Employer Competitions: Appearance More Important than Reality
In an article for the renowned online magazine “The Huffington Post”, our board member Matthias Diete takes a critical look at the use of employee surveys in the context of employer competitions.
The suitability of these “satisfaction surveys” for professional organizational development is very limited, which can be proven by the topics surveyed.
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Employer Competitions: Appearance More Important than Reality
The battle for the best minds is increasing. Since candidates no longer have to apply to companies, companies are applying to talented people. Seals such as “Top Job”, “Best Employer”, “Employer of the Year”, “Star Employer” or “Top Employer in Germany” are intended to improve chances in the war for talent. However, the badges are not really meaningful.
Rankings are en vogue, even among Germany’s employers. Corporations and medium-sized companies hope to increase their chances of recruiting staff with the help of an employer award. Potential employees should not be fooled by the beautiful seals, however – there is no guarantee that they will be happy there, even if a good ranking suggests it.
The employee surveys carried out in advance of employer evaluations generally focus only on actual or general satisfaction factors. However, their relevance would have to be individually weighted by non-employees in order to be able to reliably predict later satisfaction with a potential employer. In addition, pure satisfaction surveys are considered outdated by experts.
Query Relevant Topics
Recent scientific findings and approaches show that other key factors have greater weight and should be taken into account in surveys that form the basis for rankings. These include aspects such as cross-departmental collaboration, information and knowledge flows and the quality of work processes. It is not for nothing that these criteria take up a lot of space in professional employee surveys. The innovative strength of their company as perceived by employees should also be taken into account, as should questions about their direct supervisor. The quality of the leadership experienced directly ultimately has a significant impact on perceived job satisfaction and willingness to perform.
Due to the limited range of topics, employees of companies participating in such employer evaluations are faced with the question of whether appearances are not more important than reality. In addition, many who are also interested in positive company development would probably prefer to make a critical contribution with their feedback rather than take part in a satisfaction survey geared to the labor market for advertising purposes.
Seize the Opportunity for Organizational Development
Employer rankings are therefore often primarily beauty contests that are primarily intended to shine externally. However, the increasingly inflationary awarding of awards and titles makes it difficult to differentiate oneself from the competition in the labor market. Companies that are also concerned with sustainable company management and development therefore prefer to use the instrument of a professional employee survey.
A classic, professionally conducted employee survey carried out in the context of organizational development usually also includes questions that are suitable for measuring employee satisfaction. Topics such as workplace equipment, collaboration with colleagues, development opportunities or even remuneration and work-life balance can therefore be found in most current employee surveys. This makes it possible to illuminate the entire spectrum of employees’ perceptions and gain relevant insights for development and improvement processes.
The differentiation of the results down to department or team level also provides the basis for operational follow-up measures. Only then, for example, internal processes and leadership quality can be improved. Companies that take advantage of these opportunities become successful employers – and do not have to worry about their young talent.