Small Company Employee Research

Recently we discussed some of the problems with trying to perform employee satisfaction in small businesses – particularly the issue of anonymity, where a small business is very likely to know (or believe they know) which employees answered the way they did, which may lead to either a negative response from management or a disingenuous response from the employee. Overcoming this can be difficult. There is currently no industry approved fix for the human element of employee satisfaction, as management in small companies is far more likely to take the results personally in a way that management in large companies often will not.

Yet there is no doubt that employee satisfaction is especially important within a small company. So here are several possible ways to reduce the personalization effects of employee satisfaction surveys so that you can conduct this research and use the data effectively.

Expand the Sample When you only employee about twenty people or less, the sample is not only too small – it’s too personal. Look for ways to try to expand the sample, possibly by adding in ex-employees to the sample. If possible you may also want to consider an “only ex-employee” survey, to try to limit the data to those that won’t be affected by the results.

Limit the Questions Another option you can take is to try to choose questions that will both reduce the chance of identifying the employees (so no questions about rank, time with the company, or open ended questions), as well as questions that will have results you are less likely to take personally, such as ways the employees wish to improve the business rather than how the employees current view management. Focus on questions that will not lead to results that may cause grudges with management. Have a Third Party Review Another option is to avoid having any manager or owner review the data at all.

See if there is a third party that can take a look at the data and try to find trends that they will put in a report later, or consider putting an employee in charge that has no vested interest in the outcome of the survey, so that no grudges can be held and only the most relevant information is used to make judgments.

Both managers and owners of small businesses like to believe they can look at the data objectively, but there is a history of anecdotal evidence that shows that small business owners and managers tend to take the results of these surveys very personally – or worse, ignore the information altogether. The above list represents just a few of the ways that you can avoid this problem and get the data you need to make decisions about your current employee relationship. Related Blog