What CEOs Have in Common with Pope Francis
In an article for the renowned online magazine “The Huffington Post”, our board member Matthias Diete writes about the importance of employee surveys in the context of strategic corporate management.
The current example of the Catholic Church, which came to important conclusions by surveying believers, gives reason to think about the importance of perception “from above”.
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Dialogue with employees, members and believers makes it clear at an early stage what reform is needed within an organization, institution or religious community. This need should not be denied, otherwise credibility and trust capital can be permanently destroyed.
Pope Francis recently had Catholics surveyed on sexual morality. The result was disastrous for the church leaders. The gap between church teachings and the actual lives of believers could hardly have been clearer. But it remains to be seen whether the survey results will lead to real reforms.
One thing is certain, however: every institution, whether church, state or company, is well advised to adapt to today’s requirements and meet the needs of those involved.
Differences in Perception
As in the Catholic Church, companies that survey their employees also reveal significant differences between the perceptions of their bosses and their employees. Typical weak points are leadership (of some superiors), internal communication and poorly functioning processes. As in the Catholic Church, companies should therefore also follow words with actions. Nothing weakens the credibility of boards of directors and managing directors more than when necessary change processes fail to take place. However, anyone who is aware that clarity is better than ignorance can use the findings of employee surveys as a compass for orientation, for example for personnel and organizational development measures.
Addressing Controversial Topics
The prerequisite for this is that personnel surveys explicitly identify potential for improvement in areas such as leadership, communication, corporate culture, processes, projects, etc. in addition to the classic research topics such as job satisfaction and motivation. For reasons of credibility alone, the questionnaire should not avoid topics that could be controversial.
The effort is worth it, as the study “Organization 2015: Designed to win” by the Boston Consulting Group shows. According to this, the companies that perform best are those that consistently focus on their soft core competencies: leadership, motivation, internal communication and cross-company collaboration. Strategic employee surveys create the conditions and are therefore predestined to systematically challenge, evaluate and promote these core competencies.
Don’t Break any Porcelain
But be careful: employee surveys can only have an effect if everyone – from the boss to the base – supports the survey and the associated follow-up processes. If, in the interests of a transparent, fair process, it is also ensured that not only the managers but also the employees can see the key results, employee surveys contain a special message to the employees: that they are trusted as experts and that they can and should actively participate.
So: Even if survey results are usually not as desired, this does not mean that the bosses have to get weak knees. The surveys are first and foremost an early warning system that shows them where there is a need for reform. Only those who deny this need will unnecessarily break a lot of valuable “china”.