First thing to say is that there has been no takeover, or change in strategic direction and the team remains the same.

So why have we changed our name?

The main reason is that since 2006 Employesurveys has been proud to be part of the Edgecumbe Group. With Edgecumbe’s growing reputation in the world of business psychology it is right that we should make that association clear. Furthermore the name of Employesurveys was chosen at the time when we were one of only a few who had the capability to do surveys online. That particular distinction has long gone and so the emphasis on e capability is no longer appropriate.

In keeping with the Edgecumbe motto our business continues to thrive. The whole Edgecumbe team look forward with confidence that we will deliver our promise of making employee surveys make a difference.

This was the third annual survey we have done for them, and the Board were anxious to see what impact these decisions had had on morale and engagement.

I was not surprised to report that although their results had dropped since 2009, the drop was quite small and that in most items their scores remained above our norms -a tremendous result considering few of our clients have had to take the measures they have had to. Why was I not surprised? I know that this business has a great leadership team and in their words “they work bloody hard” on communication. For example all members of the board hold regular face to face briefings with the staff, not just in the good times, but even more so when times are hard. They try to be as open and honest as possible, they listen and explain.

Since 2009 pride in the organisation has gone up and so has commitment. Both measures were already in the nineties. Not bad!! The business is starting to recover and I am sure they will benefit from a very engaged, skilled and committed work force. They deserve to do well and I am sure that they will.

We previously carried out a survey for this organisation in 2007. Results were poor and had dropped since the previous engagement survey in 2006. It was at that time that they knew things had to change. The organisation went through a complete restructure - a layer of management was removed, several key people were replaced and many of the key processes were reviewed and changed where necessary.

Through these difficult times, they were clear about the need to communicate, consult and engage their people at all stages. The survey results this year has proven that this approach has paid off handsomely and the organisation now benefits from having a highly motivated and engaged workforce who are committed to the future success of the organisation.

Another great example of how employee surveys can really help make a massive difference.

Despite of the cold, stuttering start to 2010, clients I have spoken to in the past few days seem to be cautiously optimistic for the year ahead. Here at Employesurveys we share that optimism. 2009 was a surprisingly good year for us, somewhat better than we anticipated.

Looking back on the work we did during 2009, the one thing that really stands out was how resilient many organisations were to the unsettling and difficult times that affected almost everyone to some extent or another. Not quite Dunkirk spirit, more like when the going gets tough…

In an effort to cut costs, many organisations are reducing their headcount. This often results in remaining staff having to take on additional responsibilities and managers being put under increasing pressure to achieve targets with fewer resources. It is under these circumstances that staff and managers are at greater risk of suffering from stress and hence are likely to cost the organisation even more money through absenteeism and poor performance.

Some organisations feel that delaying their staff survey in the current economic crisis is another way to save money. Yet it is during these times that a survey is needed more than ever.

Engagement surveys can help organisations to assess how staff feel about aspects of their job and the organisation that are known to impact on their attitudes, engagement levels and psychological well-being. They can inform organisations where change and interventions are needed before staff become the victims of stress – a small investment for a big saving.

I was so impressed that I asked the HR Director how they had managed to build employee engagement and transform their culture so effectively. It is a story worth hearing.

Ipsen provide further evidence that good survey data can be the catalyst for change and improvement, but of course it takes a lot more than that. For them it took consistent leadership, continual communication, winning and sustaining commitment at all levels throughout the organisation, and some process and organisation to make things happen.

The Ipsen story is not about waving magic wands, or ‘silver bullets’.

But the results of all their effort are pretty magical.

Click here to read through the case study

So is there a general decline in acceptable behaviour or is it that employees’ expectations on how they should be treated at work by managers, colleagues and others they interact with is changing? Are we becoming less tolerant of behaviour that we deem to be demeaning, aggressive or disrespectful?

If the latter is true it would suggest that managers and supervisors may need to be made more aware of how to manage these situations and in some cases more aware of their own behaviour.

I asked about price as we know that we are usually significantly cheaper than this larger organisation. She confirmed that we were but said that she had “been able to persuade the Directors to pay more for the better benchmarking”.

Frankly I found that message to be a little depressing. Sure benchmarking data is interesting and helpful, but is it really worth paying significantly more for benchmark data derived from a very large sample as opposed to a sample that is statistically big enough? The answer must be no. I would argue our data is more than good enough for the purpose it serves. Other aspects of the service are of greater importance.

Choosing a survey supplier should not be just about who has the biggest database. If it is all bar one of us in the market would be out of business.