by Rob Altmann

Introduction

Although many U.S. businesses are experiencing increased demands for their products and services, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to maintain an elevated status within their respective industries. For example, companies are being challenged to develop and maintain a competitive workforce. With unemployment rates at an all time low, some employees are taking advantage of the highly favorable and lucrative job market by seeking new positions that allow them to maximize their earning potential and employer‑provided benefits. Other employees are experiencing rapid changes in technology.

As a result, their day‑to‑day activities are constantly fluctuating, making it difficult for them to consistently produce at their highest levels. To remain competitive and maintain a competent workforce, management teams are now focusing their attention on a key component of their company's success — the organizational climate.

Measuring Organizational Climate

At its most basic level, organizational climate refers to employee perceptions of their work environment. Generally, these perceptions are descriptively based rather than value based. For example, the phrase "I have more work to do than I can possibly finish" is a description of a person's workload, while the phrase "I like my job" is a positive evaluation of one's job. Thus, organizational climate is more than simply a summary of employee likes and dislikes.

The assessment of organizational climate typically occurs via an off‑the‑shelf or customized survey containing questions about the work environment. Although administration procedures used when conducting a survey can vary, ideally employees are asked to report to a designated work‑site at a scheduled time to complete the survey, and employee participation is voluntary.

Selecting A Survey

Once a decision is made to conduct an organizational survey, it can be difficult to identify the "right" survey to use. Although not a comprehensive list, the following factors may be helpful in reducing the number of survey choices.

Determine the scope of information included in the survey. As might be imagined, there are a large number of organizational climate areas that exist. Recent research has identified over 460 different types of work environment characteristics that have been measured. Many of these characteristics can be classified into the following major areas: Job, Role, Leader, Organization, and Workgroup. In many companies, there are particular areas where employee feedback would be useful. For example, a company concerned about the impact of recent managerial downsizing may want to ensure that leadership/supervisory components are included in the survey.

Make sure the number of climate areas included is kept to a manageable level. Not only will including too many areas on the survey increase the time and effort needed to administer the survey, but it also can make the interpretation process more difficult. On a related issue, many users of organizational surveys find it useful to add a few customized items to the survey. Although adding items does not always add to the scientific value of a survey, it can go a long way in generating support from the company's management team.

It can be extremely helpful to choose a survey that offers some flexibility in its administration capabilities. For example, some companies may require the ability to administer the assessment using a paper‑and‑pencil format, while others may prefer an Intranet format. Factors such as employee demographics can also be important. Some companies may require both an English and Spanish version of the survey to accommodate all of their employees.

Finally, identify some general pieces of information you would like to see in a report once the survey responses have been analyzed. For example, some companies may have an interest in only

reviewing the average levels of item responses within the company, while others may want to see how the company scored compared to other companies throughout the nation.

In addition, some companies may want to have results broken down department‑by‑department or item‑by‑item, while others may want one set of analyses based on the entire set of employee responses. In any event, the publisher/distributor of an organizational survey should assist a company in selecting an instrument that will meet their specific reporting needs.

Ensuring Results

There are steps that can be taken to help ensure the success of an organizational survey. As discussed previously, taking some time up front to select the "right" organizational survey will be extremely helpful. In addition, steps taken to maximize employee participation, such as allowing employees to complete the survey on company time and ensuring survey confidentiality or anonymity are also important.

Perhaps the most critical step needed to ensure a successful organizational survey is to report back to the employees after the survey has been administered. Unfortunately, failure to provide feedback is often perceived as a violation of a "psychological contract" or implicit agreement between the employee and management. In exchange for devoting the time and effort needed to provide meaningful responses to the survey items, employees expect to see some type of return on their investment. Often, this "return" takes place in the form of a summary report or initiative by the company to address problem areas identified by the survey. It is likely that employees who feel they did not receive a return on their investment (i.e. the time taken to complete the survey) will be less likely to participate in future efforts by managers to improve the workplace. Reluctance can have a detrimental effect on employee moral and ultimately organizational performance.

Bottom‑line Benefits

Companies that conduct organizational climate surveys may experience one or more of the following benefits:

1) Employee Involvement. By administering an organizational survey, employees are given an opportunity to be involved in the company at a different level than is typically defined in their job descriptions. Research has shown that employees who are more involved in the company may also be more satisfied with their job, miss fewer days of work, stay with a company longer, and perform better on the job.

2) Positive Work Outcomes. In the last 30 years, a significant amount of evidence has been accumulated documenting the importance of the work environment in relation to organizational performance. In general, research has shown that factors in the work environment are related to outcomes such as employee motivation, job satisfaction, intentions to quit, job performance, and even organizational productivity. In addition, an emerging area of research has indicated that organizational climate can influence customer perceptions of the quality of goods or services delivered by a company.

3) Communication Forum. In many companies it can be very difficult to communicate with the majority of employees. Recent trends such as organizational restructuring and/or merging of companies has resulted in "flat" organizational responsibility charts, which increases the number of employees for which each manager is accountable. As a result, some managers only have limited amounts of time to talk to employees about day‑to‑day activities. Conversations regarding an employee's work environment can fall to the wayside, and in some instances, never take place. Organizational surveys that occur on a scheduled basis (e.g., annually, biannually, etc.) can be a more efficient way for managers to gather important information.

4) Industry Comparisons. Organizations often look to other companies when determining organizational policies and procedures. It is quite common for companies to "explore the market" or conduct "benchmark" studies when considering issues such as new product development, salary or employee benefit policies, marketing strategies, etc. A common question asked is "How do we compare to others?" One advantage of conducting an organizational survey is that it can provide an opportunity to compare the company's work environment to that of other companies. Many surveys offer a national normative database that can be used to facilitate comparisons across a variety of conditions and industries.

5) Proactive Management. Administering organizational climate surveys allows managers to be much more proactive in managing their employees and work environments. When used on a scheduled basis, organizational surveys can help pinpoint problem areas within the work environment before they grow into a crisis needing immediate attention. Problems that require a reactive posture interrupt the normal workflow, and typically cause delays in providing products or services to customers.

Conclusion

For many companies, the proper implementation of an organizational climate survey can provide valuable information that can be used to guide and increase its success. However, companies that choose to implement a survey must be prepared to respond to both positive and negative results, and work with employees to make improvements in the work environment. Failure to respond to employee feedback can ultimately increase the number of workforce problems experienced within an organization.

Rob Altmann is a research psychologist for NCS and has extensive experience in project management of psychological test development, conducting outcome based research, and providing consultation to clients concerning various employee selection and clinical assessment issues.

He has conducted research in a variety of areas including personnel selection computer administered testing, personnel training, and organizational climate. Altmann has also presented professional papers at various psychological and professional conferences, including the Annual Conference for the society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Annual Conference of the National Food Service Security Council, the Annual Conference of the American Psychological Society, and the Annual Conference of the Midwest Psychological Association.

Altmann received a B.A. with distinction in psychology from Hamline University and an M.A. in social/organizational psychology from Northern Illinois University, where he is currently completing his doctorate. He is a member of the American Psychological Association and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology.