Conducting Organizational Surveys

Conducting Organizational Surveys

Fig.: Consulting support for conducting OS

 

Tips for Improving the Execution of OS

 

Requirements: Questionnaires must be provided in the right number, quality, and time. Different target groups at a client company might need different questionnaires regarding content and language while others might have to be given the choice between print and online format. Providing the right configuration can thusly become a rather complex and challenging task.

ISPA Support: We are experienced in performing basic needs analyses for the client companies and we can manage the printing of the required questionnaires together with reliable partners from the ISPA network. Furthermore, we carry out all programming work necessary to provide online OS.

Requirements: The appropriate questionnaires must be distributed among the authorized staff members who are expected to join the company’s OS. Especially in companies with many domestic and foreign subsidiaries, this process should be very carefully organized for print and online OS and be based on reliable HR statistics of the company in question.

ISPA Support: Upon request, we carry out the distribution of print questionnaires by mail within the client company. For online questionnaires, we will send e-mails containing a link to the questionnaire and individualized passwords to the given e-mail accounts. Alternatively, employee-specific links can be provided. In both cases, the participants’ anonymity is guaranteed.

Requirements: Staff members can freely decide whether to fill in the questionnaire or not. Even if they choose to participate, the invested time and the resulting quality of their answers can vary. A number of reasons influence the motivation to participate in OS of the company. This ranges from normative reasons (commitment) and rational reasons (individual benefits from participating are perceived to exceed individual costs) to rather emotional reasons (expressing positive and/or negative feelings regarding working conditions). In many cases, a mix of motives prompts staff members to participate in the OS.

ISPA Support: As early as the planning phase – long before the questionnaires are distributed – the groundwork for encouraging staff members to fill in the questionnaires must be laid. On the basis of previous motivational measures, we recommend to appoint supervisors and members of the workers’ committee as OS promoters. It is also essential for the top management and the HR department to demonstrate their obvious commitment to the forthcoming OS actions. In addition, it is advisable to offer a support system giving information about the OS as well as technical advice shortly before and during the completion period of the questionnaires (e.g. a qualified hotline system available around the clock).

Requirements: After the print questionnaires are completed in the given time period (e.g. 2-3 weeks) they are returned for statistical analysis and evaluation of the raw data. For print surveys this can take place in two authorized ways: direct return from each respondent by individual mailing or indirect return through collecting the questionnaires in a box first and then return them to the final receiver in their entirety. The return of online questionnaires is instant and secured through SSL codes for data protection.

ISPA Support: If the client company entrusts us with data analysis and evaluation, we will organize and carry out the entire return process for both print and online questionnaires.