Diagnosing organizational health: is your measurement strategy doing the job?

Communication World, Jan-Feb, 2004 by Tudor Williams, Ryan Williams

As communicators we are in the business of making and keeping our organizations healthy. To succeed, we need to know what state of health exists and whether it is getting better or worse. We need a measurement strategy that will deliver this diagnosis. The measurement must be ongoing, not a one-off survey or focus group. It must deliver data that tell us what is well and what is not.

Let us introduce you to some of our favorite clients--only the names have been changed to protect the innocent. We will look at their circumstances and how they applied measurement strategies to diagnose their organization's health.

* Rick is the communication director for a large professional association. His association members are active, vocal and demanding.

* Christine also works for a professional association. She is the HR manager for a staff that has been without a president for almost a year.

* Mary is vice president of communications for a multinational manufacturing company that is being acquired by a European competitor.

* Felix is marketing director for a railroad that depends on 20 percent of its customers for more than 80 percent of its revenues.

All four clients face an uncertain future. The health of these organizations--in fact, their very survival--hinges on the relationships each has built with its members, its employees and its customers. Each client had adopted a measurement strategy defined in the context set by the IABC Research Foundation's "Excellence" study: excellent organizations build relationships through symmetrical communication. These relationships are built on satisfaction and based on trust.

Through the eyes of our four clients, let's look at three aspects of organizational health diagnostics: overall measurement strategy, measuring change and measuring satisfaction.

MEASUREMENT STRATEGY

Rick defined his measurement strategy (Figure 1) and then selected tools and tactics to execute the strategy.

[FIGURE 1 OMITTED]

Vision. The vision Rick described for measuring his association's organizational health was "a systematic gathering of data and information to enable the association to plan, build and monitor supportive, committed relationships with its members."

Strategy. Member relationships are built on:

* satisfaction with the benefits of membership

* trust in the association to protect and serve the members' best interests.

This suggested focusing on the elements of member benefits and trust that returned the highest commitment to the association.

Measurement goal. Rick defined his goal as a measurement system that provides:

* an objective means to evaluate communication outcomes

* clear accountability for communication

* definitions of communication deliverables

* context for assigning communication roles and responsibilities.

Critical Success Factors. Next, he defined the factors that would be critical to the success of the measurement strategy:

* identification of the critical drivers of member satisfaction and trust

* reliable benchmark measures

* effective measures of member satisfaction and trust

* monitoring and tracking changing member attitudes and opinions

* regular assessments of outcomes and results.

Measurement Tools and Tactics. As in all good measurement plans, there were two phases:

1. Gathering the qualitative data, which consists of literature and database research along with member research using focus groups and intranet discussion forums. This process identified the subject matter around which surveys would be conducted.

2. Gathering the quantitative data through member surveys to measure benchmarks, track changing member attitudes and evaluate outcomes.

The tools and tactics were planned around four cornerstones of measurement (Figure 2):

* Full Monty Audit

* Checkup Survey

* Pulse Taker Poll

* Workout Assessment.

[FIGURE 2 OMITTED]

Rick implemented his strategy with a Full Monty audit. He began with a series of member focus groups and a comprehensive review of all member feedback gathered on the members' intranet, Next, an online benchmark survey measured:

* members' attitudes about important association issues

* member satisfaction with a wide range of services

* the relative importance of each member service.

He applied a type of analysis known as "Top Box Analysis" (Figure 3), which visually differentiates the services and programs by importance and satisfaction.

[FIGURE 3 OMITTED]

The two important boxes are those on the top--on the right, the strengths (high satisfaction, high importance); and on the left, the weaknesses (low satisfaction, high importance). The analysis showed three healthy strengths: negotiation skills, credibility and communication. It also showed four facets that demanded attention: leadership, lobbying, unity and issues management.

Rick followed the Full Monty with a series of Pulse Taker Polls--short semi-monthly tracking surveys conducted online with a small number of randomly selected members. He has scheduled an annual checkup of all members for the next two years.

MEASURING CHANGE

Engaging employees in change. The high-value measures in any strategy tell you what is changing and by how much. One off surveys give you only a snapshot of the scene. A series of surveys provides a motion picture of what is changing.