4.10
SURVEYING EMPLOYEES: LEADING
THE SURVEY PROCESS
Inspired by Joe Folkman, John Jones, William Bearley, and Leland Verheyen.Employee surveys provide an important way of gathering information, particularly in large
organizations. This tool looks at managing the overall survey process, from planning and
involving stakeholders, to responding to and acting on survey results. It is important to dis-
tinguish between formal academic survey standards (with, for example, control groups and ele-
gant statistical analysis) and an employee survey process in which the emphasis is on change,
results, and with much more focus on what happens after the survey results are tabulated.
SECTION 4 TOOLS FORDESIGNINGPRODUCTIVEPROCESSES ANDORGANIZATIONS 135
Plan the survey process.❑ Start by defining a clear vision of what you’re trying to do. Have a clear and primary purpose for surveying the
employees (e.g., to discover and delineate a critical issue, or to set the stage for a specific change). Secondary
purposes might include providing feedback to managers, assessing progress or trends, or better understanding
employees. [☛2.3 Directional Statements]
❑ Discuss how data will be collected, who will see it, and how results will be fed back; how management anticipates
responding to results; and who will make those decisions.
❑ Plan to maximize participation, response rates, and follow-ups (news bulletins, inclusion in meetings). Response
rates can vary from 25% to 90%, depending on such factors as organizational climate, survey length, importance of
issues, confidentiality assurances, and fear of reprisals.
❑ Since there is no ideal time to conduct the survey (e.g., people too busy, units are short-staffed, too many other
changes), seek a workable time rather than an ideal time.
❑ Consider surveying all employees versus simply sampling. While appropriate for statistical purposes, sampling is
usually not appropriate for purposes of acceptance, commitment, and buy-in to change.Involve survey stakeholders early and often.❑ Building commitment to survey projects is never completed until the expected changes are “the way we do things
around here.” Be prepared to constantly reposition and resell the survey idea at all levels and all stages.
❑ Know that people expect change, so set realistic expectations about what might happen as a result of the survey
(something specific between “All issues will be resolved” and “Nothing ever happens as a result of these surveys”).
[☛5.1 Change Equation]
❑ Think of yourself as working with survey participants, not survey subjects (of doing something withand forthem,
not tothem). With management, use wefrom the beginning if you want ourresults at the end. Often, the survey
task force owns the survey design, then wonders why management doesn’t own the data and results, much less the
employees’ owning them.
❑ Involve as many potential survey contributors as possible in planning the survey process. Although people are rarely
enthusiastic about the idea of a survey, at least initially, don’t simply assume that they will be negative. [☛4.4
Employee Involvement]
❑ Ask potential survey contributors, up front, for their help in making something meaningful happen.