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The Philosophy of Strategic Organizational Surveys

The purpose of conducting a Strategic Organizational Survey is to help management improve the operation of the organization, to promote good employee relations in the process, and to establish benchmarks for evaluating the progress of both.

The physical and social sciences have long understood that the very process of measuring a phenomenon can change the properties of what we are trying to measure. This is no less true in the measurement of employee attitudes in a Strategic Organizational Survey. A well-executed survey to measure employee attitudes can effect positive change in employee perceptions. On the other hand a poorly executed survey can contribute to unfavorable perceptions about the work place and management.

Conducting a Strategic Organizational Survey can communicate that:

Management is interested in employee contributions to organizational improvement

Employee opinions are valued

Management is telling the employees that they are interested in their well-being

Employees are serious partners in the process of organizational improvement

Management is committed to taking action on issues that are important to employees

However, the opposite may be the outcome if:

Employees see that the questionnaire does not address issues which are relevant to them
Employees perceive the process as being self-serving for management
Third-party leadership sees an opportunity to get the upper hand in future contract negotiations
Employees do not understand that they will receive feedback
Employees feel they have no role in the validation of issues that arise from the survey results
Employees cannot participate in the formulation of actions
They do not have confidence that their confidentiality and anonymity will be protected