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HANDBOOK FOR

CONDUCTING

SURVEYS
A N E S SE N T I A L R E S OU RC E FOR TO TA L R E WA R D S PROF E S SIONA L S

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Ken Cardinal, CCP, CBP, and Beth Florin

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HANDBOOK FOR

CONDUCTING

SURVEYS
A N E S SE N T I A L R E S OU RC E FOR TO TA L R E WA R D S PROF E S SIONA L S

COMPENSATION & BENEFITS

Ken Cardinal, CCP, CBP, and Beth Florin

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About WorldatWork

WorldatWork (www.worldatwork.org) is a global human resources association focused on compensation, benefits, work-life and integrated total rewards to attract, motivate and retain a talented workforce. Founded in 1955, WorldatWork provides a network of more than 30,000 members and professionals in 75countries with training, certification, research, conferences and community. It has offices in Scottsdale, Arizona, and Washington, D.C.

Any laws, regulations or other legal requirements noted in this publication are, to the best of the publishers knowledge, accurate and current as of this books publishing date. WorldatWork is providing this information with the understanding that WorldatWork is not engaged, directly or by implication, in rendering legal, accounting or other related professional services. You are urged to consult with an attorney, accountant or other qualified professional concerning your own specific situation and any questions that you may have related to that. This book is published by WorldatWork Press. The interpretations, conclusions and recommendations in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of WorldatWork. No portion of this publication may be reproduced in any form without express written permission from WorldatWork.

2012 WorldatWork Press ISBN: 978-1-57963-335-6 ISBN (ebook): 978-1-57963-336-3 Editor: Andrea Ozias Cover Design: Hanna Norris Creative Services Manager: Rebecca Williams

www.worldatwork.org

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION PART I: PLANNING YOUR SURVEY
5 9

11 Chapter 1 Getting Started: Planning the Survey Process 11 27 Chapter 2 Key Design Issues 27 43 Chapter 3 Program-Focused Surveys 43

PART II: IMPLEMENTING THE SURVEY

55

57 Chapter 4 Building Relationships withParticipants 57 65 Chapter 5 Selecting a Vendor 65 75 Chapter 6 Technology 75

PART III: ENSURING LONG-TERM SUCCESS

83

85 Chapter 7 Ensuring the Quality of Your Survey 85 93 Chapter 8 Continuous Improvement 93 99 Chapter 9 Antitrust Considerations 99 105 C hapter 10 Conclusion 105

APPENDIX
Sample Compensation, Benefits or HRPractices Survey Bylaws 107 109

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

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4 Handbook for Conducting Compensation & Benefits Surveys

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5

INTRODUCTION

Your organization is experiencing higher than normal turnover and you want to know why. You want to attract the top middle managers in your industry and you need to know how they are compensated in order to compete. You want to know if your salespeople are motivated by their current compensation plan. hese are just a few of the possible reasons why an organization may want to sponsor or run a compensation and benefits survey. The broader goal is most likely very straightforward and shared by other organizations: You want to sponsor or run a survey because you want answers to questions that can help you make the right decisions decisions that will help you attract, retain and motivate the kind of top-tier talent that will optimize your organizations success. At first thought, collecting competitive market data for an organization may seem relatively straightforward. After all, if you want to know how competitive organizations structure their pay and benefits packages, its as easy as asking, right? Add in easy-to-use Internet software and websites that promise to have your survey up, running and sent to your audience, as well as have information collected and tabulated with just a few mouse clicks, and its no wonder that the survey process is taken for granted in many organizations. Unfortunately, when the survey process is simplified to this degree, its common to find that time and money have been spent on surveys that yield irrelevant information that fails to answer the important questions, cant be applied to decisions or doesnt help solve the problems youre facing.

