Blog Archives
Here Today and Gone Tomorrow: Preventing Business Failure
How do you feel about trees? Some people find them to be too much upkeep. They don’t want to rake piles of leaves in the fall or deal with root systems that may damage foundations or sprinkler systems. Others enjoy the shade trees provide and the sound made when the wind rustles their leaves. I am most definitely in the latter group. Unfortunately, I live in a newly developed area that used to be ranch land and there were very few existing trees in the area when development began. My lot had no trees on it until my builder placed … Continue Reading…
Are You Engaged?
You or someone you know goes to work, they get through the day and pick up their check, but they fail to feel connected to their work and to the organization in which they work. Sound familiar? The business diagnosis for this malady is low employee engagement.
In fact, only 31% of employees are engaged in what they do at work, according to a global study in the 2011 Employee Engagement Report.
Of 10,914 workers surveyed worldwide, India had the most engaged employees (37%) while China had the smallest number (17%); 33% of the North American employees surveyed were engaged … Continue Reading…
Please You, Please Me
Most of us like to be liked. We tend to present ourselves in a favorable light; we do not like to appear ill-informed or ill-prepared. So, when we are asked to participate in an online questionnaire, we are eager to please, to provide useful information.
On the other hand, others of us may not trust those gathering the information. We want to know how the information we provide will be used, where and to whom it will be disseminated. We need to trust that our answers will not be attached to us or adversely affect us in any way before … Continue Reading…
Going for the Gold
Every two years athletes from all over the world gather to compete in either the summer or winter Olympic Games. They all come with the same goal in mind—to beat the competition and win a medal, preferably a gold one. As spectators watch the games in person or on television, they are seeing the end result of a process that involved years of preparation. It reminds me of the process that those of us in business experience as we use customer and employee surveys and strive to improve our businesses to achieve “best in class” standing. In this paper I … Continue Reading…
Questionnaire Context, Order, and Meaning
When designing questionnaires, the order of items on the questionnaire creates a context, or meaning, for the entire questionnaire. Items placed early on in the questionnaire effect the way in which people respond to later questions.
“Each item will be interpreted by respondents within the context of the questionnaire, previous questions and the wording of each item,” notes Gregory G. Holyk, University of Illinois at Chicago, in the Encyclopedia of Survey Research Methods.
To ensure positive use of context in questionnaires, it is important that you clearly define the purpose of the questionnaire. Start writing drafts of items … Continue Reading…
The State of Casino Gaming
Employee Engagement: Leading by Example
Surveys: Do You Need an Expert?