Employee Satisfaction Research:
The Polaris Process

Project Methodology:

Qualitative research, in the form of focus groups, or in-depth interviews, is often a good starting point to uncover the issues that need to be explored in employee satisfaction research.

Following the qualitative phase, quantitative research is conducted. Typically, telephone or web-based surveys are administered and all results are handled with the strictest confidentiality. Online completion of surveys is often recommended as it allows Polaris to administer the survey to all employees simultaneously and provides the most expeditious turnaround.

Project Deliverables:

A typical employee satisfaction project includes the following services:

• We start by having a pre-survey strategy session with all project team members to gain a thorough understanding of all objectives and capabilities to support the execution of the survey.
• Survey Design: Working closely with our clients, we create a custom survey tailored to the organization’s objectives. After designing the survey with client input, we add programming instructions and run quality checks prior to programming. Most employee satisfaction surveys run about 15 minutes in length.
• For web surveys, we provide a link to the online survey, as well as a draft email invitation for review and input. The link and invitation to the survey are ultimately sent to all employees, the link allowing employees to connect through the Internet to Polaris’ secure online Internet surveying service.
• Polaris monitors results and, if necessary to improve response rate, we will send a second and third invitation to employees containing the survey link. If this is necessary, we provide a draft invitation for review. With most employee satisfaction projects, we complete interviews with at least 50% of employees.
• Polaris will compile the results into separate toplines (frequency count reports) and cross tabulations. We will clean and edit verbatim responses to open-ended questions and code the responses. Our data analysis includes running statistical tests of differences among the quotas and the key demographic market segments. We will also conduct a driver analysis that will isolate the most important factors contributing to employee satisfaction or dissatisfaction.
• Upon completion of the survey, we will prepare a text report summarizing the key actionable findings of the research in detail and will include our conclusions and recommendations. We also will present our analysis in a formal presentation, if desired.
• Project Timing: Typically, a final report is available within 10 weeks of the agreement to start, depending on scheduling and holidays.

Contact us to learn more about the employee satisfaction research process.