FAQs
|
|
|
This FAQ is meant to serve as a resource tool in responding to questions about Employee and Organizational Surveys. Our responses are based on our experiences over a number of years taking into account relevant survey research, internal and outside expert opinions, best practices and ethical principles for psychologists. We chose to err on the side of too much information rather than too little so some of the same responses may be addressed under different questions. We did this primarily for those that may be looking for a specific response to a specific question only and don't have time to read the entire document.
A complete listing of the questions is provided below. Just click on any question of interest to see our response.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Introduction, Purpose, Objectives
|
|
As a tool, how do employee surveys fit in the perspective of organizational development?
|
|
|
Traditionally, employee surveys have been used in a variety of ways in organizational development initiatives. There are times when these surveys are used as an upfront tool in prioritizing important issues that need most improvement. Other times, surveys can be more specialized to assess or address specific areas of interest. As well, they can be used before, during and after change initiatives to track perceptions over time.
| Common Employee Survey objectives include the following: |  | Measure current levels of employee commitment and engagement | | | Understand the drivers of engagement | | | Identify strengths | | | Prioritize issues for improvement | | | Demonstrate that management values employee input and seeks to partner with employees to achieve a mutually satisfying work environment | | | Maintain a mechanism for bottom-up communication between employees and management | | | Provide actionable information to drive positive change | | | Energize managers around the organizational improvement and change process | | | Establish a baseline for measuring changes/trends over time | | | Proactively ensure employees' needs are met to help ensure customers needs can be met | | | Link to customer results (as appropriate) to help impact customer satisfaction and bottom line profitability |
Introduction, Purpose, Objectives
|
|
|
|
Why do we use the term “Employee Survey” or “Organizational Survey” as opposed to “Employee Opinion Survey?”
|
|
|
It's not simply about getting opinions (and everyone's got one). Traditional Employee Opinion Surveys were basically thought to be a "happiness index." Today's employee surveys are more diagnostic and strategic in nature. Current employee and organizational surveys are more about learning what's important to employees and their engagement and commitment, especially as that relates to perceptions of organizational effectiveness and what organizations can do to improve their overall performance. Employee and organizational surveys should be viewed as management tools that allow for information exchange throughout all levels of the organization.
Introduction, Purpose, Objectives
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Item/Survey Development
|
|
Should demographic variables be included in a survey? How many should be included?
|
|
|
Demographic variables allow the data to be split by various demographic variables for monitoring such perceptions as male vs. female; across tenure levels; by ethnicity, etc. The number included on a survey should be as few as necessary as employees are always concerned with anonymity. We recommend no more than 5-7 demographic variables. The most common demographic variables include: gender, age, tenure, job responsibilities, and location. If there is a specific demographic that is important to the client, such as location, that can be included as well. We believe demographic questions should be optional, that is, employees should be given a "Choose not to respond" option. We do have standard Demographic questions (age, tenure, ethnicity, etc.) and response options to enable comparisons with normative data as appropriate. One important note about the demographics: Due to the extreme sensitivity around anonymity, we strongly recommend that the analyses on demographics be done only at the organization or large division levels. We do not recommend reporting any results for any demographic group with less than 10 respondents within a Division or sub-group.
Item/Survey Development
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Item/Survey Development: Scaling
|
|
Should the survey response scale have a “neutral” or middle response option? Shouldn’t we force employees to take a stand – either negative or positive?
|
|
|
While some may feel that it’s letting people off the hook, we believe it is important to acknowledge that a “neutral” response is a real response. Perceptions and experiences are not black and white. While most employees are eager and willing to express either a negative or positive view on the majority of items, occasionally they sincerely want to offer a neutral response. This choice should be respected. If employees are forced to respond either negatively or positively when they have a “neutral” response, it can cause them to doubt the results of the survey in general.
