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Guide: Building a Staff Return-To-Work Survey

August 2021

In conversations with leaders of our member organizations around the world, one of the common challenges we often hear about is how to address the uncertainties surrounding the return to in-person work. With changing local legislation, variation in vaccine rates, and the emergence of new COVID-19 variants, arts organizations must keep a pulse on the safest practices for beginning to produce live work once again.

One of the best tools arts leaders can employ during this time is the staff pulse survey. If done regularly, polling on sentiment around reopening plans can allow you to formulate a thoughtful plan while simultaneously keeping your staff engaged.

There are four important considerations to keep in mind when building out a staff survey:

  1. It is important to keep these types of surveys short — ABA recommends no more than 10 questions — to ensure that as many employees as possible answer the questionnaire.

  2. Re-run the survey over time to help track any changes in employee sentiment towards safety protocols. This will require certain questions to remain the same to accurately monitor changes in response.

  3. Confidentiality will be key to give staff the confidence to answer honestly. Make sure you are clearly outlining the steps in place to ensure privacy of responses.

  4. Finally, with surveys about behavior, there will always be a "say/do gap" — meaning that there can be a significant difference between what people say their intentions are compared to their actual behavior. It is important to keep this in mind when eventually creating protocols.

Below, we have gathered a bank of possible questions into themes, including the purposes they can serve. For some questions, we have provided examples of possible list items — though lists can be customized to each organization.

 
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1. Safety & Accessibility

These questions can help you get a sense of the types of health and safety protocols your staff would need in place to feel comfortable returning to the office. For many of these questions, it will help to have a list of items that employees can choose from — this will help you easily assess which safety measures are most meaningful to your team.

Example questions:

  • What protocols/behaviors would you expect to be in place for you to feel safe returning to the office? (List of items)

  • Which three of those protocols/behaviors do you consider “must haves” for you to feel safe returning to the office? (List of items)

  • Which of the following factors outside of the office environment most impacts your feelings about the timing of your return? (List of items)

    • Family’s vaccination status

    • Vaccine rates in our community

    • COVID infection numbers in our community

    • Something else (please specify)

  • Which safety protocols would concern you if implemented or required when returning to work in the office? (List of items)

  • Which of the following are concerns you have about returning to work in the office? (Select all that apply) (List of items)

    • Decreased flexibility to work from home

    • Leaving family members at home who need assistance

    • Getting exposed to the coronavirus while commuting to work

    • Decreased productivity

    • Getting exposed to the coronavirus at the office

    • Organizing childcare

    • Potentially spreading coronavirus to my coworkers

    • Not being able to return to the office due to other (non-COVID) health reasons

    • Reintroduction of commuting expenses currently alleviated by remote work

    • Something else (please specify)        

    • I do not have any concerns about returning to work

  • Would your mode of transportation to the office pose a significant risk for COVID exposure? (Yes/No)

  • If the requirements you need to feel comfortable returning to work are met, when would you feel ready to return to the office? (List of items - dates)

  • Do you feel safe and supported by the organization’s leadership coming back to work? (Yes/No)

  • Will you have personal situations that require special accommodation upon returning to work (e.g., schools/daycare being closed)? If yes, please provide more information. (Yes/No)

  • How satisfied are you with our announced efforts to maintain a safe work environment for employees? (Scale: Very dissatisfied - Very satisfied)

  • Have you relocated in the past 18 months? (Yes/No)

 
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2. Mindset & Preferences

To gain further clarity on employees’ perspectives towards returning to the office, ask questions that go beyond protocol to reveal sentiments about less tangible aspects of working in-person.

Example questions:

  • How comfortable do you feel returning to work in the office? (Scale: Very uncomfortable - Very comfortable)

  • What would be your ideal working arrangement between now and the end of the year? ‍ (List of items)

    • Working from home full-time

    • Working from home 1-2 days per week

    • Working from home 3-4 days per week

    • Working from home partial days (e.g., mornings at home and afternoons in the office)

    • Working onsite all week

  • Do you want to return to working primarily from the office, or would you rather work from home in the future? (List of items)

    • Yes, I'd like to primarily work from the office in the future

    • Both, I'd like to split my time between the office and home

    • No, I'd prefer to primarily work from home in the future

    • I'm unsure

  • What motivates you the most about returning to work? (List of items)

    • Interacting with coworkers

    • My hardware/equipment

    • I’m more productive

    • I find it easier to collaborate

    • Something else (please specify)

  • Does the presence of your co-workers at the office influence your decision to return to the office? (List of items)

    • I​​'d be more likely to return if more people are there

    • I'd be more likely to return if fewer people are there

    • The number of people in the office does not influence my decision to return

    • I'm unlikely to return to the office regardless of the number of people there

 
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3. Productivity

Questions around the way staff have managed to work at home can be informative when structuring hybrid plans. Understanding the tools and practices that have worked well during this time will allow you to assess how effective staff have been able to be remotely, while also helping to shape changes to office work that take advantage of these new behaviors.

Example questions:

  • I can be just as productive while working remotely when compared to my usual work location. (Scale: Strongly disagree - Strongly agree)

  • I have adequate access to my supervisor and team members while working remotely. (Scale: Strongly disagree - Strongly agree)

  • Our remote meetings are as or more productive as meetings held in the office. (Scale: Strongly disagree - Strongly agree)

  • If you return to the office, will you be available to work the same schedule as you did before we left the office? (Yes/No)

4. Home Workspace

While similar to the above questions around productivity, this set of inquiries goes deeper into the tactical and logistical elements of remote work. These are particularly useful if you foresee working from home remaining as a lasting part of your organizational structure, and are assessing the types of support it will require.

Example Questions:

  • I have access to the materials and equipment I need to perform effectively at home/remotely. (Scale: Strongly disagree - Strongly agree)

  • What additional materials or equipment would help you work more effectively while remote? (List of items)

  • I have the technology I need to help me stay connected to my team when working remotely. (Scale: Strongly disagree - Strongly agree)

  • Which of the following best describes your home office setup? (List of items)

    • Dedicated room

    • Shared space (e.g., dining room, kitchen)

    • I have no dedicated space/work from different spaces 

  • Do you have any other feedback regarding your remote work environment? (Open answer)

5. Vaccinations

Many businesses (and some cities) are beginning to mandate the COVID vaccine for employees. Understanding the vaccination status and willingness to take the vaccine amongst your staff can be an important data point when planning communication around your own vaccination protocols. It is crucial, however, to understand legal implications with this type of questioning.

According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, businesses are permitted within ADA compliance laws to ask employees their vaccination status, as long as this information is kept confidential. If an employee requests a reasonable accommodation due to health or religious reasons, this information must also be kept confidential.

Example questions:

  • Have you been vaccinated for COVID-19?

    • Yes

    • No

    • Prefer not to answer

  • Do you plan to get a COVID-19 vaccine? 

    • Yes

    • No

    • Prefer not to answer

  • Do you have access to the COVID-19 vaccine information and resources you need?

    • Yes

    • No

    • I don’t know

Advisory Board for the Arts can act as a resource for survey deployments, including:

  • Reviewing your return-to-work survey questions

  • Providing guidance on survey length and design

  • Programming questions into our survey software

If you are interested in partnering with us to conduct surveying of your staff and/or audience, please reach out to your member advisor or email info@advisoryarts.com to learn more.