Designing and Using Organizational Surveys: A Seven–Step Process

The survey process is a highly complex and situationally dependent one, in need of careful management. If poorly designed and administered, surveys can create disappointment and even disaster. Little has. been written so far for those responsible for designing and implementing surveys in organizations. These authors have drawn on their extensive consulting experience to develop a concise, pragmatic, seven-step model covering the entire process, from initiation, to final evaluation, to making the results meaningful to the future of the organization. They pay special attention to the political and human sensitivities concerned and show how to overcome the many potential barriers to a successful outcome.

Table of Contents:
Tables, Figures, and Exhibits xiii Foreword xvii Allen I. Kraut Acknowledgments xxi The Authors xxv Introduction 1 What is a Survey? 4 A Brief History of Surveys 8 Contemporary Use of Surveys 10 Surveys in Contemporary Organizational Life 12 The Seven Steps to Effective Organizational Surveys 17 1. Step One: Pooling Resources 27 Setting Clear Strategic Objectives 31 Obtaining Commitment 38 Overcoming Resistance and Apathy 42 Maintaining Confidentiality 43 Deciding What Information to Collect 45 Balancing Priorities 46 Checklist for Step One 49 2. Step Two: Developing a World-Class Survey 51 Using a Survey Design Team 53 Gathering Preliminary Information 55 Identifying Key Issues 56 Discussing Your Findings 58 Drafting the Initial Survey Document 60 Piloting the Survey 84 Checklist for Step Two 87 3. Step Three: Communicating Objectives 89 The CPR Model of Organizational Communication 91 First Contact with Employees 96 Communicating the Survey 100 Sample Survey Introduction 106 Guidelines for Communicating to Employees 107 Recognizing Informal Systems 109 Checklist for Step Three 111 4. Step Four: Administering the Survey 113 Timing of Administration 114 Working with the Project Plan 116 Sample Versus Census 120 Methods of Administration and Data Collection 122 Paper Versus Electronic Methods: A Comparison 137 Response Rates 143 Learning While Doing 146 Checklist for Step Four 147 5. Step Five: Interpreting Results 149 The Role of Statistics 150 The Importance of Timing 154 Data Entry 159 Data Preparation 162 Item-Level Analysis 172 Conceptual-Level Analysis 178 Comparative Analysis 186 Content Analysis of Write-In Comments 193 Checklist for Step Five 199 6. Step Six: Delivering the Findings 201 Understanding the Roll-Out Process 203 Preparing the Survey Report 207 Balancing Expectations and Reality 225 Checklist for Step Six 227 7. Step Seven: Learning into Action 229 Using Surveys to Create Lasting Change 232 Barriers to the Transfer of Ownership 233 A Commitment to Action 239 Four Approaches to Survey Action Planning 241 Five Critical Factors That Determine the Success of Survey Action Planning 258 The Action Planning Process 259 Linking Survey Results to Other Measures of Performance 267 Building Systems for Evaluating Success 271 The Evolving Role of the Survey Practitioner 272 Checklist for Step Seven 276 References 279 Index 287