HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

Student Name

Capella University

HRM-FPX5122 Developing an Effective Workplace

Prof. Name:

Date

Leadership and Culture Survey Development

Power Manufacturing Company (PMC) specializes in producing both cordless and corded power tools. The company operates manufacturing facilities in four U.S. states and two distribution centers. Recently, PMC has experienced an increase in employee turnover at two of its manufacturing plants, rising from the typical 3-4% to 15% and 18%. In response, the company conducted a pay survey, which revealed that compensation at these facilities was competitive with regional pay rates. Despite this, the high turnover persisted, prompting PMC to initiate an employee engagement investigation. During the initial phase, the company identified several issues to explore.

The identified issues included compensation and benefits, peer relationships, plant management, supervisory management, job meaningfulness, and job training. Various methods were considered for investigating each issue, and ultimately, PMC chose to conduct a survey. The company decided to begin its employee engagement investigation by distributing a survey focused on leadership and workplace diversity and inclusivity culture. This essay outlines the process of developing and distributing the survey.

Survey Development

A survey is a collection of items designed to gather information from respondents. Surveys serve multiple purposes, including program evaluation, assessment of changes in attitudes, beliefs, and knowledge, decision-making regarding a product, and understanding people’s perspectives. In PMC’s case, the survey aims to understand employee attitudes and beliefs concerning workplace culture and company leadership.

Creating the questionnaire is a crucial stage in the survey development process (Pew Research Center, n.d.). The process involves multiple stages, each requiring careful attention. The first step in designing a questionnaire is topic identification. PMC has already identified workplace culture and leadership as the topics to be addressed in the survey. Question wording is critical when designing a questionnaire (Pew Research Center, n.d.).

Corporate survey questions typically take two formats: closed or open-ended questions. Closed questions offer a predetermined set of answers for respondents to choose from (Edwards, Thomas, Rosenfeld, & Booth-Kewley, 2012). These questions are popular in organizational surveys because they are quick to complete and cost-effective. However, closed questions can limit employees’ ability to fully express themselves, which may result in the collection of incomplete information (Edwards et al., 2012).

HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

In contrast, open-ended questions allow respondents to express themselves freely. Responses to open-ended questions are often narrative, although some may be answered in numerical form (Edwards et al., 2012). The advantage of open-ended questions is that they enable respondents to answer from their frame of reference, facilitating the discovery of information that might not have surfaced otherwise. However, open-ended questions require more time to respond to and analyze, as respondents do not follow a standardized format (Edwards et al., 2012). Therefore, the current survey uses closed questions with a differential scale.

Additional guidelines were followed when formulating the PMC survey. These guidelines include keeping one idea per question, ensuring that questions are short and straightforward, avoiding ambiguity, and using appropriate language. It is also important to be specific, avoid bias, and refrain from using double negatives (Pew Research Center, n.d.).

Another important aspect of questionnaire development is the order of the questions, which can impact the results. The placement of questions at the beginning of the questionnaire can significantly influence how respondents answer subsequent questions (Pew Research Center, n.d.). It is recommended to start the survey with engaging and simple questions to capture respondents’ attention. Demographic-related questions should be placed at the end, as some respondents may feel unfairly targeted by these questions (Pew Research Center, n.d.). Placing demographic questions at the beginning may discourage respondents from completing the survey. Consistency in the survey format is also crucial to ensure that respondents do not feel like they are answering different questionnaires (Pew Research Center, n.d.).

HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

In addition to questions, scaling is another critical component of a survey, especially in surveys that use closed questions. Scaling is essential in surveys like the current one that measures respondents’ attitudes and beliefs. Different types of scales are used in surveys. One common scale is the Likert scale, which typically ranges from five to seven points and asks respondents to indicate their level of agreement or disagreement with a statement (Morell-Samuels, 2002). However, the Likert scale was not used in developing the PMC survey due to its tendency to produce bias. The Likert scale can lead to social desirability bias, where respondents agree or disagree with statements to be accepted or liked. It can also result in acquiescence bias, where less educated respondents tend to agree with statements (Pew Research Center, n.d.). Consequently, the Likert scale may produce inaccurate and unreliable responses.

