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Home >
Employee Survey Programs
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We believe that an effective employee survey program is one that...
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- Asks the "right questions", tied to a client's goals and strategy.
- Involves employees and managers throughout the program.
- Achieves a high participation rate among employees.
- Treats all respondents with respect and honors employee confidentiality.
- Produces results that lead to - and guide - corrective action.
- Identifies areas of strength and opportunities for improvement.
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Components of successful, high-quality survey programs (Click each one to learn more) : |
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Planning |
Questionnaire Design |
Administration |
Analysis and Reporting |
Feedback and Action |
1. Planning
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Typically, we recommend that a client create a Survey Coordinating Committee, a core group with whom we plan and manage the survey program. To ensure a receptive climate for the survey, we work closely with the client in developing a communication program to demonstrate and publicize the organization's commitment to the survey. Through the use of announcements which encourage employee participation in the survey and which guarantee confidentiality, a positive and receptive climate is created. Also, to identify topics of importance for inclusion in the survey, we recommend conducting focus groups with randomly selected staff and interviews with key managers. This greatly increases general acceptance of the survey, and sets the stage for management action on the findings.
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2. Questionnaire Design
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We then design (with client participation) a survey containing the appropriate items for the organization. There is no "fixed" number of items, or set of topics; the survey contains only those items which will produce the information needed by management - e.g., employee loyalty, commitment to quality, supervisory effectiveness, diversity, barriers to productivity, communications. An open-ended question, which allows employees to give their thoughts on any topic of importance to them, is often included.
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3. Administration
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We discuss with the client which method(s) of survey administration would be most appropriate for their particular workforce: Internet, DataPoll (our Touch-Tone system), or paper-and-pencil. Safeguards are built into each method to ensure the confidentiality of the process. Immediately following is an overview description of each method.
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4. Analysis and Reporting
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Completed questionnaires are cleaned and edited before data entry. Results are analyzed and reported according to a plan which we have formulated with the client. Using respondents' demographic data (job level, location, length of service, etc.), we produce graphic reports that display results in an easily understood and usable format. In addition to displaying overall organizational results, internal comparisons and trends, reports typically include the comparison of a client's survey data with a set of relevant "normative data". Norm comparisons provide a unique basis for understanding survey results. By comparing their results to those of other surveys we have conducted, the client is able to identify and prioritize necessary corrective action since actual areas of competitive advantage and disadvantage have been identified. Various comparisons are possible; clients can compare their results to national norms or to the survey results from high-performing companies in our database that are recognized for leadership in quality, profits and customer satisfaction; or to norms from any other grouping(s) of companies of interest.
Results are typically reported in an Executive Briefing to senior management that includes an assessment of the organization's overall strengths and weaknesses, as well as significant differences in results among various organizational entities. In these briefings, key results are highlighted and "red flag" areas that warrant further analysis or intervention are discussed.
Some clients also elect to include in their survey the Labor Climate Index, the results of which are reported at the Briefing. This index is based on extensive analysis of voting patterns in employee organizing efforts, and utilizes seven key survey items to evaluate the labor relations climate of an organization.
In non-union environments the index is used to anticipate which employee groups may be prone to vote for union representation in an election. In union environments, it is used to identify potential problem areas.
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5. Feedback and Action
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With the client, we develop an overall plan for feeding back results and taking follow-up action, based on the survey results. Very often, we prepare a feedback report for distribution to employees. To ensure that the survey is used for directing and managing change in a manner that is understood and accepted by management, we generate Survey Analysis Worksheets. This is an expert system approach to computerized analysis of department or work group-level data. Using this vehicle, managers can quickly and easily identify their areas of strength and areas of opportunity. In addition, we routinely prepare Employee Meeting Reports for use by managers in presentation sessions to employees. These reports display local results as well as differences from company overall, norms, trending data, etc. Also, our Key Driver Analysis identifies those factors that "drive" or determine employee responses to key items.
Since the success of a survey is determined by management's ability to use the survey results effectively, we offer training programs for translating survey results into measurable improvements.
We at the Gelfond Group believe that a survey should be a positive event in an organization; it should create an impact on the work environment, performance and culture. We further believe that the overall quality of a survey program derives both from individual client customization of the survey process and also from ensuring that the survey produces actionable results. It has been our experience that the collaborative approach and process described above are most conducive to the attainment of those goals.
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