Assessing Climate Survey Questions.
You’ve seen them before. The generic questions where you’re asked to give your opinion on your organization, usually at the end of the year. The questions are either “Yes or No” or follow the Likert scale of “5 being Strongly Agree and 1 being Strongly Disagree”.
While those types of questions do have their place in the field of research, it’s not going to generate the type of data that reveals the underlying themes that exist within the organization. To do that, you need open-ended questions that can provide a wider range and depth of knowledge about what really goes on in your workplace.
What are open-ended survey questions?
Open-ended questions are just what they sound like, the person answering can either write or respond verbally without constraint of only “Yes or No”. It’s a simple as creating questions that begin with descriptors like When, How, What, and Where versus the typical Does or Do. You can even begin questions with Explain or Describe to get a better sense of the employee perspective. To generate the type of data that personalizes organizational restructuring, one word answers simply will not suffice. Something else to consider is that the person answering the question may feel pressured to give an inauthentic response for fear of reprisal from leadership.
Example:
Do you enjoy your job?
Because they know that leadership will be informed of the survey results, an employee who wants to keep their job is very likely to respond with yes, even if they do not actually enjoy their job. Although survey respondent identities are kept confidential, employees still tend to believe that leadership will somehow know if they spoke negatively of the organization. This skews the data, creating a false sense of confidence for leadership that employees are content. Something else to consider is the tone of the question. It can seem slightly passive aggressive since it’s coming from the organization itself. The fact that the question starts with “Do” makes it easy to answer without putting much thought into it.
Now take that same question and modify it into an open-ended question:
What do you enjoy most about your job?
You’re still asking about contentedness, but it takes away the feeling of “answering to the organization” and focuses it on the employee’s specific daily experience. Even further, you are likely to get a range of responses from various employees that will provide a much more detailed narrative of the organization’s day-to-day structure.
When should a climate survey be administered?
A climate survey once a year is not nearly as effective as one might think. By the time the following year rolls around, the responses from the previous climate survey have been forgotten, let alone implemented toward any meaningful change. To be more effective, the climate survey must be administered at key intervals throughout the year. The survey does not have to be overly long, it should provide a quick snapshot of key areas with details that can be analyzed and implemented quickly. Depending on what organizational aspect you want to focus on, 5-10 open-ended survey questions is sufficient.
Effective Climate Survey Questions
Where can you find the information necessary to do your job?
When was the last time you were encouraged to contribute to work processes, projects or initiatives?
How long does it typically take to receive clarification or guidance from leadership regarding your job tasks?
How often does leadership make professional developments available to you?
Describe your current career growth opportunities based on your current position.
How often do you feel overwhelmed with tasks at work?
Explain how your role helps the organization reach its goals.
How secure do you feel about your position at work?
Explain the mission or vision of this organization.
When do you feel most proud of the organization?
Looking for more examples? Contact us and we can create questions tailored to your organization’s needs.
-The Penguins