Survey Process
POPULUS is a nationally-recognized marketing research firm located in Idaho. In its 23 year history, the company has conducted survey research for a broad range of businesses (start-ups through Fortune 100 companies), government agencies (at the local through federal levels), associations, and politicians (those running for local office as well as U.S. presidential candidates). Since 1999, POPULUS has conducted more than one million online surveys, the majority of which have been directly related to human resources (HR) issues.
POPULUS will conduct the surveys and analyze the data, which will be reported at the aggregate level. Survey responses, both for employees and the companies, will be completely confidential. Participating companies will receive a summary of their scores in each of six areas:
- Compensation and Benefits
- Work Environment
- Company Management
- Employee Growth and Development
- Work-Life Balance
- Inventory of Benefits (provided by a company representative)
Companies will also see a comparison of these scores with the average score for the top 10% of performers in their geographic region. Additional reporting will be available upon request.
Survey Options
Online Survey: Employees with access to email and the Internet at their work station will be sent an email invitation that includes a unique link giving a single individual access to the online survey. That link cannot be shared with others or used more than once. This survey will take approximately ten minutes to complete.
Paper Survey: Employees who do not have email or access to the Internet at their work station may participate by completing a paper version of the survey. POPULUS will provide instructions to the company regarding efficient and secure distribution and collection of these surveys to ensure the highest level of respondent confidentiality is maintained. Additionally, POPULUS will employ a validation procedure to assure the surveys were distributed to and completed by a broad sampling of employees.
To help cover the cost of producing and handling the paper surveys, POPULUS will charge $1 per paper survey sent to a participating organization as well as outbound and inbound shipping costs.
Language Options
The online and paper surveys will be available in English and Spanish. For the online survey, the first page will allow respondents to select the language they choose to complete the survey in. For paper surveys, we ask each company to indicate at the time they register online the approximate number of English and Spanish surveys they will need. POPULUS will confirm this number prior to shipping the surveys.
Awards
To be eligible for an award, employers must have a certain proportion of employees—both for the online and paper methodologies—complete the survey. POPULUS will report the results to all participating companies but will indicate when sample sizes are too small to be statistically reliable.
Minimum survey completion rates for eligibility for an award are as follows:
50 or fewer employees: 70%
51 to 250 employees: 60%
251 to 500 employees: 40%
500 or more employees: 20%
Employers receiving the highest ratings in each of the six areas named above—for both medium and larger businesses—will be recognized at award events hosted by the Idaho Business Review in the Boise area, northern Idaho, and eastern Idaho. The Idaho Business Review will also publish articles about award winners and describe the programs they have that engender employee satisfaction and loyalty. POPULUS will identify only the award winners to Idaho Business Review. As previously stated, individual company data will remain strictly confidential.
Timeline
| November – January | Participant recruitment and registration |
| January 25, 2008 | Registration deadline |
| January – February, 2008 | Survey period (company Inventory of Benefits and employee surveys) |
| February - March, 2008 | Data analysis and selection of award winners |
| April – May, 2008 | Participating company results available (with login) on Best Places to Work in IdahoTM website |
| May 16, 2008 Best Places to Work in Idaho award presentation. |
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