The second type of scale is the Semantic Differential scale, which places opposing words describing the issue under study at opposite ends of the scale. Respondents can choose the side that best represents their attitude towards the topic (Brace, 2008). The Semantic Differential scale is preferred over the Likert scale as it reduces the likelihood of incorrect responses and bias. Therefore, the current survey uses a Semantic Differential Scale. Initially, the Semantic Differential scale had seven points, but researchers now commonly use between three and five points (Brace, 2008). The PMC survey was designed with five points, as this number is neither too many to overwhelm respondents nor too few to limit their ability to express themselves accurately.

Employee Engagement Survey

Title:
Please complete the following questionnaire with specific regard to the above inquiry by placing a CROSS in the appropriate box.

1 Never
2
3
4
5 Always

1. My feedback is valued
2. My supervisor is good at communication
3. My supervisor recognizes me and my colleagues
4. I suffer burnout
5. My department offers development and training opportunities

Department Leadership

Demographic Information
Tick where appropriate (×)

1. What is your department?
2. Sales and Marketing
3. Finance
4. Human Resource Department

Title:
Please complete the following questionnaire with specific regard to the above inquiry by placing a CROSS in the appropriate box.

1 Never
2
3
4
5 Always

1. The firm provides equal opportunities for people with disabilities.
2. The firm provides an environment where every employee can express themselves.
3. Racial, ethnic, and gender-based jokes are tolerated in the firm.
4. Employees from different backgrounds relate well within the company.

Inclusion and Workplace Diversity

Demographic Information
Tick where appropriate (×)

1. What is your gender?
2. Male

3. Female

4. What is your ethnic background?

5. Latino
6. White
7. African American
8. Other

Distribution of the Survey

Once the survey questionnaire is developed, the next step is distribution. Before distributing the survey to employees, PMC should conduct a pilot study to identify any issues with the questionnaire (Edwards et al., 2012).

After confirming the accuracy of the questionnaire through the pilot study, the company can proceed with distribution. Various methods are available, such as email distribution or face-to-face interviews. The choice of distribution method depends on factors such as computer literacy, privacy, security, consistency, speed, and cost (Courage & Baxter, 2005).

For PMC, email distribution is the most suitable option. Most employees are computer literate and have email addresses, allowing them to receive, complete, and return the survey via email. Additionally, since PMC is a manufacturing company, employees are likely to be busy and may not have time to complete the questionnaire during a face-to-face interview or work hours. Email distribution provides employees with the flexibility to complete the questionnaire at their convenience. Furthermore, email distribution is efficient, convenient, and cost-effective for distributing the survey to all PMC facilities without the need for physical travel (Reynolds, Woods, & Baker, 2006).

PMC must also decide who will receive and participate in the survey. There are different methods for determining survey respondents, including case studies and census surveys. For this survey, PMC aims to gather feedback from all employees, making a census survey the best option. This approach allows PMC to distribute the questionnaire to all employees at the two plants (Borg & Mastrangelo, 2009). Combined, the Lima and Bowling Green plants have a workforce of 1,100 employees, making it challenging to ensure that all employees receive the survey.

HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

However, it is crucial to ensure that every employee receives the survey. As identified in the employee engagement report, employees feel valued when they are given the opportunity to share their opinions and provide feedback to management. Therefore, PMC can segment employees by department and distribute the surveys through department heads. While it is important for the company to ensure that all employees receive the survey, it is equally important to inform employees that participation is voluntary. PMC can also consider excusing temporary employees and students on field study, as they may not have been with the organization long enough to understand its culture or be fully committed.

References

Borg, I., & Mastrangelo, M. P. (2009). Employee surveys in management: Theories, tools, and practical applications. Hogrefe Publishing.

Brace, I. (2008). Questionnaire design: How to plan, structure, and write survey material for effective market research. Kogan Page Publishers.

Edwards, E. J., Thomas, D. M., Rosenfeld, P., & Booth-Kewley, S. (2012). How to conduct organizational surveys: A step-by-step guide. Sage Publications.

Morell-Samuels, P. (2002). Getting the truth into workplace surveys. Harvard Business Review.
Pew Research Center. (n.d.). Questionnaire design. Retrieved from https://www.pewresearch.org/methods/u-s-survey-research/questionnaire-design/

HRM FPX 5122 Assessment 2 Leadership and Culture Survey Development

Reynolds, A. R., Woods, R., & Baker, D. J. (2006). Handbook of research on electronic surveys and measurements. Idea Group Inc.