Questionnaire based self-assessments : example questions
We are giving here just a few examples from our two questionnaires so that you can get a sense of their style and content. The way we suggest using them is outlined on our page about questionnaire-based self-assessments.
Simpler questionnaire
SECTION 1 - LEADERSHIP
1.1 Our leaders 'live out' the values of our organisation and create the right environment in which to operate and improve
a) Rarely, leaders' behaviours are inconsistent
b) Occasionally, some leaders do 'live out' the values sometimes but it varies
c) Frequently, many leaders lead by example
d) Almost always, and all leaders review their behaviours following feedback from employees
SECTION 2 - PLANNING
2.1 Information we use to develop our long term plans/strategy
a) We rely on what the most senior people think
b) We do some basic analysis on 'Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats'
c) As well as the things in option b), we also understand what our customers want and how we can help them
d) We know where the market is going, what competitors are doing and how we will have an advantage over the next few years
SECTION 6 - CUSTOMER RESULTS
6.1 What measures do you use to understand the satisfaction of your customers to help to improve your organisation?
a) We have nothing in place yet
b) We just monitor comments and/or complaints from customers
c) Customer perception survey and one or two internal measures
d) Regular customer perception surveys and a broad range of internal measures
More comprehensive Excellence Survey
PEOPLE
3.1 - How we plan, manage and improve our people resources
a) We think we follow legal requirements e.g. on equal opportunities and other employee issues. We recruit people as we need them rather than against a defined plan for the business. We have no specific approach to gathering and understanding people's views of the company, even informally.
b) People are recruited and developed in line with the planned needs of the business. We make a point of going beyond the legal minimum on issues of fairness, including equal opportunities and diversity when recruiting, redeploying and promoting people. We regularly use surveys (or other structured ways) to determine the satisfaction levels of our employees about a range of issues within the company. We are proactive in trying to retain employees.
c) As well as (b), the results of surveys etc are used to improve the way in which people are managed. Our people know that we take action on the results of the feedback. We see our relationship with unions (or other staff bodies) as constructive relationships, and they are involved in reviewing and developing a wide range of policies.
d) As well as (b) & (c), we use some innovative ways of organising ourselves to improve the way we work together
CUSTOMER RESULTS
6.1 - We track our performance relating to our customers in the following way:
a) Nothing structured yet - we rely on our instinct and informal feedback
b) We rely on some basic formal feedback, e.g. complaints/queries, products returned, letters of appreciation, comments about good performance, etc. If we think that things are going wrong, we also monitor a few internal measures, such as error rates and delivery times.
c) We formally collect and track some feedback from our customers on a regular basis, including the key factors for our customers that we measure specifically. We also regularly track some key internal performance measures that help us to predict and improve customer satisfaction. Results are segmented according to helpful customer differences.
d) As well as (c) but we regularly review what are the important customer measures that we should track. We use a comprehensive set of relevant internal and customer perception measures to manage for improvements in the organisation.
