Surveys are a familiar information gathering tool to all of us. During the past decade their importance as a value-added business tool has considerably increased. While survey use as a general barometer of employee opinion or customer satisfaction is still very important, new survey approaches and analysis techniques have repositioned surveys as key tools for strategic planning and day-to-day business operations.

Employee Surveys

For most organizations, employees are the greatest resource but are also a significant cost of operation. To achieve optimal performance and financial outcomes, an organization minimally needs to clearly understand what employees think, their expectations and ideas. However, knowing how these employee opinions align with corporate strategic directions and values will highlight the opportunities and challenges to the success of corporate or business unit initiatives, thus enabling targeted adjustments.

Customer and Marketplace Surveys

Having a good grasp of employee perceptions, attitudes and competencies is just one side of the organization performance coin. Equally important is having a clear picture of how the organization, its products and its services, are positioned in the marketplace. Satisfied customers aren't enough. In today's competitive markets surveys can strengthen management strategic decision making by highlighting the critical determinants of customer loyalty and measuring competitive standing.

360º Feedback/Multi-Rater Feedback

Organization performance and financial outcomes also depend on employees and managers having the right "tool kit" of abilities, skills and know how. Multi-Rater/360º Feedback surveys provide an organization with the information needed to help employees and managers focus their competency enhancement (e.g., training) efforts, and help senior management better assess the relative strengths of key staff for promotion, pay and succession planning.