It is important for every good manager to know the sensitivities and needs of employees of their own team. The targeted measure of employee sentiment can strengthen the team spirit, the bond with the company, and, in turn, the motivation of each individual. Because we all know: satisfied employees are the key to success!
And what about your employees? Do you know their needs and wishes, fears and concerns, but also ideas and suggestions so that the team as a whole can become even more successful?
In this article, we will present five online tools with which you can easily feel the pulse of your employees at any time!
The basis of each of these instruments is an online chat dialog. The dialog is called up by the employee via a web link. The results are all the more exciting and meaningful if the relevant tools are used regularly, from daily to quarterly, depending on the tool and situation. If desired, employees can also remain anonymous.
How can you measure employee sentiment?
Measuring employee sentiments should be a regular activity for most businesses. Asking for feedback, understanding the employee motivation, worries, and fears will help the company strengthen the relationship between the management and employees, as well as boost staff morale and worthiness.
Many businesses around the world have started measuring employee sentiment via various means. Surveys are amongst the most efficient and easiest to analyze ways to gather information.
At DiALOGiFY, we have five online tools that can help companies of any size or industry gather the information they want from their employees. Below, we show a brief description of each of them. You may test each tool by clicking on the links provided.
Employee Pulse – weekly
With the ‘Employee Pulse’ tool, you can record the state of mind of individual employees on a scale of 0–10 and find out the background to their sensitivities. The dialog comes straight to the point and can be clicked through by employees in less than one minute.
https://pulse.scoutsss.com/7794C3
Mood indicator – as required
The ‘Mood Indicator‘ tool is used in crisis situations and its content is adapted to the relevant circumstances. The following example shows how the tool can be used in the current coronavirus crisis:
https://moodindicator.scoutsss.com/050974
Home Office Feedback – daily
The ‘Home Office Feedback‘ tool ensures that home office employees are still closely integrated within the team. It helps to coordinate the team but also to prevent possible frustration, loss of focus and isolation.
https://homeoffice.scoutsss.com/5B4975
Employee eNPS – per quarter
With the ‘Employee eNPS tool – the electronic net promoter score for employees – it takes just a few clicks to record how connected the employee feels to the company and what the company could do better from the employee’s point of view. A positive eNPS supports the future search for employees.
https://enps.scoutsss.com/BA3EDF
Feedback Loop – when it fits
The chat dialog ‘Feedback Loop’ is very general and can be used in many different situations and areas. It is about capturing the input of an employee about a situation or an incident. This can be attached to an internal message, for example:
https://feedback.scoutsss.com/071E0C
Personalization of the chat dialogs
We understand that each company may have different requirements for the chat dialog surveys. This isn’t an issue as the solutions offered are highly customizable and we can personalize them based on your company’s needs.
All 5 online tools can be adapted to the needs of each company. For example, video messages – such as a greeting from the CEO (see the use case below) – can also be integrated. In addition, employees can choose, depending on the case, whether they want to conduct the survey with their name or anonymously. If a survey contains anonymous answers, the evaluation is not carried out by the company itself but by DiALOGiFY.
The above sample chats are in German and English. It is easy to extend the individual chat dialogs with additional language versions. It also makes the distribution easier, because the dialog is started with a URL link, as well as via a QR code.
An employee survey – no matter in which form or to what extent – always aims to ascertain employee needs, to increase employee motivation and to identify undesirable developments in good time. Think of it as an early warning system.
We are all aware that a long-term successful implementation of the tools described in this article is only possible if words are followed by deeds!
The employees have answered honestly. They also deserve to be fully informed about the results and the measures derived. Only if the employee survey is followed by targeted action can a survey tool really work as a motivation tool. If this is not the case, the respondents do not feel that they are being taken seriously, and motivation will plummet.
Case study: Measuring employee sentiment at Volvo Trucks Switzerland
Volvo Trucks Switzerland has used the DiALOGiFY tool ‘Mood Indicator’ as part of the coronavirus crisis to assess the mood and needs of all employees and to provide them with the best possible support.
The chat dialog starts with a personal video message from Urs Gerber, the Managing Director of Volvo Group (Switzerland) AG. In the video message, Gerber appeals to the fact that it is important to him to find out personally from everyone how they are doing and what barriers they currently face. He promises that, based on the feedback received, measures will be initiated to provide the best possible support for employees in this exceptional situation. The message ends with the call to answer the questions in the chat dialog and a thank you for the commitment of each individual.
The chat dialog is aimed, on the one hand, at recording the state of mind of each individual employee and, on the other, at finding out how the employees assess Volvo’s crisis management. The chat will then be used to find out how the employees see the future in general and Volvo in particular.
The chat dialog ends by asking whether the employee wishes to submit answers under his or her own name or anonymously. The survey is handled entirely by DiALOGiFY, and Volvo only receives the anonymised data – where the employee so wishes.
The extremely high survey participation rate of 80% speaks for itself. The final result is also extremely positive, as shown by the following comment:
The employee survey via DiALOGiFY chat dialog was quick, easy, direct, and personal. We received very helpful input from the employees, which was quickly incorporated into our measures, which in turn was greatly appreciated by our employees.
–Urs Gerber, Volvo Group (Switzerland) AG