Best Practices for Conducting an Organizational Diagnostic with Entromy
Introduction to Organizational Health Diagnostics
An organizational diagnostic is a powerful tool that allows businesses to gather key information and take action on identified problems within their organization. With the Entromy platform, you can not only test hypotheses but also uncover insightful themes that may have been overlooked by senior leaders initially, providing crucial guidance for moving the business forward.
The structure of the survey, including the appropriate mix of open-ended questions, fixed-answer questions (i.e. strongly agree to strongly disagree), and length are critical to consider before a successful engagement survey deployment.
Through our experience with working with nearly 500+ clients, we recommend the following six guiding principles.
Understand the Right Mix of Questions:
Fixed answer questions are great for highly quantifiable tracking and measuring progress against key initiatives. For example, a fix question may ask “I am inspired by the work that I am contributing to [our organization],” or “We have adequate training and performance plans in place to help me accel at my job.”
Open-ended questions, however, allow for a greater depth and richness of insights and heightened awareness of areas where senior leadership may have not even thought to dive into employee priorities or concerns. When using Entromy, participants are prompted to respond to open-ended questions and conceptually similar ideas.
Open ended comments do ask for more time of the participant, but through our AI and Natural Language Processing (NLP) embedded in the Entromy platform and our technology, we are able to provide quantitative perspective to open ended comments.
List-select questions ask for nominations or individuals that influence an employee’s network and connections within the workplace. For example, a commonly asked list-select question is “Which individual(s) do you communicate with about new, innovative product & service ideas or new ways of doing business?” These Organizational Network Analysis (ONA) questions are critical to understand the key influencers within an organization. ONA allows business leaders to visualize employee relationships to see the flow of communication and information-sharing within their organization.
ONA (‘list-select’) questions are best asked once a year or semi-annually vs. on a monthly basis.
Overall, based on our experience, we roughly recommend 60-70% fixed answer questions, 30-40% open-ended or nomination questions on average for a 10-20 minute survey (although this can vary widely based on the intent of the survey). Generally, fixed answer questions take ~30 seconds to answer, while open ended and list-select questions are about ~1-2 min on average.
2. Determine the Appropriate Survey Length:
The length of the survey is primarily driven by frequency.
Initial diagnostic or annual survey: For initial, first-time diagnostic, or for an annual-based survey, our recommended survey length is no more than 15 minutes. 15 minutes equates to ~30-40 fixed answer questions and 10-15 open-ended or nomination questions
Quarterly/Bi-annual pulse check: 5-10 minutes, primarily fixed answer questions with one or two open-ended questions.
3. Establish the user dimensions for Valuable Insights:
Determining the user dimensions in advance enhances reporting and insights. Consider incorporating dimensions such as region/country, tenure, department, or function to uncover critical differences in employees' experiences within the organization. This proactive planning enables you to address specific areas of focus and test hypotheses related to organizational health.
4. Ask Actionable and Controllable Questions:
Focus primarily on questions that drive actionable insights and are within your control as an organization. While an organizational diagnostic aims to gather comprehensive information, visibly failing to act or communicate changes based on feedback can lead to dissatisfaction and decreased survey effectiveness. Ensure that feedback received from employees leads to a clear action plan or an understanding of how their input will shape the organization's culture and direction.
Learn more
Entromy has worked with over 500+ organizations, guiding them through a range of transitions and helping them establish best-in-class organizational diagnostics. Whether you're scaling rapidly, undergoing leadership changes, or planning restructuring, our experience can assist you in conducting a successful diagnostic to drive positive change within your organization.
Contact support@entromy.com to learn more or speak with one of our Customer Success representatives.