Only Ask, if you Want to Know the Answers

There is one good thing about surveys: they make you think. Actually, that is not always a good thing. Thinking may be good; the resultant thoughts may be -- to say the least -- counterproductive.

Survey and response

Years ago, I was an employee within Water Corporation, a major government organisation. The organisation decided to run an "employee satisfaction" survey; they were all the rage, at the time. As I completed the form, I began to think.

"Is the work rewarding?" I wondered, because that was the question.

"Is my manager competent?" I wondered, because that was the general thrust of several questions.

"Is this a good organisation in which to work?" I wondered.

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All good questions. All questions that the organisation hoped to answer. Two out of three of my thoughts -- my own answers to the employee satisfaction survey -- caused me to think, "I am not satisfied here; why do I stay here?"

Up till then, I had felt quite happy in my work. I had never really questioned my motivation to work, never wondered if there were better things that I could be doing.

The employee satisfaction survey had brought -- to my conscious mind -- all of the points which made me a dissatisfied employee.

Interestingly enough, I was not alone. At least, I was not alone in being dissatisfied. Within a few months, the organisation had begun various actions and activities which were intended to raise employee satisfaction within the organisation.

No matter that, within two years, a large percentage of the employees had been sacked, made redundant or transferred out with outsourcing contracts... The organisation had noted the problems and taken positive action.

As for me... I had been made consciously aware -- by an "employee satisfaction survey" -- of the large number of unsatisfactory aspects of my employment.

Survey and deny

Several years later I had been outsourced: my employment transferred to GECITS, a large, multinational, private enterprise. This was part of the contracted outsourcing of services. The multinational ran its own employee satisfaction survey.

Once more, the survey questions made me think. Is the work rewarding? Is my manager competent? Is this a good organisation in which to work? This time the answer to all three was, "No."

Again, I was not alone in my views: the majority of employees were highly dissatisfied with the employer. How did we -- employees -- know about the general dissatisfaction?

Well, for one thing, the survey made "employee satisfaction" a matter for discussion. Because we had been asked the questions, we thought about our answers and we discussed, in general terms, our responses.

There was a second, even stronger, indicator that this large, multinational, private enterprise had discovered high levels of employee dissatisfaction: we heard nothing of the results. There were senior management denials. Top management evasions. Vague promises of future publication of analyses. (The survey had clearly promised that all overall results would be distributed to all employees.) The topic was gradually glossed over, no results were ever published. Managers -- but not employees -- gradually moved the topic from the back-burner to right off the stove.

Oh, and a few of the worst managers were promoted.

Survey, whitewash, repeat

This multinational had proudly announced, that every employee was surveyed for satisfaction and the results published, every year. It was one of the things that made the organisation such a great place to work. Well, after the bad results of the first survey, it was two years before we were surveyed again.

Again, the survey questions made me think -- negatively. Again, the feeling at ground level was not good. This time, some broad and bland, high level results were published. There was no obvious action to improve employee satisfaction. (Except the usual, "publish an employee newsletter," which went nowhere.)

A few years later, the organisation solved its employee dissatisfaction problems: we were sold.

Survey and so what

A few years later, I was working for government again, at ECU, a university. There was another employee satisfaction survey.

This time -- as the questions caused me to think about my employer -- there were just a few issues. In general, I was happy in the work, but the survey reminded me of areas where I was not happy.

Overall, I was satisfied. Other employees in this university seemed to have a similar attitude: some complaints, but overall satisfied. The management response matched the employee satisfaction: "Oh, okay, we'll do nothing."

I was left with a vague feeling of dissatisfaction, though I had started the survey with an overall feeling of employee satisfaction.

Thinking about higher education

Which brings me to my latest survey. It was just last week...

I graduated with a Doctorate from a so-so university. A group of universities are asking their "higher degree" graduates, "Was it good?" Once again, the detailed questions made me think.

"Was it a good course?" Yes! The content was interesting and challenging. The lecturers were competent and knowledgeable. I found that the study was worthwhile -- for personal learning.

"Did the degree help you in your work?" Well, no. My first -- undergraduate -- degree helped me get my first job. After that, employers were not interested in degrees. What is your work experience, they wanted to know. (Just a few times, I had tried to use some of the methods learnt at university. "We don't do that here," was the standard response.)

"What advice would you give to potential students?" the survey asked. Get one degree, get a job, I responded. Get the experience, stay in a standard career path. And suck up to the boss.

That's the trouble with being asked a question. You start to think about the most appropriate answer. And that can be either dangerous... or depressing.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com