Keeping a Finger on the Pulse of Employee Morale in the Covid-19 Landscape – The Climate Assessment
Whether employees return to the workplace as shelter-in-place orders draw to a close or continue to telecommute, it is important employers understand the needs and concerns of their staff. Do workers feel safe returning to the office? Do workers understand the new social distancing policies put in place? Are new policies impacting employees fairly and equitably? These questions will likely keep employers up at night in the COVID-19 landscape.
This blog post describes a tool that employers can use to help keep their finger on the pulse of the workplace — the climate assessment.
What is a climate assessment? Climate assessments seek to identify areas where an organization is doing well, and where improvements can be made. They are generally conducted through surveys, in-person interviews, or a combination of both. The information gathered helps an organization make tailored improvements to its workplace.
When to conduct a climate assessment? A climate assessment is useful when employers grow concerned about the workplace, but do not have a discrete employee complaint to investigate. A climate assessment is also a great option for organizations that have received multiple complaints for conduct like “bullying” or “unprofessionalism” that, on their own, may not amount to a policy violation. Likewise, an assessment can be useful when an organization has received multiple anonymous or generalized complaints that would be difficult to investigate, for example ongoing, anonymous complaints alleging “women are treated better than men in this company.”
In the COVID-19 era, a climate assessment can be a useful tool to quickly assess employee concerns around safety and return-to-work issues. For example, questions may include:
o How confident are you in the company’s leadership team to make the right decisions to manage this crisis?
Extremely confident
Very confident
Somewhat confident
Not so confident
Not confident at all
o Which of the following are concerns you have about returning to work in the office? (Select all that apply).
Getting exposed to COVID-19 at the office
Organizing childcare
Leaving family members at home who need assistance
Decreased productivity
Potentially spreading COVID-19 to my coworkers
Something else (please specify)
o Which of the following would make you feel more comfortable returning to work in the office? (Select all that apply).
Wearing masks in the office
Limiting the number of employees in the building
Limiting outside visitors to the office
Hand sanitizer stations
Closing any communal spaces
Staggering hours/shifts
Nothing would make me feel more comfortable returning to the office
Something else (please specify)
Who should conduct the climate assessment? Climate assessments may be conducted internally or by an independent consultant. There are advantages and drawbacks to both. Internal climate assessments may be conducted efficiently and with little resources. One disadvantage, however, is employees may be less likely to be candid if the information goes directly to internal leadership. That concern can be mitigated by utilizing an independent consultant. This helps to ensure a level of anonymity to participants, which is useful in evoking candid feedback. Moreover, third-party consultants are independent and therefore can more neutrally evaluate employee concerns.
How to conduct a climate assessment? First, develop your questions. Craft questions that allow you to assess what the organization is doing well, and where there is room for improvement. The questions should be tailored to your workforce and your organization’s unique challenges. Think about what information will help you achieve your goals. The following questions are generally a great start:
o What is your overall satisfaction level? (Very Satisfied – Very Dissatisfied)
o Do you have any concerns about the workplace culture?
o Do you feel employees are treated fairly and consistently?
o If you could do one or two things to improve the climate within the organization, what would they be?
o Do you believe your employer actively and consistently enforces the organization’s policies prohibiting discrimination, harassment, and retaliation?
o If you felt a policy violation of any sort were occurring in the organization, would you feel comfortable reporting it?
Then, choose your participants. This could be the entire company, a random selection of employees, or even just a group of high-performing employees who will certainly give thoughtful feedback.
How to utilize the feedback? Once feedback is collected, aggregate the individual responses. If you conduct a survey, some online survey programs complete this step for you. For example, see the following chart:
Q: What is your overall general satisfaction level with the organization?
Then, analyze the concerns and categorize them by magnitude and severity. Then, distill the information into themes which outline the primary sources of discomfort in the workplace. A visual, such as the following, can be helpful to preview the themes before discussing each in detail:
Using these themes, prepare tailored recommendations to address concerns. One option is to put into practice the best recommendations submitted by participants. After all, no one knows the workplace better than those who work there day in and day out. Another option is for leadership to study the themes learned through the survey and develop their own protocols and recommendations. Ultimately, and most importantly, the climate survey should result in visible efforts to improve the workplace. Otherwise, employees may feel the process was not a genuine effort, which may result in a further dip in employee morale.
In the COVID-19 landscape, more employers will benefit from climate assessments, as the decrease in face-to-face interaction brings with it a decreased ability to monitor workplace culture. When done correctly, there are tangible benefits to conducting a climate assessment: employees feel their concerns are being heard, potential policy violations may be uncovered and addressed before a complaint is filed, and employers can determine sources of workplace discomfort and address situations at an informal level before an investigation is needed.
Tessa N. Nevarez is an Associate Attorney with Van Dermyden Maddux Law Corporation. Her practice focuses on conducting workplace and Title IX campus investigations.
The foregoing is for informational purposes only and is not legal advice, nor should it be construed as such.
