How does Key Driver Analysis Work?

1. This organisation inspires me to do the best I can in my job every day
2. Overall, I'm satisfied with my job
3. I take an active interest in what happens in this organisation
4. I feel inspired to go the extra mile to help this organisation succeed
5. I feel a sense of commitment to this organisation
6. Overall, I would recommend this organisation as a great place to work

Regression looks at the answers to all the other questions in the survey and compares those responses to the responses in the Overall Perceptions section. What we look for in particular is which questions are also rated strongly when the Overall Perceptions section is rated strongly (either positively or negatively). What we can then say is that certain questions (i.e. key drivers) are the best predictors of higher scores in the Overall Perceptions section, and are thus more important to people.

Sometimes we quantify the strength of certain key driver questions with ‘Importance Weights’. This is the relative predictive strength of that question or survey section. The higher the number, the better predictor it is.

We do Key Driver Analysis on our large aggregated databases, such as the JRA Best Workplaces database (incorporating the data from all the organisations that participated in our Best Workplaces Survey) or our Local Government database (which includes the data of over 1/3 of all local authorities). We also do Key Driver Analysis for individual clients that want to know what questions in their survey are most strongly related to people's overall perceptions about their organisation as a place to work. Our experience from analysing this data is that there are some questions in the survey that tend to be consistently more important to people than others in almost all organisations. In particular, the following questions tend to receive the largest importance weightings in most of our analyses:

1. My job gives me a sense of personal achievement
2. I feel there is a future for me at this organisation
3. I feel a sense of belonging to this organisation
4. I believe in what this organisation is trying to accomplish
5. This organisation is a fun place to work

Individual organisations may have other questions that are more salient to their employees, but for most organisations these questions will be key to predicting people's overall perceptions about their organisation as a place to work.

The interesting thing about these key driver questions is that they can't be directly targeted with initiatives to improve them. All of the questions in our standard surveys are interlinked - effort placed on improving a score in one area will almost certainly affect scores in other areas. A good example could be celebrating successes and getting people together on a regular basis in a social environment - this can improve scores for questions relating to inter-team communication, co-operation, sense of belonging, and fun.

A Key Driver Analysis done on your own survey results will give you certainty as to which questions are most important to your employees' overall feelings about your organisation as a place to work (and tell you where your money will be best spent to get maximum results!). If your budget doesn't stretch that far, my suggestion would be to look at your lowest rated questions and work on initiatives to address them, but bear in mind that really good initiatives will also work towards improving people's sense of future in your organisation, their sense of belonging to your organisation, and enjoyment of work.

*** Edited 10/13/2011 2:52:56 AM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***