The grip surveys are here!

Ensuring employee retention and satisfaction has become one of the most important tasks for business leaders and HR professionals. As competition for talent is fierce, employers are increasingly focusing on the retention of their employees. One of the most effective ways to understand what employees value and what makes them stay is through a retention survey. 

What is a traction survey?

The retention survey is a questionnaire that gathers employees' views on the organisation, working environment and career development. Unlike exit surveys, which are conducted after an employee has already decided to leave, the aim of a retention survey is to prevent redundancies. They provide an opportunity to preserve the gems of the employee experience, address employee concerns and improve conditions so that valuable staff do not seek new employment opportunities elsewhere.

The ultimate goal of the retention surveys is to create an environment where employees feel heard and valued. They allow companies to gather valuable information about employee engagement, motivation and satisfaction. This can help identify issues that could lead to future redundancies and take action before it is too late.

The benefits of holding power surveys

1. Better employee engagement  

Employee satisfaction surveys help organisations understand the wishes and needs of their employees. This enables more personalised solutions to be found and increases employee engagement and motivation. Employees appreciate being heard and their opinions are valued.

2. Less staff turnover  

Addressing workers' concerns in a timely manner reduces turnover. For companies, this means lower recruitment and training costs, and retained skills and know-how. Retention surveys can help to understand what motivates employees and what makes them consider leaving.

3. Evolving organisational culture

Retention surveys provide valuable information about the culture of an organisation. They can reveal areas for improvement and strengths to nurture. Such surveys support continuous learning and development, which is at the heart of the Vibemetrics service concept.

4. Improving the employee experience  

Focusing on employee experience is not just a trend - it is a key competitive advantage. Retention surveys help improve the day-to-day experience of employees, and when employees are happy, they do better work, which is reflected in the customer experience.

Can't you get the same information from the staff survey? 

Some of the same information is also available from the staff survey. However, the way the question in the grip survey is framed is clearly about grip and push factors, and we know that the framing of the question matters! The aim of the retention survey is to identify factors that motivate and engage employees, so that potential redundancies can be proactively addressed. The staff survey, on the other hand, measures overall employee satisfaction, commitment, job satisfaction and work climate. The aim is to take a broader view of the situation of the organisation as a whole and identify areas for improvement, but it is not usually able to ask for clarification on emerging issues of retention or employee performance when such issues are raised. 

Sustainability surveys can also be targeted at team or individual level, and can be supported by conversational interviews. Conducting interviews with individual key people is already close to career development discussions, and the two are naturally linked - as long as all the different informational interests involved in the discussion are kept in mind. (Interviews are also - of course - no longer anonymous.) The staff survey is usually more extensive and structured, collecting information from all employees through standardised questions. 

Staff survey and retention survey support each other

In fact, the staff survey and the retention survey ideally support each other! A staff survey may highlight dissatisfaction with certain groups of people, teams or units. By targeting these groups with a retention survey that more closely identifies retention and employee issues and the underlying causes, you can effectively improve the employee experience and retention of valuable talent.