Mercer materials

Survey workstation

Mercer’s new desktop Survey Workstation helps organizations and their managers understand, communicate and take action on employee survey findings.  Analyses and reports are quickly and easily produced -- including a "one-button" push to transfer key charts, graphs and other critical information into PowerPoint slides. 

 View Flash video about Survey Workstation

 Download PDF on screen shots 

Engage your employees

Employee research is a key element of our consulting assignments whether provided as a stand-alone service or providing the basis for designing and delivering targeted organisational effectiveness solutions. Mercer understands how to study the ‘me’ and the ‘we’ issues.

 Download "Engage your Employees"

What's Working: Mercer studies provide insights on employee engagement globally

As part of our commitment to providing clients with research-based solutions, Mercer conducts a series of national studies around the globe, entitled What’s Working™.

These studies allow us to analyze national trends regarding employee perceptions and to identify the key drivers of employee engagement – by country and on a global basis.

The What’s Working research is also used to create scientific norms that help us evaluate our clients’ specific employee survey results. Survey results that are significantly above norm indicate areas of strength, while survey results that are significantly below norm indicate areas of concern. The norm comparisons, combined with Mercer’s key driver analysis, provide a powerful methodology for identifying the vital few issues an organization should focus on when implementing post-survey follow-up actions.

 Download "Engaging employees to drive global business success: Insights from Mercer’s What’s Working™ research"

 Visit Mercer's What's Working site

Using employee surveys to drive business decisions: A look at the next generation of measurement

Although the employee opinion survey has been around for decades, up until recently it has been used primarily to gauge employee satisfaction and “engagement.” Advancements in quantification and measurement now make it possible to enhance this process by linking what employees say to other aspects of the employee experience and to determine the impact on business outcomes.

 Download "Using Employee Surveys to Drive Business Decisions"

Why surveys fail and how to achieve success

Employee surveys are typically designed to enhance organisational communication, measure employee views on a wide range of work-related topics, and both gauge and improve employee engagement. Employee engagement is a particularly important element of employee surveys because of its direct and vital link to organisational success. Unfortunately, when employee surveys are poorly designed and implemented, and where there is no follow-up action — as is the case for many surveys today — they can have the opposite effect to that intended.

 Download "Why Employee Surveys Fail"

Exploring the drivers of employee engagement with Soutwest Airlines

On the surface, a workforce comprised of employees who are content to do their jobs – reliably and with no thought of leaving the organization – may seem like the best of states for a workforce. But in today’s global business environment, it is becoming clear that satisfaction and stability – even loyalty and some degree of commitment – are not enough to forge the crucial link between employee performance and positive business results.

 Download "Exploring the drivers of employee engagement with Southwest Airlines"

Published articles from leading Mercer experts

Measuring Success

This article by Mercer's David Tong (London) was published in the Talent Management Review and is reprinted with permission.

Knowing whether talented employees feel that they are valued and supported by their organisation is an important piece of information, yet few organisations have access to this kind of data. 

 Download "Measuring Success"

The employee survey: More than asking questions

This article by Mercer's Paul Sanchez (New York) was published in the Journal of Business Strategy and is reprinted with permission.

One of the challenges for leaders of large organizations is to learn about – and act upon – the views of the employee base. While companies may be adept at the outward-facing task of listening and responding to clients and customers, they are not always inwardly attuned to the voice of the worker. The resulting disconnect can have a major impact, over time and especially in a global context, on business results.

 Download "The employee survey: More than asking questions"

Why employee surveys fail: 10 stumbling blocks to success

This article by Mercer's Pat Gilbert (London), Paul Sanchez (New York) and David Tong (London) was published on HR.com and is reprinted with permission.

Why do surveys fail? Through the work of Mercer’s Organisation Research team on more than 1,000 survey projects, 10 key areas within the survey process have been identified that consistently stand out as potential stumbling blocks to survey success. By being aware of these pitfalls and adopting best practices to avoid them, organisations can significantly improve the odds of conducting employee research that produces valid, reliable, and useful results, which, in turn, will help build employee engagement.

Download "Why employee surveys fail: 10 stumbling blocks to success"

Saboteurs and Superheroes: Delivering the psychological contract

This article by Pat Gilbert (London) and David Tong (London) was published in CriticalEYE and is reprinted with permission. 

During times of change and uncertainty, employees will increasingly question the equity of the relationship with their employer – the net value of their ‘psychological contract’. What does the organisation expect the employee to contribute and what does the employee expect to receive in return for this contribution?

  Download "Saboteurs and Superheros"