Promoting Favorable Attitudes Toward Personnel Surveys: The Role of Follow-Up

• Published in: Military psychology Vol. 21; no. 2; pp. 139 - 161
• Main Authors: Thompson, Lori Foster, Surface, Eric A
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Taylor & Francis 01.04.2009; Taylor & Francis Group; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Attitudes; Military personnel; Polls & surveys; Response rates; Studies
• ISSN: 0899-5605; 1532-7876
• DOI: 10.1080/08995600902768693

Periodic command climate assessments and other such surveys are typical in most military organizations. In today's era of dwindling response rates, empirical guidance is needed for leaders and practitioners attempting to understand the factors that affect personnel's attitudes toward surveys and their intentions to complete recurrent questionnaires. The present study addressed this problem by assessing 236 military and civilian workers' reactions to a recurring command climate survey. As hypothesized, personnel who witnessed data feedback, problem identification, and survey-based action after the administration of the survey were particularly inclined to deem the survey useful. Moreover, personnel considered action more important than feedback when evaluating the survey's utility. By shaping perceptions of survey usefulness, awareness of follow-up actions impacted intentions to complete future questionnaires. Overall, the results of this study document the importance of visible, post-survey actions and highlight the repercussions of failing to adequately communicate survey-based change initiatives to the workforce.