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.

Author Notes

Allan H. Church is director of organization and management development at PepsiCo in Purchase, New York. He is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University and a distinguished visiting scholar in the College of Business, Technology, and Professional Programs at Benedictine University.
Janine Waclawski is a principal consultant in the Management Consulting Services line of business at Pricewater-houseCoopers, LLP. She is an adjunct professor at Columbia University

Allen I. Kraut

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

Available:*

On Order

Summary

Summary

Author Notes

Table of Contents