Pest Management Professional, May 2018

Photo istock com juststock Mobile pmp By Michael Rolman Contributor 10 tips for a better online employee survey P est control companies looking to continually improve can and should solicit feedback and incorporate ideas from their most valuable asset their employees Roundtables focus groups and town hall meetings can have a place in this informationgathering process But the most costeffective approach to hear from each and every employee is to conduct an online employee survey Environmental Pest Service EPS conducts such surveys regularly Topics range from employee engagement to health and wellness ideas to internal communications preferences These survey results have helped drive important business decisions and positive changes throughout our organization Based on our experience here are 10 tips for optimizing your online employee surveys 1 Set reasonable expectations In a perfect world every employee would complete the company survey In reality this will not be the case The higher the response rate the better however keep in mind that even a 50 percent participation rate if the respondents accurately represent your organization can be acceptable 2 Consider an incentive Asking your team to complete a survey is asking them to take time away from other job responsibilities Make sure to communicate why their feedback is important Also consider offering to enter those who respond into a drawing for a gift card a paid day off or other prize that could increase participation 3 Make it mobile friendly ndly The majority of your employees loyees such are in the field most if not all of the day Make sure your online survey can be easily accessed and completed on mobile devices 4 Set a realistic due date Its important to set a deadline for employees to complete the survey The survey timeline should take into account any holidays or company events that may take people out of the office or make extra requests more difficult to manage Generally two weeks is plenty of time You want to provide enough time for people to get around to responding but not so much time that they forget about the request 5 Assure anonymity Surveys are only as helpful as the responses are honest Set up the survey so that responses are anonymous and make sure respondents know thats the case This will help encourage honest more valuable feedback 6 Stay short and sweet Aim for a survey that takes no longer than five minutes to complete if possible Make questions short to the point and focused on getting the type of feedback that is truly important Provide clear cut answer options to make responding quick and easy In your request email let employees know how long the survey should take to complete This will set a more manageable expectation and allow them to plan accordingly 7 Provide a neutral option Keep in mind that not every employee has an opinion about every question Provide a neutral or similar option such as This does not apply to me or Ive never attended suchand such event This will ensure you get more accurate responses 8 Leave room for comments Include comment boxes for specific questions and or at the end of the survey This will allow your team to provide input that may not have been included in the provided answer choices 9 Send regular reminders Some team members may complete the survey as soon as they get it whereas others may see the due date in the distance and opt to take it later Send a couple of reminders during the survey period For example send the first reminder one week out from the survey due date and then a second reminder the day before the survey due date 10 Share results After the survey is completed share results with the team and thank them for their input If positive changes will be made based on survey results share that with the team as well And if youve offered a prize for responding consider doing something fun around that like sharing a video of the drawing or a photo of the winner with the prize PMP ROLMAN is vice president of sales and operations for Environmental Pest Service EPS which operates six brands Arrow Environmental Services Bug Out Service Skyline Pest Solutions State Pest Control Smith Exterminating Company and Wood Termite Pest Control He can be reached at mrolman@ environmentalpestservice com or 727 318 0578 90 May 2018 Pest Management Professional mypmp net