Harnessing the Power of Employee Engagement, Part 2.

• Author: Lavigna, Bob
• Position: Management & Careers

Increasing employee engagement is an excellent goal. A jurisdiction's employees are its chief assets, and engaged employees--those who are highly connected to the organization, find personal meaning and pride in their work, and believe that their organizations value them--go beyond the minimum that is expected of them, propelling an organization to excellence. Increased employee engagement doesn't just happen, however; it requires a keen understanding of your organization's dynamics and a good long-term strategy And it all starts with a survey

The first part of this article ("Harnessing the Power of Employee Engagement," Government Finance Review, December 2011) discussed why engagement matters, what engagement means in the public sector, and approaches to measuring engagement. Part two looks at how to assess public-sector employee engagement by conducting a survey, including what questions to ask, and ways to act on the feedback.

CONDUCTING A SURVEY

How should an organization conduct a survey, and what questions should it ask? The first step is to decide if you will do it yourself or hire an outside organization.

It is possible to create a useful survey internally. Surveys like those used by the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board and U.S. Office of Personnel Management have been validated and are accessible because they're in the public domain. An organization can use one of these surveys and also calculate scores or indexes to summarize survey results (by overall results and by work unit or manager, for instance).

Of course, the do-it-yourself option can be a lot of work. It requires communicating clearly about the survey; administering it (typically online); following up to maximize response rates; summarizing, analyzing, and reporting the results; and then acting on them. If an organization doesn't have the horsepower to do all this, or can't commit to these steps, it should probably choose not to undertake a survey on its own.

Contracting with an organization that has employee survey experience and expertise can be an effective option, although it can also be expensive. If you decide to go this route, questions you might want to ask an outside survey group include:

* Do you have public-sector experience?

* Do you have a validated survey tool that includes benchmark data, preferably from the public sector, to use in comparing your results?

* How will you administer the survey, including ensuring a high response rate?

* How will you help me communicate with my staff?

* How will you analyze and report the data? Will you calculate engagement indexes?

* How will you help me act on the data to maintain engagement strengths and shore up weaknesses? What is your methodology, and what is your track record?

(You might also want to consider asking yourself these questions, if you decide to do the survey in-house.)

The question about public-sector experience might seem unnecessary, with all the talk one hears about running government like a business, but keep in mind that the trail of business leaders who entered government and tried to run their agencies like their businesses is littered with figurative corpses. Work with an outside organization that understands the unique...