In this article you will find out…
- Which and how many questions should be asked
- Why you are conducting an NMI survey
- How you set up a clear action plan after implementation
- The value of combining NMI with NPS
Quicksearch has been conducting relationship surveys for over 20 years and are experts in statistics, survey methodology and analysis.
The Employee Satisfaction Index (NMI) is the internal equivalent of the Customer Satisfaction Index (NKI) and an important tool when it comes to performing employee surveys. The method for finding out how satisfied the employees are with the work environment and the leadership is well known, but without having full control of how NMI works and what the survey contributes to, it is of no use!
Here we list five important things you can consider when you want to carry out an NMI survey:
1. Don't ask more questions than you need to
Employee satisfaction index (NMI) is based on asking the three questions
1. If you think about your workplace as a whole. How satisfied are you with it?
2. Is your workplace as good as you hoped it would be?
3. Imagine a perfect workplace. How close is your workplace to such a workplace?
Usually, additional questions are asked to be able to do a more detailed analysis. There is no rule that says how many questions you can ask in your survey, but it can be a good idea to start from what you think is a reasonable number. The good thing about the three NMI questions is that they can be easily "extracted" when analyzing the results.
However, how many questions you choose to include in your survey can affect response participation. The more questions you choose to ask in your survey, the greater the chance that your employees will tire of answering. You should not ask more questions than you need to! It is important to think through which questions should be included so that they are precise for the purpose.
NMI with Insight
At Quicksearch, together with authorities, private companies and academic partners, we have developed Insight, a battery of questions that can help you ask the right questions. About 20 questions are taken from four different areas each, which together form an employee index (MI). The employee index is a measure of commitment and highlights participation, cooperation and responsibility in both leadership and employeeship.
Curious to learn more? Take contact with us!
2. Why are you conducting the NMI survey?
An investigation should not be done just because someone in the office mentioned that it had been a while since the last one. Presumably your company has a goal that you want to achieve where your employees are at the center of the work to get there, or it is clearly noticeable that the staff is unhappy. An NMI survey helps you see which areas need improvement, but it is always useful to think about the purpose in advance. The employees must have their voices heard and be told how they enjoy and experience the leadership. Then it doesn't hurt to spend a little extra time formulating the right questions.
The first step you must take is to identify in which areas development is needed, in order to create a working climate that improves the business. Start from your organization's situation: What does the balance between leadership and employees look like in your organization? Can and does everyone want to be involved in the development of the business? Is the work environment so good that it can be ensured that everyone has the same conditions to be both profitable, healthy and happy?
3. Priorities are not always clear
When the result has landed on the desktop and the analysis has been completed, you need to prioritize which actions should be taken. You can't fix everything at once. What is worth bearing in mind is that all surveys produce varying results. In some cases it is clear which area is working or needs improvement, in others there are many areas where employees are dissatisfied. Reconnecting with employees is therefore crucial. Let them talk about what they want to change primarily to make them happy in the workplace.
4. Clear action plan
Who is responsible for what, which goals are to be reached and when? Setting up a clear action plan is one of the most important things to do after you complete an NMI survey. Everyone is responsible for the improvement work that follows. Therefore, it is extremely important that a concrete plan is presented where it is clear what is to be done and who is primarily responsible for carrying it out. Usually, the survey is compiled in a report that everyone in the company can see. It may be a good idea to discuss the report in a working meeting and arrive at the most important points together.
In order for companies to be able to develop and improve, clear tools and simple plans are needed which then - step by step - support managers in the continued work to make something happen. Insight is one such tool; it is based on the principle that increased participation creates better conditions for implementing and succeeding with changes. The focus is on the result and clarifying who is working with development and improvement.
Get in touch with us then we'll tell you more!
5. Combine NMI with eNPS
A survey is completely insignificant for the company if no follow-up is done. What does it look like a year later, two years? Measuring regularly is a prerequisite for being able to follow changes in attitudes and approaches. With that idea as a basis, it is not sustainable to only carry out long and comprehensive surveys once a year.
By regularly carrying out measurements in the various processes that an employee is part of, you receive ongoing feedback on how feelings and attitudes change over time. The easiest way to do this is by asking the ultimate question: "How likely is it that you would recommend the company to a friend or acquaintance?". The answers to the question give you your eNPS®.
Follow your employee index and eNPS® over time to get a clearer picture of the changes being made (or not made).
Satisfied employee index at Quicksearch
At Quicksearch, we work with both Satisfied employee index and Employee Net Promoter Score®. Just like eNPS®, NMI gives you a key figure that can easily be compared with other companies and competitors. Get in touch with us if you want to learn more about NMI or our Insight question battery. We help companies carry out surveys that are liked by managers, employees and customers alike!
