Top Five Comments on 2010 Employee Engagement Surveys

It’s nice to know that some things never change, no matter how the economy is performing.

The desire for increased pay and overall compensation headed up a list of the top five employee engagement comment themes in 2010, as cited by Chicago-based consulting firm HR Solutions, Inc. Higher salaries also topped the list in 2006, the last time the company conducted the study.

HR Solutions analyzed nearly 30,000 responses to 54 employee-engagement surveys completed by its clients between January and August 2010. The top five comment themes, in order of frequency, include:

1. Employees “requested increase in pay.”
2. Employees are “pleased with their co-workers.”
3. Employees “requested increased communication.”
4. Employees “like the atmosphere of the organization.”
5. Employees are “pleased with flexible work hours.”

Notably, given the number of layoffs since 2006 coupled with the increased responsibilities of many remaining workers, and the national concern over rising health care costs, the comment themes regarding workloads being too heavy and/or departments understaffed, and benefit program costs did not make the list, as they did in 2006.

“It was surprising that understaffing did not make the top five list,” says Chris Dustin, executive vice president of sales and consulting at HR Solutions. “Based on our quantitative and qualitative research we typically find that the top reason employees would select “Other” (using Other, Pay, Benefits, Supervisor, and Career Advancement as the selection criteria) as their primary reason for leaving was directly linked to feeling understaffed. Understandably, the written comments are more geared towards an individual’s beliefs rather than a collective belief (i.e., focus group sessions). Staffing may not be in the forefront of employees’ minds and thus pay is usually the top concern.”

The other comment themes from 2006 that didn’t make the top-five list in 2010 include:

- Internal pay equity, particularly having concerns with “pay compression” (the differential in pay between new and more tenured employees).
- “Over-management” (a common phrase seen in employee comments is “Too many chiefs, not enough Indians”).
- Pay increase guidelines should place greater emphasis on merit.

Overall, Dustin concludes that the study shows communication is essential for all organizations and leaders.

“Proper communication on the pay methodology is essential as research indicates only 41 percent of employees understand how pay increases are determined,” says Dustin. “Additionally, how organizations communicate the strategy, mission, and values of an organization directly links to culture of the organization, transparency of leadership, and overall trust felt by employees from their leaders.”

HR Solutions will be hosting an all-day Employee Engagement Emporium on Jan. 20, 2011, at Hotel Palomar in Chicago. Read here for more information.