Supermotivation Survey

Published: Monday, June 3, 2013 - 15:19

How true are the following statements as you perceive things in your work environment?

1 = Not true at all
2 = True to a small extent
3 = True to some extent
4 = Mostly true
5 = Completely true

1. Employees in this organization are energetic and enthusiastic.
2. Employees are highly productive.
3. Employees have positive and optimistic attitudes.
4. There is little or no wasted effort
5. The organization is highly customer focused from top to bottom.
6. Unsafe conditions are identified and promptly corrected.
7. Employees are made to feel like true business partners.
8. Employees have a strong sense of organizational identity.
9. Employees are very careful about how they use the organization’s resources.
10. Employees have a clear understanding of the organization’s mission, vision, and values.
11. Employee input into organizational strategic planning is solicited and used.
12. Employees are encouraged to make significant choices and decisions about their work.
13. Employees are involved in making key front-line decisions.
14. Employees are empowered to improve work methods.
15. Employees are encouraged to work closely with their internal customers and suppliers.
16. There is a no-fault approach to problem solving in this organization.
17. A concerted effort is made to identify and use the full range of abilities employees bring to work.
18. Employees are challenged to strive for ambitious goals.
19. Obstacles to effective employee performance are promptly identified and eliminated.
20. Personnel decisions are perceived to be fair and consistent.
21. There are few, if any, unnecessary policies and rules.
22. Effective communication is a high organizational priority.
23. Employees throughout this organization are well informed.
24. Management explains to employees the rationale behind all important decisions.
25. There is frequent communication between employees and management.
26. Senior managers regularly visit employees’ work areas.
27. No secrets are kept from employees.
28. Meetings are well led and highly productive.
29. Company publications are informative and helpful.
30. Management is highly responsive to employees’ needs and concerns.
31. Employees feel that management has their best interests at heart.
32. When labor-management conflicts arise, they are promptly and constructively resolved.
33. Management is quick to take personal responsibility for its mistakes.
34. Employees are encouraged to assume leadership responsibilities.
35. Employees receive a great deal of encouragement and recognition.
36. Outstanding performance is always recognized.
37. Both individual performance and team performance are appropriately rewarded.
38. Poor performance is never rewarded.
39. Creativity is encouraged and rewarded.
40. Employees consider their pay to be fair and equitable.
41. Employees are willing to pay part of the cost of their benefits.
42. Employees feel that their ideas and suggestions are genuinely welcomed by management.
43. Employees’ suggestions receive prompt and constructive responses.
44. Everyone in the organization is committed to continuous improvement.
45. There are no barriers between departments or units.
46. There is a high level of trust between workers and management.
47. There is excellent teamwork throughout the organization.
48. There is a high level of trust between workers and management.
49. Management views problems as opportunities for improvement, rather than as obstacles to success.
50. Learning is a high priority in this organization.
51. Employees are encouraged to learn from one another.
52. There is consistent follow-up after training.
53. Employees are involved in making training decisions.
54. Employees are involved in determining performance requirements, measures, and standards.
55. Employees view performance evaluation as a positive developmental process.
56. Self-evaluation and peer evaluation are integral components of performance appraisal.
57. Discipline is perceived to be fair.
58. Employees consistently give extra effort.
59. Tardiness, absenteeism, and turnover rates are extremely low.
60. Employees are excited about working in this organization.

Your score (add up all responses):

Your organization’s percentage score (divide by 300):

Preliminary survey interpretation
Add all your responses. This is your organization’s score. A perfect score would be 300 (based on a maximum response of five for each of the 60 items on the survey). When you divide your organization’s score by 300, you will obtain an overall percentage score.

Here are some preliminary guidelines for helping you interpret your organization’s overall percentage score:
90–100 percent: Congratulations! Your organization has already attained SuperMotivation status.
80–89 percent: Your organization is well on its way to SuperMotivation.
70–79 percent: Your organization has some aspects of SuperMotivation.
60–69 percent: Your organization has a slightly above average* motivational climate.
50–59 percent: Your organization has an average* motivational climate.
Below 50 percent: Your organization has a below average* motivational climate.

* Based on national norms for this survey.

Excerpted from SuperMotivation, by Dean Spitzer (AMACOM, 1995).

About The Author

Davis Balestracci

Davis Balestracci is a past chair of ASQ’s statistics division. He has synthesized W. Edwards Deming’s philosophy as Deming intended—as an approach to leadership—in the second edition of Data Sanity (Medical Group Management Association, 2015), with a foreword by Donald Berwick, M.D. Shipped free or as an ebook, Data Sanity offers a new way of thinking using a common organizational language based in process and understanding variation (data sanity), applied to everyday data and management. It also integrates Balestracci’s 20 years of studying organizational psychology into an “improvement as built in” approach as opposed to most current “quality as bolt-on” programs. Balestracci would love to wake up your conferences with his dynamic style and entertaining insights into the places where process, statistics, organizational culture, and quality meet.