case
CHAPTER 7
Data Gathering
Promotion, Inc., is a privately held company in the Midwest that serves the direct mail industry with printing and mailing services. A junior organization development consultant agreed to conduct an employee survey, specifically with the Mail Division, to determine why turnover rates were much higher than in other divisions within the company. An internal committee developed
16 possible causes of the turnover based on interviews with 20 employees.
The 102-item questionnaire (which included a separate page of demographic data as well) was organized into 11 categories, and the survey was pilot tested with a small group of employees and revised based on their feedback.
In the end, all 480 employees in the division were sent a survey in order to ensure that no employee was omitted and that employees could remain anonymous. The results of the survey held negative feedback for management about roles between departments, work policies, and employee compensation. Results of the survey were presented to management in five separate sessions, beginning with top management and continuing with the internal committee and Mail Division managers. Results took many by surprise, and some managers walked out of the feedback sessions. Managers were unwilling to take action based on the feedback and decided to shelve the reports.
In the end, employees were provided only a brief and highly edited version of the feedback report almost 2 months after the survey was administered
(Swanson & Zuber, 1996).
• What do you think was done well in the administration of the survey in this case? What do you think should have been done differently?
• Was a survey a good choice for a data gathering method in this case? Why or why not?
117
118
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
W
ith a formal and psychological contract successfully established, a data gathering strategy is developed to further explore the causes and consequences of the problem
Data Gathering
Promotion, Inc., is a privately held company in the Midwest that serves the direct mail industry with printing and mailing services. A junior organization development consultant agreed to conduct an employee survey, specifically with the Mail Division, to determine why turnover rates were much higher than in other divisions within the company. An internal committee developed
16 possible causes of the turnover based on interviews with 20 employees.
The 102-item questionnaire (which included a separate page of demographic data as well) was organized into 11 categories, and the survey was pilot tested with a small group of employees and revised based on their feedback.
In the end, all 480 employees in the division were sent a survey in order to ensure that no employee was omitted and that employees could remain anonymous. The results of the survey held negative feedback for management about roles between departments, work policies, and employee compensation. Results of the survey were presented to management in five separate sessions, beginning with top management and continuing with the internal committee and Mail Division managers. Results took many by surprise, and some managers walked out of the feedback sessions. Managers were unwilling to take action based on the feedback and decided to shelve the reports.
In the end, employees were provided only a brief and highly edited version of the feedback report almost 2 months after the survey was administered
(Swanson & Zuber, 1996).
• What do you think was done well in the administration of the survey in this case? What do you think should have been done differently?
• Was a survey a good choice for a data gathering method in this case? Why or why not?
117
118
ORGANIZATION DEVELOPMENT
W
ith a formal and psychological contract successfully established, a data gathering strategy is developed to further explore the causes and consequences of the problem