The following is adapted from an article concerning corporate employee research that ran in Quirk’s e-newsletter June 2010.

Employees are vital to any successful company yet the importance of employee satisfaction research is often overlooked.  Employee research – conducted within large or small organizations – is critical to maintaining a fine-tuned business engine where morale is high, turnover is minimal, and top-quality productivity hums along throughout the firm.  The company that understands the significance of employee research is not only rewarded by a content and stable workforce but a profitable bottom line along with a growing return on investment.

Conducting employee research is in a class all its own.  Asking consumers to confess their brand preference or convincing business customers to divulge their vendor selection process is one thing, but asking employees to reveal little-known opinions about their jobs – their life source – is a risky business.  What makes employee research “risky” becomes apparent when confronted by a number of employee-specific issues in the design of a qualitative or quantitative study.  Here are six unique design considerations in employee research:

• Prior notification – via email, intranet, company bulletin board or newsletter – dispels doubts and cynicism while minimizing refusals and nonresponse.  To instill credence and maximize impact, the notification should come from someone in management who is far up in the chain of command yet carries a name that is easily recognized (and respected) by employees.  In some instances, this means the president or CEO of the company, in others it may mean the department head.  The important thing is to get employees’ attention and gain trust in the research.
• All relevant management should be made aware of the research in order to create an informed and supportive frame around the research within the company.  This gives employees added assurance that the research is legitimate and Read Full Text