Member Survey: Employee Focus & Technology are Critical For Success

By Sue Voyles
Logos Communications

In the 2011 Best Business Practices Survey, Michigan Business and Professional Association (MBPA) members overwhelmingly responded that changes in working with employees topped the list of actions they have taken within the past year that have positively impacted their businesses.

In the survey, members were asked to share actions in the areas of finance, working with employees, sales, marketing/advertising, internal procedures/processes and technology that have helped their businesses succeed over the past year. They were also asked to offer any advice they might have for other business owners.

“Our annual ‘best practices’ survey is a way for us to get a handle on the most recent trends and to spread good ideas among our membership,” said MBPA CEO Jennifer Kluge. “This year’s survey has proved, once again, that business owners across the state view their workers not just as cost centers but also as valuable assets, a significant finding in light of our recent economic challenges,” she continued.

According to Kluge, the survey offers a number of insights about employee relations that can help any business including:

• Working with employees to help them achieve personal, professional and financial goals.
• Removing barriers to work-life balance such as not tracking hours or sick days.
• Being more flexible and conscious of what it takes to get the job done.
• Adding motivational activities such as recognition,
• incentives and surprise “treats.”
• Listening to employee ideas and providing better feedback.
• Expanding and/or cross training employees to avoid hiring additional staff.
• Better communication with employees including the use of electronic tools.
• Proactively hiring good people and not micro-managing them.
• Being honest and staying involved in the business.

Kluge explained that some of the most significant new trends involved the use of technology such as:

• Leveraging the latest electronic tools to centralize data, store documents, process work flow and provide maintenance, saving costs.
• Using web-based tools to share documents, create online forms and offer more products.
• Expanding the use of mobile applications and interactive sessions to better connect workers and projects.
• Using social media applications and search engine optimization for marketing.

“We’ve made the results of the survey available to all of our members knowing that many of them will benefit from the successful ideas that their peers have already tried,” Kluge concluded.

You can read the results of the Member Survey here. Click to download a PDF.