Best practices for employee surveys - Step 7: Develop the questionnaire

Previous Steps
1. Determine Objectives
2. Select a data collection method
3. Get buy-in from managers
4. Develop the process
5. Create a schedule
6. Select a supplier

Step 7: Develop the questionnaire

In Step 6, you selected a supplier for your survey. Now it is time to draft the questionnaire.

In a typical employee survey process, the research supplier is responsible for creating the first draft of the questionnaire. In your kick-off meeting with the supplier, you should devote ample time to discussing the content of the survey instrument. Here is a recommended plan of attack.

Define the sections

These are the broad subjects under which the questions will be grouped. This list often includes:

Overall company rating
Importance ratings
Satisfaction ratings
Agreement ratings
Open-ended questions

Brainstorm

Once you have identified the subjects, brainstorm specific questions that should be included in each section. Take the subjects one at a time and stick to the principles of brainstorming: write down all suggestions without discussion.

Discuss

Now is the time to review the questions you listed in each session. The discussion should include the following:

Is this question consistent with the objectives of the research (Step 1)?
Is this something that we have to know or is it merely something that would be nice to know?
Are there any additional questions we overlooked in our brainstorming?

At the end of this process, it is likely that you will have more questions than you can reasonably expect employees to answer. If so, the discussion about “nice-to-know” versus “have to know” will enable you to prioritize the questions.

Draft

After this discussion, the supplier should be fully prepared to draft the survey instrument. What follows should be an iterative process between you and the supplier to revise the survey instrument until you are ready to share it with the stakeholders in your company (the next step in this process).

Note: As a rule, I recommend against getting more than one or two of your colleagues involved in the development of the questionnaire. As I said in Step 4:

Too many times I have seen the research “broth” spoiled by too many “cooks” on a cross-functional team. Although it is highly important to get the buy-in of all of these stakeholders, trust me: this is not the time to engage them. Wait until Step 8.

Bottom Line

Questionnaire development is a critical step in the employee survey process. Follow these guidelines and you should complete this important task quickly and effectively.

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