Surveys as risk management tools

Well designed organisational surveys are profitable for your business.  They operate as risk management tools, helping organisations to prevent problems before they occur.   They can help identify/prevent inapproriate hires, inappropriate promotions, poor organisational culture, unsafe practices, misconduct, poor leadership and burnout.

Alternatively, not identifying these issues and having  unengaged, unsuitable, underskilled, risk-taking employees can prove very costly in terms of an organisation’s bottom line and reputation.

A case study
A large sales and marketing organisation had noticed a decrease in profits and an increase in staff absenteeism.  They were unsure why this had occurred and engaged PeopleMetrics to assist.

We ran a number of organisational surveys, including the Employee Attitudes & Committment Survey and the Leadership Development Survey.  We identified that a recent change in leadership in the organisation and a reduction in the allocation of resources to training had resulted in employees feeling stressed, under-resourced and mistrustful.  Leadership changes had been made without the appropriate testing and the hires were therefore under-skilled.  This impacted their ability to manage staff appropriately, resulting in decreased job satisfaction and increased absenteeism.  Staff also felt that they had not been appropriately engaged in the leadership changes.

We made a number of suggestions to assist the organisation in making their workplace fairer, to improve communication and to ensure that people were in jobs that were appropriate.  These included staff training, increased meetings and other forums for discussion/updates and job redesign.

At a six-month review the organisation reported that they had updated their organisational goals, their profits had returned to the level they were at prior to the issues, and staff absenteeism had halved.  Survey results showed vastly improved workforce motivation and committment amongst employees.

If you’d like more information about our surveys and how we can improve your business, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Part of the issue, according to Transport Workers Union national secretary Tony Sheldon is that the airline planned to “outsource their workforce at very low rates of pay”, and that negotiations failed due to lack of “good faith”.  Employees are concerned about plans to set up subsidiaries in Asia that employ staff on lower wages and conditions.

As a result of the strike, 150 flights and 6000 passengers were affected, 28 domestic flights were cancelled and 53 schedule changes were made. 

Industrial action by engineers in 2008 cost Qantas $160 million, according to group executive Olivia Wirth, and there is concern that the cost of the current strikes will match or exceed that as more industrial action is planned.  From 10 October it is planned that wider and longer rolling stoppages will occur at different airports every second day over a number of weeks. 

Qantas is one of the many organisations that have seen their employees take action against work policies or practices that they disagree with, and have suffered disruption and financial loss as a result.

In large organisations in particular it can be difficult to judge the mood of the workforce, and when important decisions need to be made it is not easy to judge the potential impact on employees. 

One solution that is used by a wide range of successful organisations, and is a proven risk management tool, is workforce surveying.  Regular surveys can help to identify and prevent problems before they occur.

PeopleMetrics surveys are based on empirical research and cover a wide range of known and emerging issues, including:

• Perceptions of fairness re remuneration
• Perceptions of organisational support
• Employee commitment
• Job satisfaction
• Stress and burnout
• Leadership style
• Ethical climate
• Trust
• Intention to leave

Our post-survey research indicates the following benefits as a result:

• Improved workforce motivation and commitment
• Reduced workforce turnover and dissatisfaction
• Better defined organisational goals and values

Employee surveys can be part of a bigger program within your organisation, including psychometric testing to identify the people that are best suited to your business’s values, goals and required skills sets.

Our group company RightPeople has a range of assessment tools that can be used for all employee groups to measure skills, attitudes and competencies of applicants or employees, to aid hire, promotion and training decisions.  Thousands of Qantas graduate applicants have undergone psychometric testing through RightPeople.

Let us strengthen your risk management practices and help you to identify any issues before they become unmanageable and cost you financial and reputation damage.  Contact us to find out more about our employee surveys.

R U OK? Day is a national mental health initiative to encourage Australians to connect with their colleagues/employees by asking them: Are you okay?

Every year more than one million Australians experience depression, anxiety or related disorders.  Research shows that approximately 7 percent of Australian employees in any organisation suffer from depression each year.

So chances are that at least one person at each workplace may be suffering from a work-related or personal issue right now.

