Generally, we see companies undertaking employee-satisfaction surveys either every quarter or twice a year. However, the approach is very different at Liberty General Insurance, as Priya Vasudevan, president-talent & enterprise services, Liberty General Insurance, shares with HRKatha.
The Company conducts an employee-satisfaction survey every month to track the mood and pulse of the employees. As per Vasudevan, this system helps monitor the mood of the employees on a regular basis. Therefore, whenever there is a major dip, the Company is able to instantly do a course correct. “It helps the organisation track the trends through the survey and understand what is working for the employees and what is not,” shares Vasudevan.
Vasudevan goes on to explain that for a highly employee-intensive insurance company — where it is the employees that meet and face the customers — it is very important to track the satisfaction level of employees, as it directly impacts the business. “We are an employee-centric industry, and for us our employees are our biggest assets,” says Vasudevan.
“Keeping a regular tab on the mood of the employees helped us take action at the right time, before things could escalate,”
Priya Vasudevan, president-talent & enterprise services, Liberty General Insurance
The employee-satisfaction surveys at Liberty are conducted online by a third-party vendor. The company has about 1400 employees in India and each one is covered in the survey. Even the senior leadership teams and CXO members participate in the survey every month.
The whole survey process is highly technology driven and all responses are anonymous. Every function can track the satisfaction level of its employees. From the bottom, going up to the functional leaders, all managers can track the satisfaction level of their teams and subordinates. The company has maintained a dashboard where all satisfaction scores are visible.
Every month, the functional leaders discuss the results of the employee-satisfaction survey and make a note of what is supposed to be done going forward.
Recalling a recent experience, Vasudevan shares that the company’s offices in tier-3 cities are smaller compared to the offices in the bigger cities and metros. When the employees started coming back to the office, a major dip was witnessed in the satisfaction levels. Later, it was found that since the offices were reopened after a long time, maintenance was a challenge. Many of the leaders in the organisation, including herself, have travelled to these offices review the facilities and facilitate smooth employee experience, by ensuring that the offices were maintained as in the pre-pandemic times. “Keeping a regular tab on the mood of the employees helped us take action at the right time, before things could escalate,” admits Vasudevan.
Often, the trends in the surveys indicate that a dip in satisfaction level is caused due to the performance of the individual on a daily basis. This can be rectified by the timely mentoring and coaching of employees by their managers, which can go a long way in steadying the ship.
The HR team at Liberty General Insurance only plays the role of enabler. It enables the managers to track the satisfaction level of their teams. After that, it is largely the managers who are responsible for further keeping the engagement level of the employees high. “I believe it is always the managers’ or the functional heads’ responsibility to keep their employees happy and their engagement level high,” shares Vasudevan.
Certain employees are definitely difficult to manage or please. Based on the employee-satisfaction trends at Liberty General Insurance, Vasudevan shares that it is more often the high performers who are very demanding, because they have innumerable opportunities to explore. It is also most challenging to deal with people holding top positions, especially the senior leaders, “not because they are always dissatisfied but because they are more vocal than the junior or entry-level employees,” observes Vasudevan.
The Company is also working on building capabilities, focusing on upskilling employees and training leaders.