Item/Survey Development: Scaling
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Administration: General
|
|
For survey administration, is it best to include all employees or simply use a sampling approach?
|
|
|
While there are exceptions, depending on the type or purpose of the survey, Burke advocates a census approach. Even though most companies could use a sampling approach to obtain a meaningful representation of employees, a key part of the employee survey process is giving employees a voice. Rarely do employees want other employees to speak for them; they want to speak for themselves. Just as most individuals expect to have the right to vote, even if they don’t exercise that right, to not give them the option would not be acceptable. While additional costs are involved, companies exhibiting best practices for their employee surveys are willing to invest in each and every employee. Supplementing annual surveys with short, pulse-type monitoring surveys may be of value at times, and a sampling approach may make sense for these types of surveys, but we would strongly recommend against sampling for employee engagement surveys.
Administration: General
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Participation/Response Rate
|
|
What is a good response rate?
|
|
|
A good target for a first survey is 70%, and then aim to improve upward from there. Anything in the 80's is great and occasionally we get a 90%, which is stellar. Below 60% is a concern and in those cases, we begin to look for issues that could have impacted participation. Overall, our average is mid to high 70's.
Typically, response rate increases over time as employees see the surveys are confidential and follow up actions are taken. When the results are not used effectively, rates may decline. Declining response rates should be viewed as a red flag and steps should be taken to understand why that is happening.
Participation/Response Rate
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Results/Reports
|
|
Who should get survey reports?
|
|
|
The results need to go to those who will be responsible for implementing positive change. We believe that the best way to get buy-in to the results is to make the results meaningful to the managers. We believe in driving the results down through the organization.
It is good for managers who have at least 8-10 respondents to get their own results as this builds buy-in and makes the results personally relevant. If the results are only presented at the higher levels, lower level managers will not own the results and there is little opportunity for identifying and addressing local issues.
We also advocate identifying/defining the “Owners” of the items/topics during the survey development so this information can also be included in the results report.
Results/Reports
|
|
|
|
Why not less than 8-10?
|
|
|
Small group sizes for reports may jeopardize anonymity and individual participants want anonymity. Managers, by human nature, will make assumptions as to who responded in which way (although they may not be right). Also, the results are likely to fluctuate widely over time as one or two people changing their responses could shift the percent favorable/unfavorable by 10-20%. For that reason, trending may not be a viable option when the response size within a group is extremely small.
Results/Reports
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Normative Data
|
|
What are some of the strong points to using comparative normative data? What are some of the limitations?
|
|
|
Normative data provides another point of comparison in evaluating survey results. It should not be viewed as more important or even equally important, but it can be of value. Normative data provides a look at where the organization is performing above or below other organizations.
One major limitation is direct comparability. Typically the ideal comparison group doesn’t exist, i.e., same industry, same type of organization, same size, same geographic regions, etc. Even when the ideal comparison group can be defined, it typically is simply not accessible. While survey consulting firms may have clients across industries, matching organizations within industry may still yield very different comparison groups. It is best to match for both industry and position/jobs, as well as most importantly, doing same point in time comparisons.
Normative Data
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Employee Comments
|
|
Do you recommend open-end comments? What types of open-end questions do you recommend?
|
|
|
Open end comments help to ensure nothing of great importance is missed. It’s best if the open ended question is constructively positioned, such as, “What one thing would you suggest to improve XXX company?” Comments provide an outlet for venting, and they also provide powerful examples and suggestions. They provide additional information for understanding the quantitative results, and provide a good start for using the results.
Employee Comments
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
Use of Results
|
|
How can the results of the survey be used effectively?
|
|
|
It is extremely important that the results be used. If the results are not used, then the entire process was a waste, and could even be detrimental as it will diminish trust and cause employees to lose faith in management’s intentions. We can supply additional supporting tools, but we suggest that a follow up strategy is important to discuss with the client. In most cases, the next step is to strategize with Burke’s survey team to discuss next steps. Often, the first next step is follow up focus groups to more fully understand the results, clarify any questions, and seek examples for making improvements.
Use of Results
|
|
|
|
Return to top of FAQs.
|
If you have any additional questions, we encourage you to submit them to Jaci Jarrett Masztal at jmasztal@burke.com so they can be added to this site.
|
