It pays to keep workers happy

Employee attitude survey company John Robertson & Associates has gone international, conducting a multi-country, multi-language survey for health information company Pharma Solutions Group.

JRA does an annual survey of the best places to work in New Zealand, which has given it benchmark data from thousands of surveys.

Managing director John Robertson says his company had done work for the local Pharma Solutions branch, who talked the company into trying it globally.

"Staff in 11 countries logged on to our survey and were presented with it in their local language. As soon as they completed it, managers in each country were able to view the results in their own language," Robertson says.

"Our software enabled us to create a global benchmark so each country could compare its result with the global result. We also set up sub-benchmarks, so countries could compare themselves against others in their region."

Robertson says the survey allows managers to quickly identify human resources issues in any country or region, and to examine the root causes.

"There are issues about leadership and communication which are standard in any organisation. There is increasing interest globally in monitoring staff attitudes and opinions and monitoring the level of staff satisfaction.

"What is driving it is the huge competition in the marketplace for talent. It is critical managers can read the prevailing climate in their organisation and have an early warning system which will provide them with notice of any unfavourable trends," he says.

"We are giving them a chance to address attitudes and perceptions before they translate into behaviour - particularly someone picking up their bags and walking out the door.

"There is also a greater awareness of the connection between employee satisfaction and profitability."

Robertson says his company's findings and research from overseas have found happy workers lead to higher turnover, higher market share, more profits. "It is a causal link, not just a correlation."

Looking at organisations which are outstanding, Robertson identified human resources practices which led to staff expressing commitment and loyalty to the firm.

"They are making much greater use of performance-based remuneration. That is not just individual bonuses, it is bonus payments across the organisation based on company performance.

"They are also more open and honest in the eyes of staff because of the communications channels and information flows they put in place.

"The bottom line is these are not just happier workplaces, they are realising the benefits of that through higher revenue and profit growth, lower labour turnover and so on. Companies like Flight Centre, AMI and Microsoft New Zealand are top-performing organisations."

Because John Robertson & Associates survey tools are online, they can be deployed anywhere. Firms can also subscribe and build their own surveys.

Robertson says the firm is starting to get international work on the back of New Zealand engagements. It is also getting direct queries over the internet.

"We are currently talking to a Canadian who does leadership coaching, who approached us because there is a scarcity of online products which do 360-degree feedback surveys.

"We are doing this all the time for companies in New Zealand, we know we are world class, and it is just as easy to set it up for someone on the other side of the world as for a company in Queen St."

The bit lacking is doing the follow-up consulting to advise firms what changes they need to make as a result of the survey.

Robertson said it is looking to form relationships with suitable consulting firms around the world.

"We team up with firms who have consulting capacity but not diagnostic capacity."

A great workplace

John Robertson says his research has identified four things an organisation needs to do to create a great workplace.

* It needs a clear sense of vision and a set of values that are widely understood and practised on a daily basis.

* It needs to be practical. Anyone should be able to walk into the organisation, and people there will be able to tell them what the organisation is about, what are its values, its purpose, the things it holds dear.

* It creates a sense of community. Staff feel a strong sense of belonging. There is often reference to it being like a big family, people feel supported, there is a sense of optimism in the future.

* It has a strong emphasis on developing its people through training and helping them realise their potential. The top organisations are obsessed about this. They talk about hiring people for attitude, then developing the skills needed to do the job.

* They have a strong performance culture. They set and demand high standards of performance. They do not tolerate poor performance. They make a point of rewarding top performances.