Employee Surveys as a Strategic Tool: Making Use of Employee Research Data

1. CAUBO June, 2007 Employee Surveys as a Strategic Tool:Making Use of Employee Research Data

2. Content • Current approaches to employee research • Survey analytics to guide action planning • Feedback and action planning with a purpose • Employee research in the context of a University: Challenges and Opportunities

3. Current Approaches to Employee SurveysDesigned to inform organizational decisions Traditional Employee Surveys Mercer’s Survey Approach • Improve employee satisfaction • Focused solely on satisfaction with pay, benefits, job security, working conditions — the “Me” issues • Often used strictly to avoid negative occurrences • Strictly an HR process, with little connection to the business strategy • Priorities determined onlythrough benchmarking —How do we compare? • Improve employee satisfaction and engagement • Focused broadened to include efficiency, leadership, teamwork, customer orientation, and career development — the “We” issues • Used to better leverage people assets to achieve business results • Integrated diagnostic with direct connection to organization strategy • Priorities determined by identifying key drivers of employee satisfaction and engagement

4. Current Approaches to Employee Surveys Engagement lies at the heart of a winning employee experience • Employee engagement is a heightened and sustained emotional and intellectual connection employees have for their job, organization, and co-workers that dramatically increases discretionary effort and significantly improves work performance* • It calls for a partnership between our employees and the organization - a partnership that drives organizational transformation and performance • Extraordinary employee engagement drives performance *Adapted from US Conference Board definition of employee engagement

5. Current Approaches to Employee Surveys What does engagement mean to employees? • Current perspectives on engagement indicate that it includes three major elements: • Cognitive • Affective • Behavioral • The specific manifestation of those elements will vary from organization to organization, reflecting, among other things: • History of the organization • Culture of the organization • Mission of the organization • Employment brand of the organization • Empirical analysis of survey data will reveal the specific make-up of engagement, as influenced by the unique qualities of the work place and people

6. Current Approaches to Employee SurveysMeasuring engagement for your employees Because engagement means something different to different populations within different industries and different organizations, survey design should include a range of possible index elements UOttawa’s Engagement Index Mercer’s Engagement Index • I am proud to work for this organization. • I am willing to go “above and beyond” to help this organization succeed. • I have a strong sense of commitment to this organization. • I would recommend this organization to friends and relatives as a good place to work. • At the present time, I am not seriously considering leaving this organization. • I am proud to work for the University of Ottawa. • I am willing to go beyond the requirements of my assigned duties to help the University succeed. • I have a strong sense of commitment to the success of the University. • I have a strong sense of commitment to the success of my faculty/department/service. • I have a strong sense of commitment to the success of the University’s students.

7. Content • Current approaches to employee research • Survey analytics to guide action planning • Feedback and action planning with a purpose • Employee research in the context of a University: Challenges and Opportunities

8. Survey Analytics to Guide Action PlanningCreating an engagement index • Factor analysis of survey items reveals engagement index • Common components: • Pride in the organization • Commitment to the organization • Willing to go beyond the requirements of the job • Typically find strong factor loadings and high reliabilities (above .80) • Relies on effective survey construction • Method of representing the index in numerical terms depends on desire for ease of replication, ease of interpretation/understanding • More than one engagement index? • Conceptual and empirical considerations

9. Survey Analytics to Guide Action PlanningEngagement driver analysis • Determining the key drivers of engagement informs the organization on how they might deploy resources most efficiently to support and enhance engagement among employees • There are many “lists” of employee engagement drivers, and certain items appear on many lists, such as: • Work that gives a feeling of personal accomplishment • Challenging work opportunities for continuous learning • Career advancement opportunities • Paid fairly given performance and contribution to the organization • Belief that the organization is well-managed • Mercer research indicates that key drivers of engagement vary among organizations and among business units within each organization

10. Survey Analytics to Guide Action PlanningEngagement driver analysis Hypothesized Drivers Key Driver #1 ? Key Driver #2 • Leadership & Direction • Resources to Do the Job • Customer Service • Communication • Training • Professional Development • Immediate Manager • Performance Management • Compensation & Benefits • Teamwork & Collaboration • Ethics & Integrity ? Employee Engagement Key Driver #3 ? ? Key Driver #4 ? Key Driver #5

11. .19 .27 .21 .15 Survey Analytics to Guide Action PlanningEngagement driver analysis (cont’d) 54. Overall, I am confident I will be able to achieve my long-term career objectives at this organization .34 12. I have a clear understanding of our organization’s future direction Employee Engagement 32. My supervisor encourages open, honest two-way communication 10. I am given good opportunities to improve and develop my skills at my organization 13. Employees at my organization are treated fairly, regardless of position or background

12. Survey Analytics to Guide Action PlanningAnalyzing key findings • An overview of the survey results for the organization as a whole • Analysis of key differences across segments • Analysis of important differences among demographic groups (e.g., short- vs. long-tenure employees) • Comparisons to normative data • Identification of key drivers of employee engagement • Discussion around integrating key findings into ongoing human capital strategies

13. Content • Current approaches to employee research • Survey analytics to guide action planning • Feedback and action planning with a purpose • Employee research in the context of a University: Challenges and Opportunities

14. Survey Development Survey Administration Survey Processing Survey Reporting and Analysis Survey Feedback to Employees Feedback and Action Planning Training Action Planing Sessions Integration of Action Plans Action Plan Tracking and Monitoring Action Plan Implementation Feedback and Action PlanningTypical patterns of survey use Always conducted (73%) Sometimes conducted (68%) Occasionally and/or ineffectively conducted (44%) Organizational Improvement

15. Feedback and Action PlanningBuilding acceptance “There must be something wrong with the questionnaire because our scores couldn’t be that low.” “I need to ensure we let everyone know that this action is driven by the survey” Action Denial “What a bunch of complainers. They don’t realize how good they have it here.” Decision Anger “I think some of our scores are low because we simply haven’t communicated all the good things we are doing.” “There are things we can do to change some of this . . ..” Acceptance Negotiation “The scores are low, but what should we expect given the changes we have been going through? I’m surprised they’re not even lower!” Depression “These results are awful. I don’t know how we will survive if our employees feel this way.”

