WILLIAMS AND LEBSOCK
investigations or proceedings. An inappropriate question in a
job interview is equally inappropriate in a workplace climate
survey.- Keep the survey on point. Resist the temptation to use it as
an opportunity to ask employees more broadly about their ex-
periences, expectations, and future plans. - Make the survey short and unambiguous. It should take
no more than 10 minutes to fi nish. You may use true/false,
multiple choice, or open- ended questions, but in our expe-
rience, the most useful approach is to incorporate a scale.
Develop a series of statements that participants will be asked
to indicate their degree of agreement with, using a scale of 1
(strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). With statements that
are intended to examine the frequency of specifi c behaviors,
use a scale of 1 (very frequently) to 4 (never).
Step 3: Evaluate
A workplace climate survey needs no statistical evaluation beyond
a simple tabulation. You’re just attempting to determine whether
some of your employees believe there are gender- related problems
in your work environment and what those problems are.
Bear in mind that the survey is not an end in itself; it’s a tool to
identify whether you need new policies, practices, and procedures
to eliminate inappropriate behavior and protect your employees
against sexual harassment. Your results may indicate additional
steps are necessary. You might need to assemble focus groups, con-
duct personal interviews, or host roundtable discussions. Since your
goal is to ensure you have a welcoming, supportive, and productive
workplace, the real work begins once you have a clear picture of
your business’s actual climate. Here is a template you can use when
constructing your survey: