Trying to define a "normal" workplace is as difficult and unpredictable as describing a "normal" family, but we've learned there are average or predictable responses to certain questions or groups of questions on employee surveys.
Some employers are shocked by low ratings on employee survey questions, but they should always consider the nature of the question topic. Some topics, such as career advancement opportunities, always seem to get low ratings--a fact that was verified recently when we repeated our study of the answers provided on more than 100 employee surveys we've conducted since 1987. (These norms are available to employers whether they do their employee survey through PPI or not.)
Most companies, for instance, have a hard time getting high ratings for internal communications or for career development. We define high ratings as more than 67% favorable or highly favorable ratings of a statement such as: There are adequate advancement opportunities for employees at my level.
Even the best managed firms have a hard time reaching 67% favorable ratings on career advancement.
Some other questions cause most human resource departments grief, such as:
Overall, information in this organization is communicated well.
This organization listens to the ideas/opinions that employees contribute.
I am kept up-to-date on organizational changes in policy or practice.
So, even if the ratings are lower than expected, they may be higher than those received by other organizations. And the most important thing is improvement--which you'll hopefully find when the survey is repeated a year later.
We offer norms for general business or for one of 16 industries and categories(http://www.performanceprograms.com/Surveys/employee-opinion-norms.shtm). Reports include the mean, standard deviation, frequency distribution, and number of respondents on which the norm is based. There is no minimum purchase. A 50% discount is offered to employers who share their survey data with Performance Programs for inclusion in their Employee Feedback Database. Identities of organizations in the database are kept confidential to PPI.
