Focus Groups

Many executives believe they know exactly what their employees need to motivate them to higher levels of performance in the workplace. Consequently, they will spend a significant amount of money to provide bonuses, Christmas gifts and company outings. However, we should be asking ourselves, “Do the employees really value the expenditures the company is making on their behalf?’ For example, do your employees dread the annual Christmas party where John drinks too much and says things that will offend others at the party? How about Mary who tries to use the party as their personal way to find a date for the holidays? Sadly, we all can relate to company outings and bonuses that fall short of our expectations.

What you value as a leader of the company may not be the same as your employees. Therefore, many companies are gravitating toward providing more time off to motivate their employees. Other companies have been looking at providing more and better benefits. Both of these solutions can be quite expensive to the bottom line of a company, without really knowing if they make an impact.

What do we do then? Obviously, we want to spend our budget on items that will truly be viewed as valuable in the eyes of our employees. How do we decide? Do we ask the Human Resources department? That would probably get us closer to the target.
There is an approach to address this issue that will provide you with the right solution. Create a focus group to come up with a solution. You might be thinking focus groups are a waste of time. However, I would argue that with the right facilitator managing the process, amazing results will come out of the process. Many focus groups are led by individuals who already work for the company and may not be trusted by your employees. Without trust, you will generate the wrong solution. If you bring in an independent consultant with no ties to the company and who does not know the names of the employees participating in the focus group, you will have a greater chance of success.
Some general guidelines when creating a focus group are as follows:
  • The size of the focus group should be 6-10 people.
  • Try to avoid having the executive’s favorite employees in the meeting. They will be viewed as spies during the process and eliminate free discussion.
  • Have a defined time for the meeting. Usually, a meeting will last anywhere from one to two hours on the high end.
  • Create a cross functional group to participate. Vary the age, race, and sex, etc. with the participants.
  • Final product should be succinct; the action items should not overwhelm the executive team. Usually, 1-3 action items will suffice.
  • Objectives of the focus group must be clearly defined.
Having the right facilitator (like I mentioned earlier) is very critical. I would recommend hiring someone from outside the company to perform the task. This person should have the following skills:
  • Competent facilitator skills. Helpful if they were actually trained and certified as a facilitator.
  • Ability to manage the employees who try to dominate the meeting.
  • Ability to solicit information from the employee who is not participating in the meeting initially.
  • Have enthusiasm for the subject and the results that will be generated.
  • Will not interject their own personal bias during the discussion.
  • Having the skill to clarify and confirm exactly what the employee is saying.
  • Manage the differences that could occur between employees in the focus group.
As you can see from the above list that these skills do not happen from attending a one-day class on being a facilitator. A good facilitator usually requires a great deal of experience to truly be proficient in this process.

Once the focus group is over, the executive team will have a focused approach on how to allocate their budget dollars to further motivate their employees. They will know what they’re doing right, what they are doing wrong and what new motivational tools they will need to implement in the future. In addition, implementing the focus group’s recommendations will increase the positive perception by employees toward the executive team. They will believe that the company listens and cares about their employees which creates a very strong team.

In conclusion, the focus group will help the company distribute rewards that will motivate your employees, while efficiently utilizing your budget. No more guessing what makes a difference; with a focus group, you know exactly how to move your bottom line and provide better benefits above the competition to maintain strong relationships with your greatest capital—your employees.