll share these with you next week.

Our blog is back. After taking a brief hiatus and a delayed new year's resolution, we'll bring you more on employee and customers metrics thoughts via the Critical Metrics Blog.

At a recent dinner I was speaking with a business owner about what we do and how we can use employee surveys to reduce turnover. We then starting talking about how to calculate turnover and the differences between voluntary and involuntary turnover as well as regrettable and forgettable turnover.

Its not just about how many people leave (turnover), its about how many people leave on their own (voluntary turnover) who you don't want to leave (regrettable turnover). There is such a thing as functional turnover - you may have made a bad hire and you want someone to leave or ask them to (forgettable turnover).

The link below has some useful definitions of turnover in case you need additional references.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turnover_%28employment%29

We are in the Cloud! Our work with one of our client, salesforce.com, was referenced in the book "Behind The Cloud - the untold story of how salesforce.com went from an idea to a billion-dollar company - and revolutionized an industry. To learn more about the book, click http://en-gb.facebook.com/posted.php?id=100055545678&share_id=184074877230&comments=1.

Why survey your customers now?

We've put together a list of questions that a customer survey can help you answer during challenging times. To justify doing so, we've also included a critical reason for each question. Since you are likely overloaded with information about the economic realities of our times, we've kept this piece intentionally brief.

Question 1. How many customers are happy with what we do for them?

Why ask it: Happy customers = returning customers.


Question 2. How many customers are going to purchase from us again?

Why ask it: Returning customers = lower cost of sales


Question 3. How many customers would actually recommend us to others?

Why ask it: Referring customers = more new business


Question 4. How much more or less are customers going to spend over the next year?

Why ask it: More customers who anticipate spending less = more marketing NOW!!


Question 5. What can we do to optimize our customers' experience?

Why ask it: Better experience for customers = happier customers (see number 1).

When facing an economic downturn it may seem counter-intuitive to conduct an employee survey. However, a few clients are embracing the opportunity to do so. And here's why:

You always want to keep your most valuable employees engaged and committed. By conducting an engagement survey you'll know where you'll stand with your employees.

During an economic downturn, you'll want to identify and reduce unnecessary expenses. You can administer a brief survey and create a competition among employees to identify the greatest areas of waste.

During a downturn your sales people may hear "no" more often. Gathering feedback from this group about the obstacles they are hearing and how they are overcoming those obstacles can be an extremely valuable source for internal best practices.

By surveying your customer-facing employees (not only sales people) you can get a better understanding of frequent complaints and competitive intelligence by asking questions about what they are hearing about competitors.

Reinforce what is important - the old saying goes "what gets measured becomes important". What better way to demonstrate to managers that employee engagement and is important than by conducting an engagement survey.

If you are thinking about cutting costs but not sure how employees will react, you can test out these potential cut-backs with your employees through a survey.

By surveying your sales force you can identify new ways to grow sales and/or market your products and services.

To some it may seem counterintuitive to invest in a customer survey during an economic downturn. However, a few clients have recently asked us to help them with this type of project. It's likely they realize the importance of always staying in touch with their customers and that doing so may provide them with an edge while their competitors are idling away. So, here are some tips on how you can grow your business by gathering feedback from your customers during these challenging economic times.

To access sample survey questions you can use in your next customer survey, click here.

During an economic slowdown it's important that you keep your customers happy and make sure they are getting the service and support they need.

By asking a few simple questions, you can identify additional needs or products your customers may desire.

If your customers are satisfied with what they get from you, don't be too bashful to ask them for referrals.

If you are in the process of developing a new product or service, you can ask customers for their input to make sure you are including features that are most important to them.

By sharing results and action plans based on customer feedback with managers and employees you emphasize the importance of customer satisfaction.

You can use the survey to make sure employees are following appropriate protocol during sales, service, or maintenance calls/visits.

Show customers you care by listening to what they have to say. This in turn can strengthen their bond with your company.

If business is slow, you'll have more time to focus on the results and take appropriate action.