Work stress can be a large contributor to mental illness.  Stress and depression are the largest contributors to lost productivity in Australia.  A study by Medibank Private revealed that workplace stress is responsible for a loss of 2.14 working days per employee annually, which equates to a cost of $533 per employee.

When approximately 8 million people spend up to a third of their life at work, it makes sense for workplaces to be the focus of mental health strategies.

In 2010, 7000 organisations formally participated in the R U OK? Workplace Initiative, and the aim is to top this in 2011.  There are a number of ways that workplaces can get involved, but the basic idea is to engage with people in the workplace and check on their mood and whether they are grappling with work-related or other issues.

It is hoped that this great initiative will raise awareness and encourage stress and mental health to be an ongoing focus in workplaces.  This can be difficult however, particularly in large organisations, due to time restrictions, multiple demands placed on managers, lack of knowledge about issues faced by employees and how to respond to these, to name just a few.

While it would be fantastic if managers or HR representatives could have individual conversations with all employees on a regular basis, this is not always feasible.

Employee surveys are an efficient way of gathering information from a large group of employees on issues that may contribute to their mental health, including stress, burnout, work-life balance and job satisfaction.

The PeopleMetrics Employee Attitudes & Commitment Surveys do just that.  These research-based based surveys have been developed by psychologists and academics using key constructs from the organisational psychology literature and cover a wide range of issues and factors that contribute to creating and sustaining a happy, engaged workforce.

The results can be used to help develop training programs or health and safety initiatives.  Initiatives specifically targeted at mental health can be developed or modified on the basis of the results, such as Employee Assistant Programs, work-life balance programs and so on.  

People are your most important asset.  Contact us to find out more about how you can use our Employee Attitudes & Commitment Surveys to check if your employees R OK.

The ageing of Australia’s workforce is one of businesses’ major emerging challenges.  By 2044-45 it is estimated that 25% of Australians will be aged 65 years or over, which is approximately double the present population.

Additionally, over the last decade the average age of the Australian workforce (especially the full-time workforce) has been increasing faster than the average age of the general population (Department of Parliamentary Services, 2005). 

In September 2010 there were approximately 5.8 million adults not in the labour force.  Over 3.3 million, or 57% of these people were aged 55 years and over (The Australian Institute for Social Research, 2008).  As more people move into older age groups, overall workforce participation rates are predicted to substantially drop.  Some estimates project that there will be a loss of one third of the workforce over the next two decades to retirement, redundancy and illness/disability (The Australian Institute for Social Research, 2008). 

By early next decade labour demand is expected to exceed supply (Productivity Commission, 2005).

The impact of health and safety measures

To manage the effect of the ageing population on the Australian workforce it will be necessary to introduce measures to boost labour force participation and manage skill shortages.  Research has shown that immigration cannot resolve the loss of labour force, and that increasing taxes is unsustainable (The Australian Institute for Social Research, 2008).  However, effective occupational health and safety (OHS) policies and procedures to assist with injury prevention, management and effective return to work are important elements in achieving this.  

OHS is an area of real concern.  5.3% (640,700 people) of the 12 million people who undertook some form of paid employment during the 2009-10 financial year experienced at least one work-related injury or illness.  This equates to a rate of 53 injuries per 1,000 people employed.

Improving the safety of the workplace and the health of its members has always been important but now more than ever there is a need to safeguard our diminishing workforce and prevent Australian workers from becoming statistics.

Older workers are more vulnerable

While the majority of individuals who suffer injuries in the workplace are middle aged (45-54 years), older workers are more likely than younger workers to have a fatal workplace incident.  The fatality rate among workers in 2009-10 increased from 0.7 per 100,000 workers aged 15-34 years, to 1.0 among 35-54 year olds, and 1.8 among workers aged 55 years and over, as shown in Figure 1.

Older workers are not only more likely to be involved in work related incidents that prove fatal; they are also more likely to suffer from illnesses associated with long-term exposure to dangerous substances/working conditions, such as mesothelioma (from asbestos exposure) and noise-induced hearing loss.

This means these important older workers are also vulnerable workers.

