What You Can Expect When You Work with Survey Consultation

You will benefit from the 30+ years of survey experience I earned working for companies large and small, public and private:

• I’ve worked for stellar organizations like Levi Strauss & Co. (where I did my first survey), The Great Place to Work Institute, Saratoga Institute, and Pricewaterhouse/Coopers (where I did my last survey as an employee).
• I’ve designed surveys for small companies, large companies, family-owned companies, non-profits, dot-com ventures, government, mom-and-pop enterprises, and international companies-many of which have household names like Intel, Fujitsu, Prudential, Roche, Fetzer, and Toyota.
• I have done hundreds of surveys for companies in just about every industry there is and in 10 countries.
• I’ve developed a wide-variety of survey instruments <link to FAQs page, survey types section> that most organizations understand and often use.

If you’ve seen Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies to Work for in America” you’re already familiar with some of my work. I was on the team that produced the survey Fortune uses to identify the 100 Best each year.

In a survey nutshell, I know what needs to be done-and what needs to be avoided-when designing, conducting, interpreting and reporting survey results that managers instantly understand and-more importantly-confidently take action on in ways that benefit the employees, the company and the managers themselves.

You will be surprised at how affordable surveys can be when you aren’t paying for big company overhead. Look at this depressing sequence:

1. Big survey companies charge big fees because they have big overhead.
2. Big survey companies produce big binders of data because they charge big fees.
3. Clients of big companies seldom have time to make sense of the binders of data.
4. Clients who can’t understand the data, don’t take any action.
5. The survey fails to produce any action and is therefore way, way too expensive at any price.

I bring large company survey expertise <link to 4 advantages of working with survey consultation> to your small or medium size business affordably because my overhead is minimal (only me), my operation is simple (one computer, one printer), and I know what I’m offering has value because I worked for big survey companies.

Before any survey, we will discuss what issues you face, what you hope to get out of a survey, what work lies ahead, and-this is important-whether or not a survey is the best solution for your problem. The very best survey results are linked to early agreement between you and I about what lies ahead:

• We first determine if a survey is the best solution to the problem or issue under consideration-does it make sense to survey and to survey now?
• We discuss every aspect of the survey process until everyone involved understands what the survey will do, will not do, and when specific steps in the process will take place.
• At this ‘Do We Fit?’ stage, you, your ’survey design team,’ and I will exchange information and assess ideas and suggestions, to make certain a survey is the way to go and Survey Consultation is the best choice.

You will benefit from the process I’ve refined to make it easy for the entire survey design team:

• Survey design team: I will ask that you appoint a team of knowledgeable employees (usually 2-5) to assume responsibility for executing the survey plan. Time demands placed on the survey design team are modest, but crucial for success. Insiders know how to work inside. Therefore, the survey design team will be able to review my suggestions and modify them for maximum effect.
• Background: We discuss your industry, your company, your goals, and answer all your questions about me and the survey process before proceeding.
• Demographics: We determine how best to make sense of the results, drilling down by job classification, department, tenure, or location-whatever has the greatest meaning for your company.
• Questionnaire: Because of their experience in the company, your team provides the survey content.  Because I know questionnaire design, I build the questionnaire out of the knowledge provided by the team.
• Online Testing: After the questionnaire is approved by you, it goes online. The design team will take the online survey so we can identify any glitches or necessary modification before it goes live.
• Communications: Announcements, briefings and reminders will keep people informed of progress. I provide field-tested templates adapted to the style and words of the executive sponsor.
• Data Preview: We will review the results together from an overview document I produce for the design team. This step is part science and a lot of fun-it’s always exciting to see the results for the first time.
• Reporting: Based in part on the team’s response to the results, I produce a short written report <link to Sample Analysis & Report> designed to emphasize what the company employees want addressed.
• Presenting: We produce a formal presentation so the design team can deliver the survey results, conclusions, and recommendations to your executives.

I need to say more about reporting…

After years of presenting big binders of data to managers, I began to notice how they navigated the hundreds of pages. They would turn page after before, glassy-eyed, they would end up on the “Executive Summary” page. There, they were able to make sense of what employees were expressing. They never looked further. I thought to myself, “Gee, we really only need to produce the Executive Summary for them to take action. The details are of no use or interest to managers.” Consequently, I now produce the best Executive Summary Report <link to Sample Analysis & Report> I can-and no one has ever requested more data.  Never.

A short, easy-to-read, easy-to-understand, and easy-to-act-upon report <link to four elements of a first-class survey report> excites people because it is instantly clear what needs changing, who in the organization will most benefit from changes, and who you can leave alone.

Good work depends on values. I’ve been doing this work for a long time and I know what qualities survey projects need to succeed. We will produce good work together if your company:

• Values the knowledge and experience of its employees;
• Understands that employees understand much more than they talk about;
• Knows if it asked, employees will answer honestly;
• Is committed to take action on what employees reveal.

Call 503-241-0595 today to start learning:

• How to find hidden trouble spots lurking in your organization and what you can do to address them before they cause real problems
• Why it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to gather the evidence you need to make savvy business decisions
• What consultants, human resources staff, and project managers can do to super-charge their next initiative;
• How to reduce staff turnover, fire up line managers, identify your best and brightest for leadership, and add to your bottom line <link to 4 ways to profit from a well-designed employee survey>

Your initial consultation is free.