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6 Handbook for Conducting Compensation & Benefits Surveys

Why This Book? As professionals with more than 40 years combined experience in managing broad-based participant surveys, club surveys, hot-topic surveys, Internet-based surveys and quick-polling surveys both domestically and internationally, the authors experiences with both successes and failures encouraged them to develop a comprehensive resource that addresses the survey development and management process in depth. The goal is to ensure that the survey goals of total rewards practitioners are simply and effectively met. This Handbook for Conducting Compensation and Benefits Surveys is an in-depth resource for compensation, benefits and HR professionals, consultants and other users of survey information who have run surveys that havent met their needs. Its also for those professionals who have yet to run a survey but want to take the time and effort to get it right the first time. In addition to helping readers run an effective survey, this book will help ensure that U.S. readers dont run afoul of the law by guiding them toward what they need to know to ensure that the survey process whether its a simple, one-question survey or a more complex undertaking does not violate antitrust laws. Three Areas Key to Survey Success To make the survey process foolproof, the authors identify and explore the three areas integral to survey success. Each section of this book is devoted to one key step, allowing the reader to gain a comprehensive understanding before moving onto the next step.
Part One: Planning Your Survey This section shows readers how to:

Plan and strategize the survey process. Go step-by-step through the development of the survey plan to ensure the information you gather is valuable and relevant. From determining the objective of the survey to asking the questions that ensure you gather the right information, from identifying your survey audience to determining the cost of the survey, the authors help readers ask the right questions to get to the right answers. Also, the authors help you determine who will drive the survey effort, as well as how the survey will be governed. Identify and implement key design issues. Walk through key areas such as decision-making processes, governance, selecting the jobs to be surveyed, determining the data elements to be collected, identifying the target participants, defining desired survey output, establishing the survey calendar, and determining how best to manage the costs involved.

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Plan and run program-based surveys. In addition to helping readers understand how program-based surveys (also known as practices surveys) differ from incumbent-based surveys, the authors explain how to identify situations in which program-based surveys are appropriate, how to develop questions for them, and how to determine the type of technology necessary to effectively collect and deliver the survey.
Part Two: Implementing the Survey This section shows readers how to:

Build good relationships with participants. Good relationships are the cornerstone to an effective survey and are necessary to improve the quality and value of the survey. The authors identify 10 steps to integral relationship building, including important pitfalls to avoid. Select a vendor. There are many types of survey vendors to choose from: large firms, small firms, boutique firms, specialty firms and so on. Choosing the right vendor for your specific needs is key to the success of the survey. The authors have identified six important steps that help readers select the right vendor, including identifying appropriate vendors, determining vendor qualifications, ascertaining vendor interest, soliciting proposals, comparing and selecting proposals, and selecting the vendor. Use technology. Theres a wide variety of available technology that can be used to gather, analyze, report and deliver data. Readers learn how technology can enhance convenience, increase customization, shorten design and production times, increase quality control and lower costs. The authors also address factors to consider when choosing technology.
Part Three: Ensuring Long-Term Success This section shows readers how to:

Establish the quality of your survey. The authors help readers meet the challenges of a successful survey, including developing an effective input package, attracting a sufficient number of appropriate participants, designing a plan to educate survey participants, identifying and instilling effective processes to review and correct survey data, and motivating those responding to invest sufficient time and energy to submit accurate and complete information.

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8 Handbook for Conducting Compensation & Benefits Surveys

Ensure continual improvement. While there is no single correct continuousimprovement process, learn which questions to ask to determine whether a vendor has processes in which you can feel confident. Learn how to identify the primary process steps and parts of the survey for evaluation. Finally, the authors explain how to collect feedback data and how to handle the information collected. The concept of an effective survey is not necessarily complicated, but its certainly been neglected by many organizations. As you read this book, you may find yourself re-evaluating your goals, the questions you should ask to meet those goals, from whom to collect data, how to collect data, and what to do with it. You may find that you need to revamp your entire survey process, or you may find yourself honing in on particular areas that could use improvement. Whatever your particular needs and goals, hopefully this book like a good survey provides the answers.

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