Include These Three Questions in EVERY Employee and Customer Survey

Highly engaged employees are a key driver of business success. According to The Society of Human Resource Professionals (SHRM), not only does employee engagement have the potential to significantly affect employee retention, productivity and loyalty, it is also a key link to customer satisfaction, company reputation and overall stakeholder value.

According to Gallup’s 2022 global workplace study, only 21% of employees are engaged at work and 33% of employees are thriving in their overall wellbeing. Most would say that they don’t find their work meaningful, don’t think their lives are going well or don’t feel hopeful about their future. Therefore, most employers have a lot of work to do to unlock the full potential of their workforce.

What Drives Employee Engagement?

What can employers do to increase engagement? What do employees want? At Next Element we’ve been following this trend for years. Every day we work with leaders who trying to solve this puzzle. In my newest book, I share a comprehensive summary of the research.

It all boils down to three factors.

Interestingly, when you look at customer satisfaction research, the same holds true. Customers want to experience value, capability and responsibility affirmed and upheld in their relationships with their service providers. This is true across industries.

Compassionate Accountability® is The Secret Sauce

Collectively, the three factors driving engagement can be summarized as Compassionate Accountability. Compassionate Accountability is the process of building and strengthening relationships WHILE getting results. No compromises.

Leaders and their companies no longer get to favor one over the other. Choosing compassion over accountability leads to compromises in consistency and standards. Choosing accountability over compassion compromises psychological safety and relationships. This generation of employees wants both in full measure. So do our customers.

Are You Serving With Compassionate Accountability?

How do you measure engagement and satisfaction? Do you survey your employees and customers? What do you ask about? Are you learning about what matters most to them? Are you taking action on what you learn?

Daily interactions determine the quality of your culture, which determines the strength of your brand. Assessing the level of compassionate accountability in your daily interactions with employees and customers will reveal what matters most and guide you to making important improvements that can improve business results.

Include These Three Questions in Every Survey

If you want to assess the presence of Compassionate Accountability in your culture, embed a version of the following three questions into every employee, customer, and patient survey you do.

Strongly Agree – Agree – Disagree – Strongly Disagree

Describe any behaviors to support your answer: _______________