Prevention is better than Cure

Considering the costs associated with work related injuries and accidents, and the impact of the ageing population on the Australian workforce the importance of prevention strategies cannot be underestimated.  Over the past two decades governments at both the federal and state/territory level have made concerted efforts to reduce rates of workplace injuries and fatalities, including raising awareness of the importance of OHS, improving collection and analysis of workers’ compensation data, and harmonising the states and territories’ work health and safety legislation (The Australian Institute for Social Research, 2008). 

At the same time, government policy has placed increasing emphasis on positive or ‘productive’ ageing, including supporting healthy lifestyles, lifelong learning and programs to reduce dependency and manage functional loss effectively (The Australian Institute for Social Research, 2008).

PeopleMetrics Safety and Commitment Survey

Improvements are not only occurring at the government level.  Every organisation has a responsibility to safeguard the health and safety of its workers and to find ways to lessen the impact of the ageing population on the availability of able workers.  To this end, safety surveys are becoming a popular adjunct to OHS initiatives aimed at improving employee commitment to safety. 

More than ever, your ability to fully utilise human capital largely depends on how effectively you can improve working conditions and prevent accidents/incidents.  PeopleMetrics has developed the Safety and Commitment Survey to help organisations to assess and manage safety related issues and attitudes, and to better understand the impact of OHS policy.  The survey allows you to:

• Compare workforce and management views on current OHS issues
• Compare perceived v’s actual compliance with safety policies and procedures
• Examine safety attitudes and behaviour both in and outside of the workplace.

It can also be used in conjunction with our Attitudes and Commitment Survey to understand other relevant factors, including values, stress, organisational climate, leadership, trust and support.

Contact us today to find out more about PeopleMetric’s Safety and Commitment Survey.

References

Department of Parliamentary Services (2005). Research Note: Australia’s ageing workforce. Parliament of Australia: Canberra.

The Australian Institute for Social Research. (2008). Exploring the impact of an ageing workforce on the South Australian Workers’ Compensation Scheme: Chapter 1 Introduction. The University of Adelaide: Adelaide.

Productivity Commission. (2005). Australia’s Health Workforce, Research Report. Australian Government: Canberra.

 Employee engagement (EE)

It can also be thought of as an emotional or intellectual “attachment” (positive or negative) to their role and the company. 

Engaged employees = intellectually focused and/or emotionally connected at work, actively supportive of organisational goals and willing to put more effort into their jobs (Khan, 1990).

Disengaged employees= distant and withdrawn emotionally or intellectually and perform their roles incompletely, without effort or automatically (Khan, 1990). 

This can be further divided into ‘not engaged’ employees, who are unhappy at work and tend to perform their roles without energy or passion and ‘actively disengaged’ employees who are not only unhappy but also underperform and undermine what other workers accomplish through their negativity.

EE has received significant attention in the job selection research because it has been found to be associated with outcomes such as retention of talent, individual performance, team performance and productivity.

In an era where the workforce is highly mobile, with as many as 25% of employees in one sample indicating an intention to change jobs within 12 months, the challenge of retaining good employees is a very real one.  Increased competition and globalisation also put pressure on organisations to ensure that their employees present the business in the best possible way to clients and prospective clients.

Most employers would agree that they want their employees to be positive, committed and productive, but it isn’t always clear: whether employees are engaged, and if not, how to achieve this.

What does the research show about EE in the Australian workforce?

In late 2006 the Australian Institute of Management undertook a comprehensive national survey of 2,928 Australian workers including business owners, executives, managers and general staff.  They asked them questions about their perceptions of their organisation, their levels of commitment and job satisfaction. A key finding of the research was that meaning, purpose and relationships were key factors in employee retention; strongly outweighing pay and benefits.

Other relevant findings included:

• Overall, most workers had a positive view of their organisation.
• Disengaged employees felt undervalued, performed less well, had lower job satisfaction and higher rates of absenteeism than engaged employees.
• Meaning, purpose and interesting challenges predicted retention of senior managers and positive relationships with coworkers predicted retention of lower level employees.
• Older and more senior employees were found to be more positive about and more committed to their organisation than younger, lower level employees.

In late 2008, Gallup Consulting undertook an Employee Engagement survey involving a random sample of 1,000 Australian employees.

