Why not Conduct Employee Surveys after Layoffs?
One reason that companies may be reticent to survey their employees after layoffs is because the questions do not reflect the fact that key motivational drivers have dramatically changed. Therefore, sending out the same list of survey questions as before might be counter-productive. According to Dr. Daniel Mount, Associate Professor in the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State University, it is vital that employee surveys be designed to take into consideration changing market conditions and also customized to meet the specific needs of each organization: “Historically I have found that employee responses on specific survey items change more in turbulent times,” said Mount. “The importance of items also changes significantly during these kinds of uncertain economic conditions where a rise in unemployment is a factor. For example, in a downturn the compensation and benefits issues begin to take on less importance, as employees seem to say, ’I have a job and, while I would like t