Staff Attitudes:
Shaping workplace change

Understanding your employees has never been more important.

We have developed an expertise in employee research, helping HR departments at a variety of plc, public sector and privately owned companies better understand how their employees think and feel.

Annual staff attitude surveys deliver valuable scores, but can lack real insight and understanding of employee feelings, the 'why' behind the scores, to identify effective steps - communication, actions or behaviour - to be taken to address the issues behind the numbers and enhance employee engagement.

Our 'open listening' approach opens the door to positive change. Open listening enables employees to talk about issues that matter to them.

Our experience

Nurse Retention

Our research delivered powerful insight into NHS Nurses' motivations, drivers of dissatisfactions; what factors keep them going, and which factors push them towards the door marked Exit. We developed and deployed a bespoke ‘Satisfaction trace’ technique, to facilitate discussion and identify key tipping points in their careers.

Samworth Bros. Culture

Research for the UK's leading chilled food manufacturer to investigate the issues behind annual survey engagement scores. Our research, across 8 factory sites, helped to identify a number of worker typologies, and policies and procedures to better engage team members. The project delivered cultural and actionable insight - a number of changes were made to contracted hours, the benefits scheme as well as management structures.

Costa Coffee Rewards

Strategic research to explore disparities between the reality of being a low paid employee and working for a successful high street brand. Our research revealed a need to increase alignment between micro and macro culture and the development of a pertinent staff Rewards and Recognition programme. Further research was dedicated to development of the Feel Good brand, and the scheme's measures, rewards, mechanics and design.

Scout has developed significant experience in this area, conducting numerous projects exploring a variety of different employee issues: engagement, rewards & benefits, retention, Employee Value Proposition, change management, typologies and segmentation, service proposition development, company and employee values alignment, and impact of social/cultural shifts on employee attitudes.

How we do it

We choose the methodology that will get the best results. We think about the people taking part: we design approaches and techniques that are supportive of the participants and project objectives.

Individual Depths

One to one interviews with employees to allow focus on individual experiences in confidential environment, free from the gaze of co-workers or senior staff. Works well across all staffing levels, from trainees, team leads to managers and senior stakeholders.

Focus Groups

Core methodology that provides a dynamic and discursive environment enabling staff to share their experiences and build on each other’s views, and brainstorm solutions. Works best as part of a broader insight programme that includes private channels, whether online of offline.

Online Platform

Bespoke qualitative platforms, with specific tasks ad scripted questions that can be probed by the moderating team. Key benefits of this approach: a confidential channel; broader sample base; flexible and accessible for time-pressed staff who cannot attend a face-to-face interview.

Vlogs

Employee work diaries to capture their close-to-the-moment feelings. Employees asked to record a video diary about their working lives from how they feel getting up to go to work in the morning, hopes and fears for the day, and a review of their working day once they return home.

Clinics

Inclusive open-door sessions to enable any employee, not just those selected for formal interviews, to drop in and have a short, informal conversation. Equal opportunity research to reassure employees of the validity of any insight programme.

Staff Attitudes:
Shaping workplace change