16. Feedback and Action PlanningSurvey follow-up process: P.A.C.E. Priorities Accountabilities Ownership of issues Progress communication Accountability Change Allocate resources Establish change teams Root-cause analysis Recommendations Implementation Evaluation

17. Productivity drivers Feedback and Action PlanningAssessing the context for action planning People Collaborative • Consultative • Directive • Rewards Processes Style of leadership Transformational Mercer’s Change DynamicTM Structure Scale of Type of Decision making change change Incremental Information and knowledge Depth of change (sources of • Enhance action planning and engage leadership by mapping survey results back to the University’s strategic objectives and considering the change dynamics involved energy) Whole • organization Business unit • Personal •

18. Feedback and Action PlanningDepth of change Organization-Wide Local Issue 1 Issue 2 Short-term Issue 4 Issue 3 (local support) Issue 5 Long-term Issue 3

19. Feedback and Action PlanningAccountabilities • Development of Action Plans • Communication of Actions • Development of Budgets and Integration with Business Planning Process • Monitoring of Actions • Employee Updates

20. Issue 1 Champion Issue 2 Champion Issue 3 Champion Feedback and Action Planning Accountabilities Senior Administration Follow-up Champion Data Refinement e.g. focus groups/management review Supported by: Specialists (HR, IT, Comms, etc.) Local Leaders Special Issue Project Teams Cross-functional teams

21. Feedback and Action Planning10 tips for communicating results • Communicate results and the process for next steps as soon as possible. Prompt communication establishes credibility, helps avoid rumors and ensures information is official and accurate • Structure expectations by explaining the time-scale and responsibilities for follow-up • Consider which communication vehicles are available and best • Share the purpose and goals of the survey process • Communicate University overall first, then faculty/service results and local results • Handle the sharing of local results with sensitivity • Present a balanced picture of strengths and concerns • Restrict the number of issues to the ‘vital few’ which have the greatest impact on performance • Demonstrate the links between the survey findings and strategic objectives • Establish clear timetables, responsibilities and deliverables for action planning

22. In-Process Activities Short-term Activities Long-term Activities Feedback and Action PlanningAction planning & implementation What are we doing already? • Actions are currently in place to address the issue. The requirements are: • Review the action and modify as required • Communicate the effectiveness of the action to employees What can we do in the short-term? • Actions can be fully implemented within one year of conducting the survey. The requirements are: • Clarify root causes of problem, develop options • Develop action plan with budget, assigned responsibilities and schedule What are our longer-term goals? • Actions will require one to two years to fully implement. The requirements are: • Clarify root causes of problem, develop options • Develop action plan with budget, assigned responsibilities and schedule

23. Feedback and Action PlanningSurvey feedback sessions to develop insights Survey feedback sessions with employees help leaders become more deeply involved in the survey process by gaining a better understanding of the areas of concern: • Review, present and explain survey results, providing the case for priority areas • Brainstorm – List issues and write down all ideas / reactions • Categorize statements – Draw possible connections between ideas / reactions • Develop ‘core’ statement of problem – Generate through individual attempts, consensus, or start with item wording • Identify actions to address core statements and check for completeness – Who, what, when, where, why, how… • Finalize problem statement – Modify or add to a problem statement if necessary (often incorporating answers to questions above) • Generate recommendations for solutions • Select next issue

24. Feedback and Action PlanningMonitoring and evaluating The process of monitoring and evaluating progress is critical to lead and demonstrate change. • Maintain the momentum on the survey • Make the link between the survey results and improvement initiatives to clearly demonstrate that employee input does make a difference • Share accomplishments: Measure progresses versus the measures of success you previously identified; report progress on a regular basis and give credit for actions taken; communicate on the status of any outstanding issues with employees • Continue to listen to your employees • Invite feedback from employees to gauge progress, either formally (during interviews…) or informally • Discuss actions / progress / challenges with your managers/leaders • Share key learnings • Identify best practices and transfer them to other teams / departments

25. Content • Current approaches to employee research • Survey analytics to guide action planning • Feedback and action planning with a purpose • Employee research in the context of a University: Challenges and Opportunities

26. Challenges and OpportunitiesClearing post-survey hurdles

27. Challenges and OpportunitiesEmployee research in a University setting Challenges • Critical Audience • Expert knowledge of research design, statistics • Culture of skepticism and critique • Participation • Participation rates for University surveys are typically very low (typically 20% - 55%) • Multiple Stakeholders • Administration • Faculty • Support Staff • Timing of process • Public scrutiny • Role spans and perceptions • The role of Dean may be perceived differently by incumbents versus employees • Ownership of action planning

28. Challenges and OpportunitiesEmployee research in a University setting Opportunities • Critical Audience • Expert knowledge of research design, statistics • Culture of skepticism and critique • Connecting with other measures • Trending against NESI scores over time • Linkage analysis with other measures

29. Qualitative Quantitative What employees say as measured through: How employees actually behave as measured through: • Focus groups • Senior leadership and HR interviews • Climate surveys • Exit surveys • HRIS/payroll • Employee turnover • Performance/ productivity • Student ratings Challenges and OpportunitiesMeasuring both what employees “say” and what they “do” Combining both approaches provides a more robust picture