How much does an employee survey cost?

I was bowled over last week when John told me how much a potential client reported a competitor was quoting to conduct their employee survey. It was a lot!

Occasionally, one of our potential clients has a similar reaction to Surveylab’s quote (which usually falls between £1,000 and £3,000) – they think

“but there are a plethora of services where I can do it myself for £50!”

Comparing apples and pears

This may be true, but the point is that YOU have to do it. As a survey company, we bring specific skills and experience to the project, much like a kitchen installer does when fitting a new kitchen. Keeping with my analogy, the kitchen installer can also help design the kitchen and provide after-sales care.

Positioned correctly, using an external survey company demonstrates to staff the importance in the survey and desire to ‘get it right’, with the added benefit of ensuring respondent anonymity. (sorry, couldn’t think of another kitchen analogy.)

Value for money?

This is the obvious question any buyer should be asking. In the case of an employee survey, if you have 150 staff, and outsourcing your survey costs £1,650, this equates to a cost of £11/employee to ask questions and get feedback from all your staff in a quick and efficient process. There are hidden costs (most significant will be your time) and perhaps the expense of printing and mailing letters, but £11 to engage and listen to each and every one of your staff is a very small cost that can deliver superb value.

For 1,000 staff, the cost is much less – in this example just £1.65. Expenses may be a little higher, but economies of scale should apply with everything except for any postage.

Ultimately, it’s what you do after the survey is closed that really determines whether your survey was value for money.