A Manager's Role in the Success of the People Pulse Survey
In October, Kaiser Permanente employees will have the opportunity to take the People Pulse survey. The survey is designed to reflect our leadership's emphasis on a work environment that promotes high performance and high engagement of our employees. Using employee input, our leaders determine what actions to take as an organization to improve the work environment. They know that this is the key to providing the best service and care to our members and to meeting the KP promise. When employees understand what is expected of them, have the tools they need to succeed, and are committed and motivated to do so with integrity, we all thrive.
In your role as a manager, you can make an important contribution to the survey's success. It is important for you to encourage your direct reports to complete the survey and reassure them that the results are completely confidential.
This year, the emphasis is on online survey completion. Doing the survey this way has many benefits:
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Significant cost reduction - there are no printing, assembly, distribution, shipping, or return postage costs;
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Significant reduction in time spent sorting and distributing surveys;
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Ability to monitor response rates in real time; and
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Faster turnaround for receiving survey results.
In addition, the resources and funds saved by online administration can be devoted to making improvements in the work environment.
Even with these advantages, however, employees may express some concerns about online administration, including confidentiality and access. You can reassure your staff that the individual views expressed in the survey are completely confidential and are not shown to anyone in Kaiser Permanente. Survey responses go directly to our third-party vendor, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, for processing. Only responses grouped by Region, medical center, or departments are shared, and the groups are large enough so that no individual can be identified.
When accessing the online survey, employees will use their National User Identification (NUID) as a unique user name. The trust of our employees and the integrity of the survey process will never be compromised or violated. Therefore, after login, the NUID is no longer attached to the employee's individual responses.
To take the survey, employees will be directed to an external Web site. The survey URL, PeoplePulse.to-survey.com, is available from any computer linked to the internet, so employees who don't sit behind a computer terminal at work will still be able to participate. Arrangements are being made in all facilities to ensure computer access for all employees. Please check with the People Pulse contact or representative in your area, or with your HR department.
Employees are encouraged to inform their supervisors or managers if they have trouble accessing the online survey. If one of your direct reports cannot get into the survey, you should:
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Determine the employee's date of hire. Data was pulled from the national employee database on August 8, and any employee hired after that date will not have an NUID in the survey database. The People Pulse team recommends that employees hired after August 1 not take the survey, as they do not have enough experience with the organization to answer the questions.
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Confirm that the employee entered the correct NUID. If you need to, you can use the NUID look-up site on the Intranet to confirm an employee's NUID.
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If the correct NUID number has been entered and the employee was hired on or before August 1, but the employee still cannot access the survey, you can contact the People Pulse representative for your service area, medical center, Regional office, or National Function.
In order for you and leaders to receive valid information about the organization and the work environment, please encourage your employees to take the survey and provide opportunities for them to do so.
Kaiser Permanente leaders view the employee perspectives voiced in the People Pulse survey as an indication of what it is like to work here, and they are committed to acting on the information employees share to make it better.
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