Are your employees happy? Prove it through Market Research Online Communities

"In essence, an employee is both a friend and a foe, and a happy employee is a productive employee and a productive employee contributes to the bottom line, and we all know a bottom line is a bottom line," Smit stresses.

"Employees are not robots"

"Employees are not robots, but people with feelings, aspirations and goals."

Smit, who presented these findings at this year's SAMRA conference and won the Best Overall Paper award for it, says by engaging with employees through research, the organisation shows that it cares, and is interested in and ultimately concerned about employees' well-being.

According to Smit, MROCs offer a way to engage, get to the heart of the matter, dialogue, consult and converse, combine or replace - a powerful tool on its own or when used in combination with other methods.

Opportunity to consult employees

"MROCs offer an opportunity for organisations to consult employees on various issues, thereby minimising the risk of the research backfiring on the organisation," she notes. "MROC needs an amount of specific skills - it is hard work and very challenging because sometimes people don't even answer. You have more time to forge friendships, so share candidly."

Smit urges MROC-bound researchers to be flexible and balanced. "Don't expect to push or get control and don't push discussion," she says.

"Because MROC entails ceding control, thus shifting power to the employee and giving employees the opportunity to set agenda and tell researchers what they think about the company, employers are also aware of what might happen if things get out of control, which in one way or another may affect internal brand equity."

Social network feel

Furthermore, the employee MROC contains elements of shared experience, connectedness, empowerment, influence and voice, as well as a social network feel.

"Remember Web 2.0? At the heart of Web 2.0 lies social networks, and especially Facebook. The Web 2.0 revolution has had a significant effect on the manner in which research, both offline and online, is approached. This is referred to Research 2.0, where lies creativity, collaboration, sharing and dialogue."

Citing one case study, Smit demonstrated MROC's power of voice and feedback, quoting one employee as saying: "It is always welcoming to know that what we say in this discussion panel is being looked at and is being noticed. This tool has really helped me, especially at times when you feel like things in this office are getting too much. Thank you, I appreciate this site."

Symbolised

She also quotes one internal researcher of that organisation as saying: "The community to me symbolised how employees 'lived' the culture and the value of that were being communicated to them from the organisation.

"In some instances, what has been communicated was embraced and, in other instances, it was challenged. This provided us with insight that communicating from the top down doesn't always mean that everyone understands what you are trying to convey."

Smit says online surveys are faster, cheaper, more flexible, richer, and remove the interviewer bias and provide unlimited geographical reach, compared to qualitative research, which - despite its in-depth information, individual accounts and unbounded insights - is costly and time-consuming.