Surveys

  1. Info from Sarah Johnson, Ph.D. with CEB Valtera, a survey research company, on maximizing response rates:

We find that response rates can vary widely across our client organizations. Some companies are thrilled with 62%, while others are disappointed with 90%. There are a number of factors that influence response rates:

·  The ease or difficulty of taking the survey. Surveys sent to the home, or companies that expect their employees to respond on their own time get lower response rates. Long surveys can discourage employees from participating. Also, if they feel that the questions are difficult to understand, or aren’t on issues relevant to them, they may not participate.

·  The number of surveys in the organization. Companies that conduct many surveys on many topics risk survey fatigue. Employees just can’t be bothered any more.

·  A lack of action as a result of the survey, either real or perceived. If your organization has a history of not taking action on the survey, or not sharing results with employees, subsequent surveys will suffer lower response rates. Employees figure there is no point responding. Additionally, if employees feel there is no commitment from leaders to do anything with the survey results employees may elect not to participate.

Sarah Johnson, PhD
Practice Leader, CEB Valtera

(The science of Valtera, the authority of CLC Genesee)

3136 Winton Road South

Rochester, NY 14618

Direct: +1 585.340.2155
E-Mail:

Fax: +1 585.272.8108

______
CEB®
What the Best Companies Do®
www.executiveboard.com

2.  Same as # 2 – on the employee survey they do for Discovery Communication:

a.  Do every 2 years to give you a chance to implement changes in response to results.

b.  Remind staff what changes have been made in response to survey findings

c.  Re-align survey every time – make important changes and allow survey to evolve

d.  They had around 80 items; 50 – 70 is optimal

e.  They shared results in person in groups – feedback and action planning sessions – lots of them!!

f.  They have a response rate around 90%

g.  They make it a competition among teams to get the highest rate; make it fun; be annoying with reminders – in a fun way

h.  Use regression analysis to see which items predict main outcomes

i.  70% positive was noted in the presentation

3.  From Quality Progress (http://asq.org/data/subscriptions/qp/2002/0302/105careerCorner.html)

If your organization fragments measures and regularly deploys surveys without collecting perceptions of quality systems, here are five suggestions:

1. Research who is conducting surveys, when and why. You may find a variety of uncoordinated efforts that annoy employees, lead to few improvements and fragment understanding. Or you may discover some best practices in using feedback--although they may not have been shared organizationwide.

2. Track back to strategy. Review surveys in use to see if they are measuring key strategic objectives. Identify gaps between espoused values and measures.

3. Clearly define what you need to know. Be able to translate criteria and standards into questions that will help identify opportunities for improvement. If feedback will help for an audit, you have a strong practical reason for designing quality issues into a survey.

4. Look for partners. Costs and survey fatigue affect everyone. If other areas still get the data they need, a centralized survey may seem attractive.

5. Engage senior leaders. Surveys that are clearly designed around quality values, translate values into significant measures and provide opportunity for interpretation across functional boundaries facilitate the work of leaders.

4.  From ASQ Government Division Newsletter Spring 2012: “Employee Surveys: Getting Results through Effective Process”

a.  Tool customized for local CA agency – focus areas developed based on meetings with management

b.  Done annually

c.  Scaled items and open-ended questions

d.  5-pt scale with neutral response

e.  Did employee focus groups to drill down in areas of concern to make sure strategies to address concern are based on good understanding of the problem

f.  Met with board and with staff before and after survey

g.  Publicized results with staff

h.  Took action; it’s bad enough if management isn’t aware of problems, but if they know and don’t act, that’s worse

i.  Process: 1 – Planning 2 – Design 3 – Implementation 4 – Analysis and Communication 5 – Action

j.  Emphasize link between survey and actions

k.  Re-survey every 12 to 24 months

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