| Solution Online surveys To collect feedback and views from employees, organisations may make use of online surveys. Here, employees will be asked questions about their thoughts and perceptions regarding their employer as well as how their working lives are. In most cases, online surveys involve open-ended questions (Miller, 2020). Pros Employee surveys, in general, offer a number of advantages that include low cost, straightforwardness, ability to customise as per the issue at hand, and ease of obtaining input. Compared to most other tools, engagement surveys allow employers to identify problems that may have been missed and address them soonest possible (Miller, 2020). Surveys are useful in improving engagement because they reveal needs and frustrations early, thus reducing turnover if managers address the issues properly. Cons With surveys, managers cannot ask questions or probe deeper into issues (Hunter, 2019). This creates a need for post-surveys or other tools to obtain more details. Secondly, managers are not guaranteed that they will get honest responses even when respondents are assured of anonymity (Miller, 2020). Consequently, surveys may not generate useful data. Surveys may also damage employee morale especially if feedback is not taken seriously. Unless properly worded, survey results may be interpreted incorrectly thus losing the meaning of the whole exercise. They are also associated with administrative burdens especially in terms of survey creation, delivery and results analysis (Miller, 2020). Idea streets These are a modern, advanced version of suggestion boxes. Employees post their ideas online where they can be viewed and voted by all members of the organisation. The ideas that receive most views and votes are considered for implementation (Engage for Success, 2021). Pros Ideas streets are convenient in that employees can drop their views whenever they feel like. They offer anonymity and give a sense of belonging and engagement as employees can make suggestions anytime. They also offer all-time access and allow fast delivery, besides facilitating honest feedback and insights since there is no external influence on employees. Lastly, ideas streets are a great method for collecting ideas automatically and processing them relatively faster (Formplus, 2022). Cons Due to anonymity, employees may give uncoordinated comments that they would not make if they were giving feedback in person. Ideas streets might also flood managers with irrelevant ideas or feedback, resulting into unnecessary waste of time. This tool may also encourage malicious comments, which may damage the organisation’s reputation. Lastly, unless managers interact with suggestions or feedback posted online, the tool may be of no use and generate no results (Formplus, 2022). Focus groups From an employee engagement viewpoint, focus groups may be defined as groups comprising a maximum of ten individuals who come together to share idea/feedback on a given issue. The discussion is usually guided by a moderator who helps members to examine critical issues in a bid to come up with solutions (Ryba, 2019). Pros Focus build generate deeper insights into employee wants and perceptions and ways of boosting engagement. They are less time-intensive compared to one-on-one interviews. Unlike some other tools, focus groups have the potential of informing meaningful action that is relevant to and in line with employee ideas (Ryba, 2019). Cons The facilitator may be biased in the questions he/she asks, and may control the discussion. Focus group results cannot easily be translated into dependable, usable data. There is also the possibility of incorrect findings as a result of groupthink or individuals giving dishonest answers. Lastly, domination by a few workers, mostly extroverts and the outgoing, may hinder the voice of everyone in the organisation (Qlearsite Ltd., 2021). |
| A critical evaluation of the interrelationships between employee voice and organisational performance (AC 1.4) Short references should be added into your narrative below. Please remember to only list your long references in the Reference box provided at the end of this section. |
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