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Casual Articles - Step by Step Guide to Employee Satisfaction Surveys
3 Steps to Equipment Financing Success results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. Mortgage Brokers interested in adding equipment financing to their revenues can do so by following 3 easy steps.Starting a commercial equipment financing business can be a doubly successful endeavour for mortgage brokers because it can generate a new income stream as well as open up more doors for building their existing mortgage business. Also, financing equipment can be a good stepping stone for a mortgage broker into the more complicated world of project & commercial property finance. With good commissions available, this area should be of interest to the expanding mortgage broker's business.While the thought of commencing a new business venture can be a daunting one success will come from having sound procedures and practices. A small amount of work initially will quickly help you to determine if there is a business opportunity, and if there is - how to go about taking advantage of it.1. Establish your footings.Initially using a broad brush you need to determine if there is an immediate opportunity for you in financing equipment. Call some people in your client or personal network and ask them if their employer or business uses finance for their equipment. Get some names and contact the people responsible for the financing and ask them what they finance, and when they finance. Also what product they use and why. You might also ask who they use and how they decide who to use.By doing this you are educating yourself on some of the terms and jargon that is used plus your are testing your comfort level in discussing this sort of financing with exactly the people you will be talking to With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employe How To Research Your Dream Job The benefit of running an annual employee survey has for a long time been widely accepted but many organizations have been put off by the amount of effort that is required.So, you know your new dream career? Now you need to know where to find your ideal job. By researching your dream job, you are steering yourself towards it. Your investigation will create focus and clarity. Check the tips in this article where and how you can research your new career.A. PeopleFind people who are doing your dream job already. Ask if you can visit them or phone them to get some information about their work. You will receive a realistic report on the ups and downs in that job, how a typical working day looks like, the hours and salary they make. Inquire about the companies, field and industries where you could find these kind of jobs.Where do you find like minded people who are working in your future field?Find the trade associations and unions these people are a member of. Member contact details are often listed on the websites of these organisations. Contact them. Check out their agenda for public events that you could attend to meet future colleagues and peers. Find the networks online where they circulate and drop them an email. Visit trade events and shows/exhibitions they visit to start creating connections. Attend courses the people in your preferred industry register for. Network with family, friends, previous colleagues and existing business contacts to get tips on where to find the job you seek. If they are unable to refer you to someone, ask for a suggestion on how to proceed. Find people in e-networks such as www.linkedin.com, www.ecademy.com, www.ryze.com and www.spoke.com.B. InternetInstead of spend Many organizations who have bit the bullet and conducted their own internal employee satisfaction surveys have often relied on word-processors to allow them to design and compile a survey, then gone through the effort of printing and distributing the survey and spent time chasing and collecting the completed surveys and then even more time transferring the survey response information into a meaningful management report. Fortunately with the introduction of the Internet and hosted survey websites like www.surveygalaxy.com what was once a time consuming, resource hungry, long winded and cumbersome process is now slick, quick and easy. This document provides a step by step guide to help implement a survey that will bring considerable benefits to any organization. Step 1 - Identifying The Need The reasons an organization would need a survey are as wide and they are long. Listed here are a few of the common reason why employee satisfaction surveys are conducted. Event Driven If your organization is about to embark, or is going through, a change management program employee surveys can assist in managing the change, measuring the effectiveness of the change, help to deliver a 'message' and gather valuable feedback throughout the change cycle. For organizations that are experiencing rapid growth employee surveys can monitor internal communications and management structures to ensure that employees are aware of their reporting and management responsibilities. Where an organization is suffering from poor moral brought on by either internal or external influences an employee survey can be used to identify the specific concerns of employees so those concerns can be properly addressed. Where there is an increase in turnover of staff employee surveys can help an organization identify the underlying cause of employee unrest and through their findings help find solutions. Periodically As part of a periodic assessment, surveys will help an organization review their personnel and monitor on an individual level job satisfaction, training and career development. Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organization to confirm that their 'top down' view of the organization matches the reality and 'bottom up' perspective. With the help of employee surveys an organization can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits. Step 2 - Management Buy-In Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees. Some organization may be fortunate in that the senior management recognize and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring. The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked. A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high. In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required. Step 3 - Designing The Survey Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape. Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey. When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employee How To Start A Small Business ommon reason why employee satisfaction surveys are conducted. To start a small business you should consider the following factors: Planning-Stay organized. The more you stay organized, the easiest it will be to respond to customer request in a timely fashion.Business plan-This is very important if you are going to request a loan to a bank or institution and at the same time it will give you a good starting point for your small business. This is a great tool to help you kick start your business.Initial Investment-A good rule of thumb is to include in your budget a six month operating expenses. What this means? That you should allocate this money as part of your initial investment to have your small business covered within this period of time. This will give you room for any unexpected result. Small business use several sources available for star-up capital. Among them are: Self financing by the owner through an equity loan on his or her home or other assetsLoans from friends or relatives Private stock issue Forming partnerships Venture capitalCredit card financing is usually a poor choice, given that the interest rate on credit cards is often several times the rate that would be paid on a line of credit or bank loan. Building trust-Trust building with new customers can be a difficult task for any small business. Some organization like the BBB now offer small business certification. These services may require some hours of work but a certification must reassure some potential customers. However, the most effective way to earn trust is through customer referrals by satisfied customers. Event Driven If your organization is about to embark, or is going through, a change management program employee surveys can assist in managing the change, measuring the effectiveness of the change, help to deliver a 'message' and gather valuable feedback throughout the change cycle. For organizations that are experiencing rapid growth employee surveys can monitor internal communications and management structures to ensure that employees are aware of their reporting and management responsibilities. Where an organization is suffering from poor moral brought on by either internal or external influences an employee survey can be used to identify the specific concerns of employees so those concerns can be properly addressed. Where there is an increase in turnover of staff employee surveys can help an organization identify the underlying cause of employee unrest and through their findings help find solutions. Periodically As part of a periodic assessment, surveys will help an organization review their personnel and monitor on an individual level job satisfaction, training and career development. Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organization to confirm that their 'top down' view of the organization matches the reality and 'bottom up' perspective. With the help of employee surveys an organization can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits. Step 2 - Management Buy-In Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees. Some organization may be fortunate in that the senior management recognize and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring. The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked. A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high. In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required. Step 3 - Designing The Survey Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape. Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey. When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employe Management Is Key To Success tisfaction, training and career development. In order to have a good management team it is important to understand how Management influences on a high scale of success of any company and see what is the difference in management between a small enterprise and a big corporation.Management of the company regardless its size and activity can be divided into four types. The first type which could be considered as the most important is human resources management. In order to manage employees well is it important to know that each employee comes to work daily with definite purposes. They are: salary, career path, a possibility to grow within the company whether on a vertical scale or horizontally (change in production area, division, different areas with in the company, etc.) or higher (promotion, management) and experience.The second type is IT management or management of technological support. IT managers should remember that good technical support for each company is the part of its success, it has to be up to date on technology, to be able to operate on a competitive level. Technology means investment and cost within a company.The third type of customer management has a large scale of tasks from supporting existing customers to doing some marketing researches among potential customers in order to find out people needs, demands, wishes, attractive prices etc. So the company’s sales will definitely depend on customer management department success.The fourth and last type has the highest level on managerial scale and it strategic management. It is where all company’s goals and objectives are monitored, developed, advanced and presented to the company employees. Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organization to confirm that their 'top down' view of the organization matches the reality and 'bottom up' perspective. With the help of employee surveys an organization can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits. Step 2 - Management Buy-In Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees. Some organization may be fortunate in that the senior management recognize and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring. The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked. A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high. In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required. Step 3 - Designing The Survey Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape. Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey. When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employe Reduce Expense With Modular Office l help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked. It is a known fact that people need money, at least in the present times, and the need for money increases as the years go by. Most people try to increase their income by looking for more ventures for business but in order to really get more money, you would have to also lower your costs. If you are still starting up an office, or trying to expand an existing one, a good way to cut costs is by constructing a modular office.What is a Modular Office?A modular building or office is a structure that is manufactured inside a factory and then shipped, part-by-part to the office location to be assembled. There are many buildings that make use of this modular system from classrooms, stores, restaurants, and of course, offices. There are also some churches and hospitals that are built this way because of the many advantages of these structures.Modular buildings such as offices are very easy to build within a very short span of time. Because of this, building costs are very much lower when compared to traditional structures. The materials may be significantly higher than that of conventional buildings, but owners save a lot on labor and other costs because of the small time frame needed for other things. Modular offices are thus great choices not only for those who are in a hurry but also for those who want to cut costs.Modular offices are also very energy efficient both during the time of assembly and the time of use. A modular office can be the right choice of your business requires you to move your location more than once. You would not have to demolish your old office building just to build a new one since you can bring the office with you A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high. In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required. Step 3 - Designing The Survey Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the 'need to know' questions and removing the 'nice to know' a survey will rapidly take shape. Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey. When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employe Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly. When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of upwardly mobile college graduates with a bursting day timer in hand chatting up the competition at business meetings, conventions, or workshops. The average blue/pink/white collar worker disconnects, feeling that they could never be that pushy, don't know enough people to even start the attempt, and that the method only works in competitive business environments.Wrong!While networking can, and often does, follow such a scenario, the concept is much broader than that. The premise is that most people find a job through someone they know. It may be a direct referral or, more likely, indirectly hearing about an opening that seems suitable.Procedurally, networking could not be simpler: contact everyone you know to see if they have any firsthand knowledge about job opportunities. Then contact all the people they know. Obtain referrals to other people from everyone you contact and in a short period of time, you will have a veritable army of people working with you to find the right position.An organized approach to this time-demanding but highly effective technique is discussed in depth in my workbook "The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment Survival Manual" (Authorhouse, 2003). Contact lists in various categories are provided as well as schedules for follow up and strategies for maintaining the strength and commitment of your lists.For now, let's look at the different levels of networks you can develop.1. Sizzling Contacts.These are the people you know personally. They include your family, friends, former coworkers, and acquaintances: your barber, your mailman, your With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be. Step 4 - Proof Reading And Testing Grammar, Spelling And Clarity Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again. Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee? Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully For closed questions where the employee will be required to choose from a number of available responses have you allowed the employee to answer accurately? Make use of responses like 'Don't know', 'No comment' or 'Not Applicable' where you have made the question mandatory but the employee may not be able to answer. Consider allowing the employee to include an 'Other' answer but also appreciate that 'Other' answers will add to the complexity when analyzing the survey results. Don't Require A Response To Questions That May Not Have One Check that for any questions that you have made mandatory you do require an answer, for example open questions such as asking for additional comments should not be mandatory unless you definitely require the respondent to write a comment. Check You Will Be Able To Analyze The Data Check through the survey again but this time looking at how the results of the survey will be analyzed. Consider how you are likely to want to analyze the survey data, have you asked the right questions to be able to perform detailed analysis? For example if you wanted to view the detailed response data from the perspective of the different genders, or maybe departments, check you have asked the employee to indicate their own gender and/or department. Don't Ask Anymore Questions Than You Need To Consider all the questions in the survey and look for questions that are not 'need to know'. Test The Link And Try Completing The Survey Publish the survey and then send the survey's link to a number of people who will be willing to test the survey. By completing the survey yourself you will get a feel for how the respondent will view the survey. From your own and others feedback stop and make adjustments to the survey as required. Repeat this process until you are happy with the survey. Check The Data Take time to view the online summary results of the test data and confirm that the data is being collected in a manner that can be properly analyzed and that will give meaningful results. Step 5 - Promoting And Deploying The Survey Where all or the majority of employees have access to the internet or company intranet deploying the online survey is as easy that ABC, either via email or by establishing a link to the survey from your own website or Intranet. Where there are some or many employees that do not have direct access to the internet there are a number of alternatives that can be used from issuing the survey in printed form, providing a shared terminal or giving them an incentive to complete the survey at home. Anonymous Responses? There is a choice to allow all surveys to be completed anonymously. Allowing a survey to be anonymous may encourage employees to speak their minds enabling the survey to provide 'a warts and all' report, in turn giving management an opportunity to address underlying problems before they become serious. However, allowing anonymous comments also allows employees to be more cavalier and flippant with their responses. Some organizations would therefore only want to consider comments where employees are prepared to stand by their convictions and that will also provide an opportunity to follow up the specific concerns of individual employees. The decision to allow anonymous responses or not will, among other factors, be down to the individual organization, the specific nature of the survey, the surrounding circumstances, the management style and the existing employer/employee relationship. Step 6 - Monitoring The Survey While the survey is in progress you will be able to view the summary results online and also monitor in real-time the number of surveys that have been both started and completed. If after a few days the number of completed surveys falls short of the expected target it is advisable to send periodic reminders to employees asking them to complete the survey. Step 7 - Analyzing The Results There are no hard and fast rules for analyzing the data. Much depends on the individual survey, the questions asked and the number of responses. Most surveys will benefit from many of the results being displayed in graphical as well as tabular form. When first analyzing survey data often a number of 'headline' results will immediately stand out that will provide you with a general overview and, providing the right questions have been asked, give you an instant assessment of the mood throughout the organization as a whole. Where the results give areas of concern a more detailed analysis may be advisable
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