In the Jungle

Recently, I asked Sharon Parker, Senior Survey Consultant here at Foresight to share some thoughts with me on normative data as well as current trends. Below are her thoughts and insight on the subject… Your organization has administered an employee survey to ascertain levels of employee engagement. The results, overall, look favorable. But how can you determine whether your employees are really engaged, or just moderately engaged? How can you tell if your organization’s results are typical or vastly different than the results of other organizations similar to yours? What do your results really mean? Many companies are using employee survey benchmark comparisons or norms to provide additional interpretation of the results. Benchmarks, whether externally or internally created, provide a barometer for managers to compare their survey results. External norms are usually presented as 50th percentile scores or group-average scores but you can also benchmark to top quartile scores or top performing companies to see how you compare to the “best” companies. When making comparisons to external data, it is important to understand how the data were collected, how often the data are “refreshed”, what companies are included in the benchmark comparison and how many people the comparison represents. You want to make sure benchmark comparisons are relevant and meaningful for your organization. Internal benchmarks can be just as important and relevant as external norms. Historic trends, regional comparisons and best-in-class benchmarks offer additional ways organizations can use survey data to understand their results. Here are some trends in external normative data that we have seen over the past five years that have a significant impact on employee engagement: Overall satisfaction with benefits has been declining over the years as organizations have been making significant changes to benefits programs and policies. Employees are not only less satisfied with the programs and policies but with the information they are receiving about their benefits. While satisfaction with benefits is not a key driver of employee engagement, a competitive benefits program is necessary to recruit and retain top talent to the organization. Employees are less satisfied with their opportunities to get a better job within the company. While training and development opportunities still exist, promotional opportunities are less available as organizational structures are flattening and layers of management are being eliminated. Mature workers are delaying retirement in response to the economic meltdown thus reducing some of the openings for promotions that may have traditionally occurred in the normal organizational life cycle. Top talent has less opportunity to move up the “corporate ladder”. Having opportunities to grow and develop within the organization is a key driver of employee engagement. Satisfaction with innovation has declined slightly over that past five years as organizations have eliminated R&D dollars due to cost cutting measures. Standardization and processes implemented to improve efficiencies often have the effect of counter balancing innovation. In many industries, innovation is necessary to maintain competitive advantage. Without innovation, the competition takes over. Employees want to feel like they are contributing to the success of the organization; that their skills and abilities are being used; and that they are making a difference. Innovation helps drive this success.