Results of the employee surveys from 2021
For a good two years now, the anonymous employee survey MAUS (Employee Survey for Work and Company Situations) has been helping to record the current mood of employees.
In 2021, a total of 95 surveys was conducted, with a total of 10,143 employees. Almost all companies that had taken part in a survey in 2020, took part in another one in 2021, answering the same 65 standardised questions.
The following is a general comparison of the results of 2020 and 2021:
The evaluations of the first employee survey from 2020 gave clear indications:
-
On the one hand that the employees had consistently answered the questions more or less (positively) in the way they considered desirable (in the sense of their companies).
-
On the other hand, that the majority of the answers nevertheless showed at least rudimentary tendencies in the staff community.
Thus, the surveys in 2020 presented an overall more positive picture, than was probably the case in reality (predominantly, statements like “consistently positive” or, usually less so, also “predominantly positive”).
Taking this into account, however, they were still somewhat meaningful.
The evaluations of the employee surveys from 2021 have essentially confirmed the assessments of the survey results from 2020 – but with serious deviations in the case of some companies that have had to cope with massive changes in the course of the last year.
The overall picture in 2021 still appeared in a generally positive light, but it was nowhere near as distinctly positive as in 2020. Therefore, it is probably more realistic.
Apart from that, the overall answers in 2021 seemed more critical, than those in 2020. The answers in 2021 covered the entire spectrum of possible answers (at least, to a much greater extent, that in 2020). This is also due to the fact that we have reduced the number of possible answers to 4 (“neither” has been dropped). In 2020, some employees “hid” behind that answer. Now, a clear position must be taken when answering. This circumstance is another good indicator for interpreting the answers.
Responsible for theses predominantly quantitative or tendential differences in the answers is most likely also the circumstance,
-
That on the one hand, the employees have lost their initial shyness about the unfamiliar questioning
-
And that, on the other hand, their concerns about negative effects of the survey or their answers have been largely dispelled in the meantime.
The development of the Corona pandemic will have further increased the motivation of employees to respond realistically or critically.
For a few questions, there has been a more or less pronounced reversal of the response tendency (from “positive” to “negative” and vice versa).
In particular, the points that should be emphasised are that payment/wages are increasingly no longer considered sufficient. There also seems to be a certain fatigue in regards to the use of digitalisation in the companies. Also, some employees in companies do not always feel sufficiently informed in decision-making processes. In addition, the frequent interruption of work processes is perceived as being disruptive. In 2021, a significantly more critical view of the management level by the employees can be noted.
Fear for the job has generally decreased (some sectors must, however, be excluded). The compatibility between work and family has also improved on average. In most cases, employees are very convinced of their company’s products and services. Furthermore, they are mostly willing to recommend their company as a good employer to potential new employees.
In the final discussion with the owners, it is clear that the managers and owners do not take the criticism from their employees personally. On the contrary – the effect we had hoped for – a factual discussion of the issues – now takes place, which in turn can reveal potential for improvement.
Conclusion
In some companies, almost 99 % of the entire workforce participated in this voluntary survey.
The overall tendencies of the responses become more critical, but also more objective.
However, at this point, it must be noted that this acceptance can be promoted above all only by the company’s management! If it conveys to their employees that it is actually interested in the survey results and the resulting changes to create a better working environment for them, the approval rate among the employees is regularly very high. This is especially noticeable in companies that have participated in the survey a second time.
Would you also like to know how things are in your company? Would you like to know how and what your employees think, just be applying the help of MAUS? Then call me today for your initial consultation on +49 (0)40 80 9031 9016, leave a message here or book your personal appointment right here:
