Pre-survey communication

• Why you are running a workplace survey
• Confidentiality assurances. The survey is being conducted by the independent workplace survey company JRA (NZ) Ltd, and individual responses can not be viewed by management - all responses are aggregated. While this information is enough for most organisations and employees, further detailed information about confidentiality can be found at www.jra.co.nz/forum/topic36/thread67.aspx.
• What you intend to do with the results. Some words that indicate that your organisation is committed to act on the survey results, and that staff will get feedback on the results of the survey are normally fine.
• The survey launch date and closing date. We recommend for a survey to be open for a period of between 1 and 3 weeks, depending on the organisation size and whether hard copies need to be distributed and collected. You are in control of when you launch and close your survey, but most organisations leave their survey open for 2 weeks. You will need to coordinate with JRA to make the close of your survey official. Please keep in touch with JRA about your plans!

In addition, we would strongly recommend that your survey communications have the clear support of your Senior Management Team. In practice, the best way to do this is have your communications go out in your CEO's name and from your CEO's email address. Queries about the survey can be directed to someone else if you like, but do not underestimate the value of displaying this sort of high-level commitment.

The purpose of this topic is to act as a sort of knowledge base, where JRA will post examples of how different organisations have communicated their upcoming survey, including the above information.

*** Edited 3/19/2009 10:49:15 PM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***

Hello Everyone!

We’d like to measure how we’re going toward becoming an employer of choice, after X years in business, by once again taking part in the JRA Best Workplaces Survey.

As a direct result of last year’s survey results, we conducted a more in-depth study amongst you all about the benefits the company provides, and in the next month the Executive Team will be evaluating a Talent Team proposal regarding potential improvements to our benefit options. Also, communication was highlighted as a major concern by our employees, and as a direct result of this finding we organised the Performance Communication & Customer Service training last year, which in turn spurred us on to invest substantially in the new phone system.

We are keen for keen for [our company] to take part in this year's survey, and think that the results, and especially comparison with last year, will be very interesting for us all and useful for the Executive Team in particular in deciding what’s working now, and what we need to do to get closer in the future to our goal of being the employer of choice. Last year, x% of our employees took the time to complete the survey, and we’d love to improve on that this year.

I'd be very grateful if you could take 10 minutes to participate in the survey…

*** Edited 3/5/2009 8:00:11 PM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***

It’s time for [our company] to participate again in the JRA Best Workplaces Survey!

Everyone who completes an entry gets a Kit Kat – but that is not the only reason to bother completing the 10-minute questionnaire. The survey is an unparalleled opportunity to let your managers know what you want to change about your workplace and how; what you don’t like and what you do. Your responses will be anonymous.

Along with hundreds of other New Zealand businesses, we took part in the survey last year, and responses fed straight back into what we did. The business scored poorly for internal communication; respondents felt management did not care about staff wellbeing, or reward or acknowledge outstanding contributions.

As a result, the pay system was overhauled, the 'Trailblazers' awards were opened for all staff to nominate team mates, our intranet project went from the drawing board to reality, and the Employee Assistance Programme and flu injections were offered nationwide. These were small starts in changing, challenging times. [Our company] has never been more reliant on feedback from within the organisation on the right future directions to take.

The survey opens on Monday 20 July and closes on Thursday 30 July. We will keep you posted on how we're doing in the participation stakes, and we'll be posting response rates on the noticeboard in the cafe so we can beat the competition!

Your managers have the questionnaires – and the Kit Kats. Every completed questionnaire also brings you closer to morning tea shout for the department that has the highest response rate.

*** Edited 3/5/2009 8:01:21 PM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***

[Our company] is committed to building the culture and capability of its people. The People and Culture Team are continuing to introduce initiatives to support this and affirm [our company] as a best employer in our industry. As part of these initiatives, we would like to introduce our new [XYZ Company] Workplace Survey. The purpose of this exciting project is to gain insight into what you think makes for a "great place to work."

The survey consists of 60 questions structured around 10 categories…[summary of categories in the survey]…The survey is conducted online with the results being analysed by New Zealand's leading provider of workplace survey and analysis, JRA (NZ) Ltd.

What will this survey do for [our company]?

Results from this survey will provide:

• A "health check" on levels of satisfaction and engagement in working for [our company]
• It will identify key issues for us to focus on and provide clear direction on how we can improve
• We can benchmark ourselves against other New Zealand organisations, including other employers within our industry sector.

Do I have to complete the survey?

No, it is not compulsory to complete the survey, however your participation will give us a better understanding of what we can do to make [our company] the best employer in our industry.

Will the results be communicated, and when can we expect these?

The results will be communicated to you through your Team leader once they have been collated.

How does this fit with our global survey – does this replace it?

No, the two surveys will complement each other. This survey will give us the ability to benchmark ourselves externally with other New Zealand organisations, whereas our global survey allows us to benchmark against [our company] offices worldwide.

Please complete the survey by 30 July…

*** Edited 3/5/2009 8:03:20 PM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***

Change has always been a thread running through our business – it's what we do for our customers and what we have to do for ourselves to stay competitive. Now we are providing you with an opportunity to have your say in the direction [our company] takes next. Next week we will be conducting an Workplace Climate Survey, run by workplace survey specialists JRA (NZ) Ltd, and we would appreciate your participation.

The survey is a very effective form of upward communication to management about what you feel is important to [our company], and areas you feel require attention. Participating is worthwhile. Your views and opinions are important, they are examined closely, and things will change as a result.

The survey consists of 60 rating scale questions, and should take 10-15 minutes to complete. All of the information you provide will remain strictly confidential - no one at [our company] will see the completed questionnaires. Your answers will be combined with those of all other staff and used only for statistical purposes. The results of the survey will be communicated back to you over the next couple of months).

You will receive an email with a link to the online survey next week. If you do not have an email address or would prefer to complete a paper-based survey form, please get in touch with your Team Leader.

The survey will run from 7 July to 18 July…

*** Edited 3/5/2009 8:02:08 PM UTC by Leighton (JRA)***