A Good Reputation Travels Far, but a Bad One Even Further

As many people as there are on the planet, there will be that many opinions. They will not always be the same, but they can significantly influence the views of others. Opinions and views of the narrower and broader public are particularly important when it comes to choosing an employer. Who is the best and who is the worst, and how they treat their employees, are some of the main questions for modern job seekers. We spoke with Mirna Mimić, project manager of Pulser at Alma Career Croatia, about the image of companies and improving employee satisfaction.

Sixteen years ago, Pulser was launched, a project aimed at raising awareness among employers about the importance of listening to the opinions, views, and needs of employees. What changes has this project brought to the labor market?

– Employers have become aware of how important it is to hear the voice of their employees and their opinions. Over the years, they have realized that satisfied employees result in greater profitability and that they are the key to the company’s success. By awarding the ‘Best Employer’ award to companies, we help them strengthen their employer branding with the goal of attracting and retaining talented employees. In recent years, we have witnessed an increasing employee turnover, and for this reason, motivation and engagement of employees should be high on the management’s priority list. Companies that conduct such research have found that they have greater employee loyalty compared to their competitors.

Can you tell us more about the project? What does the research process look like, and what can companies gain from this research?

– The Pulser survey quickly and easily measures employee satisfaction, engagement, eNPS, ESI, and key motivational factors. In a 15-minute survey with 78 predetermined questions, we provide clients with deeper insight into the state of the company. We reveal to them the areas they are doing well in, as well as those they need to work on. Such ‘diagnostics’ of the internal state of a company are essential today, especially if employers want to retain and attract the best workers. In other words, this survey is the foundation for setting the company’s action plans. Throughout the entire process, clients have our support, starting from setting up the survey to interpreting the results. The research lasts about two weeks, we conduct it on the total number of employees, and within 24 hours of completing the research, we deliver results presented in three reports. Depending on their wishes and needs, companies can find out what the ‘climate’ is like within the organization, and they can compare their results with those of competitors in the market.

We know that you have invested a lot of effort and work this year into improving the Pulser platform. What innovations will we see in the new edition?

– This year, we launched a new, more functional tool, which was a response to the needs of our clients. The new tool offers additional options for comparing results, the possibility of additional questions, and filtering the basic report. Thanks to the new upgrade, we can now detect problematic areas even more precisely, while not compromising employee anonymity. Additionally, employees can now leave comments on all basic statements, giving them the opportunity to express their opinions on absolutely any topic. Furthermore, due to the increasing number of companies using our research, we have introduced an additional award ‘Enterprise Excellence 1000+’, which is intended for companies with more than 1000 employees.

Are employees in Croatia satisfied with their employers? What is the general state of affairs in this regard?

– Among the companies conducting our research, those from the IT sector still have the highest number of satisfied employees. We are particularly pleased that in recent years, companies from other sectors have recognized the importance of investing in employee satisfaction. Last year, the Alma Career group conducted an international survey on employee satisfaction, revealing the views and perceptions of over 61,000 participants. We asked respondents what they think about their organization and whether they would recommend it to friends and family. Looking at the countries, in Croatia, there is a relatively large number of critics of the current employer (68 percent), 18 percent are passive employees, and only 14 percent are promoters. In comparison, the same results for companies that regularly conduct Pulser in the same year were completely reversed: 52 percent of employees are promoters, 34 percent are passive, and only 14 percent are critics.