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^» Colliers CRE - e-Survey Case Study

"CQL’s e-Survey was an excellent barometer and guide to where we were positioned in terms of our staff. It is essential that having been accredited previously we retain our IIP recognition and e-Survey will optimize our chances of succeeding."

Jenny Chandler, Head of HR at Colliers CRE

^» Introduction

Colliers CRE is one of the UK's top 10 property companies by turnover and market share. It provides a broad range of real estate consultancy services including agency, valuation, property management, building consultancy and general consultancy to both UK and international clients. The Group is one of the UK's top ten real estate advisory organisations, employing over 900 people. They are a member of Colliers International, a worldwide affiliation of independently owned real estate service businesses, comprising 293 offices in 61 countries.

^» The Challenge

There was an urgency to get the IIP accreditation within a short space of time so it was imperative that the survey could return the information quickly in order to correct any glaring issues. Colliers CRE wanted to achieve the accreditation again as it had done a lot for the business in measuring their success. With such a large workforce it was also essential to entice a broad selection of employees to take part.

Being in a position to monitor the thoughts and opinions of their staff was paramount to a large company such as Colliers CRE. In times of economic uncertainty, the workforce is the backbone and key to the success of any company. It was therefore important to discover how happy, loyal and engaged staff were at every level. The test was also to get as many employees involved as possible, in order to obtain results with a high level of accuracy.

^» The Solution

The answer was to use CQL's e–Survey, as with its quick response and versatility it could be manipulated to get exactly what Colliers wanted to know promptly. In addition to the standard questions, Colliers included a number of specific questions relating directly to the company, demonstrating how easily e–Survey can be adapted to measure whatever a business requires.

As Colliers were also due to undertake a staff survey, e–Survey bridged the two requirements very well and accomplish both the general and IIP elements. To get employees engaged and help improve hte response rate, a competition was run to reward the 100th, 300th and 500th person taking part in the survey with vouchers. With many of the questions being text based it meant that employees didn’t just tick boxes but could expand on the questions they were answering and wholly get across all the points they wanted to make. E–Survey provided a confidential service that could pinpoint the exact attitude of all staff, from senior management to front–line sales.

^» The Result

The survey produced some exceptional results with a great amount of positive comments from all personnel at all levels. It is common for managers or more senior members to be positive about the workplace as they are generally paid more. However very junior levels of staff had encouraging things to say, which is great reflection on the company and work environment as a whole.

The highest percentage was 79% of employees describing the knowledge, skills and behaviours that they needed to lead manage and develop their teams, which is paramount. Other areas of notable success where that 78.8% felt involved and empowered by being in a position to make decisions in the workplace, clearly demonstrating that Colliers staff feel they have a voice. Also feedback from whether employees would recommend Colliers CRE as a great place to work came in at an amazing 77.21%, which is an exceptional result. There were many other high scoring findings including: employees felt trusted (76%), supported in their training (76%) and encouraged to work and share information as a team (78.5%). e–Survey also highlighted diminutive areas for improvement, such as performance measures and continuous improvement.

Dr Cliff Sparrowhawk, CQL’s Director responsible for surveys comments: “In my experience, without a doubt this particular survey has produced some outstanding results. Not only is their workforce engaged, but they retain a lot of intellectual talent due to their excellent graduate programme.”

The invaluable information gathered put Colliers CRE in a great position to achieve renewed IIP accreditation. In September 2008, Colliers CRE had their IIP recognition confirmed, proving what a great gauge e–Survey is.