Their results painted a somewhat bleaker view of EE within the Australian workforce:

• Overall only 18% of respondents were engaged with their organisation, while a huge 61% were not engaged and 21% actively disengaged. 
• Managers and executives had the highest rates of engagement of all employment levels, however, 75% were either not engaged or actively disengaged.
• The most experienced employees had the lowest level of engagement, with only 6% of those employed for more than 10 years indicating that they were engaged with the organisation.  These are likely to be the very individuals that others look to for mentoring.
• The key characteristics that differentiated engaged from disengaged employees were:
  • Supervisors focusing on employee strengths
  • Supervisors actively facilitating organisational change
  • Supervisors being motivating and inspirational
  • A trusting and open work environment
• Outcomes of engagement (or lack of) included:
  • Staff retention – plan to remain with the organisation in the short and long term
  • Absenteeism – disengaged employees take an average of 6 extra days off per year
  • Productivity – whether an employee worked to their full potential
  • Whether they recommended company products and services to others
• Costs of disengagement were estimated at a huge AUS$42.1 billion, due to lost productivity, absenteeism and other costs associated with job dissatisfaction.

The need to monitor organisational EE and establish effective strategies to encourage or improve EE is clear.  However, while large studies such as those above can provide an overall picture of the importance of EE and the consequences when it is lacking, they do not provide outcomes or guidance that is specific to the needs of your organisation. 

EE is shaped by a number of factors including the role itself, the quality of work relationships, organisational values and individual perceptions of these.  These factors are likely to vary greatly between companies.

PeopleMetrics can point you in the right direction.  Our Employee Attitudes Surveys measures the constructs that will help you understand to what extent your employees are engaged with the organisation, and what areas may require more attention.

These well researched constructs include employee commitment, job satisfaction, employee/organisation values fit, stress, leadership style, climate/culture, trust, perceptions of support and intention to leave.

The survey results can help you guide your organisation to enhance EE, thereby improving commitment and productivity.

You can rest assured that you are in good hands.  Our surveys have been developed based on academic and practitioner literature.  Our academic research team are recognised as world leaders in the construction of attitudinal and behavioural questionnaires.

People are your most important asset.  Contact us to find out how to improve engagement of your people in your organisation.

 References

Khan, W.A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33(4), 692.

The enquiries will examine the apparent delays in reporting the leak both to the government and the public.  Orica also faces criticism for failing to alert the Fire and Rescue Service, which environmental experts advise should have happened immediately after the event.

While the risk assessment confirmed that the amount of the chemical released into the air was too small to have a serious health impact, the costs, both financial and reputational, to Orica and the local community are substantial. 

In the aftermath of the leak, the part of the Orica plant involved in the release of the chemical was shut down.  70 homes were thought to be affected and a child care centre nearby was closed while the issue was investigated.  An environmental claims lawyer has also indicated that affected families were considering a class action to claim compensation for health impacts, stigma and a potential drop in property values.  The NSW government may also fine Orica depending on the outcomes of the enquiries. 

Incidents such as these highlight the importance of Occupational Health & Safety (OHS) policies and procedures, audits, risk assessments and organisational attitudes towards safety.  Not only are companies such as those dealing with harmful chemicals at risk of health and safety issues, according to a WorkCover NSW report in 2008-09 there were 139 deaths resulting from workplace accidents and over 133,000 employment injuries reported in NSW.  These occurred across a range of industries, including ‘low risk’ areas such as administration and insurance.

Safety surveys are becoming a popular adjunct to OHS initiatives aimed at improving employee commitment to safety.  Considering the costs associated with work related injuries and accidents, the importance of prevention strategies cannot be underestimated.

PeopleMetrics have developed the Safety and Commitment Survey to help organisations gauge the attitudes, views and behaviour of employees with regard to health and safety, and the effect of constantly changing circumstances in the modern workplace.  The survey analyses safety trends from a multidirectional viewpoint.  It can help you to:

• Compare workforce and management views on current OH&S issues,
• Compare perceived vs actual compliance with safety policies and procedures, and
• Examine safety attitudes and behaviour both in and outside of the workplace

Don’t leave safety to chance.  Contact us today to discuss how our Safety and Commitment Survey can help safeguard your organisation.