What’s Gallup Q12?
At first glance, the Gallup survey seems very simple. You are asked to answer twelve questions based upon a satisfaction scale of 1-5. If you are fast, it will take you about two minutes to read and answer the questions. If you are thoughtful, it may take you twice as long. If you include the time it takes you to click on the link to the Gallup survey and enter in your special password, the whole process may take you five minutes. It is not until you get the results, that you think about the survey again.
If you are like most people, you have forgotten about the survey because you have work to complete, people to talk to and meetings to attend. However, when you begin to review the results, that simple five minute process does not seem so simple anymore. It takes a lot longer to review the results than taking the survey. For some people, this is where the process ends until the next Gallup survey. The results may or may not align with your personal responses. What do the results mean? You scored a one on the question regarding a best friend at work, however, you find out that it did not literally mean that you had "best friend" at work. It meant that you had someone to confide in. You find out that a score of 3 means that you tend to be dissatisfied in that particular area, not just neutral about it. So, why didn't the Gallup people rephrase the questions to be more forthright? The answer to that question is science.
The Details: Where did Gallup come from?
Those simple twelve questions arise out of the academic career of Dr. George Gallup who began a worldwide study of human needs and satisfaction. He was a pioneer in the process of sampling popular opinion. We see it today in the Gallup poll results which seem to appear during election periods. Also, during this period, Dr. Donald Clifton began studying success in education and business. In 1988, Dr. Gallup's work was merged with Dr. Clifton's work blending opinion sampling with management science. The Q12 Gallup survey was the result of this merger.
Evolution of an idea: How Gallup has become a best practice
From the 1950s to the 1970s, Dr. Clifton studied the work environment to determine factors which led to a positive environment. Early versions of some of Q12 questions were tested during this period. In the 1980s, the Gallup team studied high performing individuals and teams. They conducted many interviews to learn the causes of employee turnover. In the 1990s, the Gallup scientist developed the first version of the Q12 survey. In 1997, the Gallup scientist conducted a meta-analysis of 1,135 business units (an analysis of multiple separate study results as one pooled study). The researchers determined that the meta-analysis supported the assumptions of the individual Q12 questions. By 1998, the Gallup scientists completed the Q12 in its present form. To date, the Q12 survey has been administered to 25 million people worldwide. The Gallup team indicates that the twelve questions are the best indicators to measure "employee perceptions of the quality of people related management practices in their business units." In order for Gallup to insure the validity of their Q12 data, the questions must remain the same. The science of the Q12 makes its determination on a personal level a little more difficult.
The Numbers: How Gallup Works
The Q12 results are reported utilizing the statistical measure called a mean. A mean is simply the total score divided by the number of people answering that particular question. Your answer becomes part of the mean. In smaller groups, your answers will have more effect upon the overall mean. However, each group must have five or more people. Sampling five people limits biased results by one person's different responses and allows anonymity. Your particular answer will never become truly known in the results. The Q12 survey is not meant to measure personal satisfaction, it is meant to measure the overall satisfaction of your team, department or group. The twelve questions are indicators, measures of how the team feels on that particular day. The Q12 survey does not have the capability to determine causation of workplace satisfaction or dissatisfaction; it only indicates the level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. In the end, the Q12 survey is just the beginning of the process. It will be up to you and your team to find out why the team "feels” a particular way about a Q12 indicator and more importantly, you and your team will need to work toward defining your optimal work environment.
Gallup: Why it matters
The Q12 survey is based upon psychology, biostatistics and years of study. However, in the end, it is just a survey, nothing more. With the exception of the infamous "best friend" question, most of the questions are simple and straightforward. However, this Gallup poll is not as straightforward as those polls projecting the outcome of a political election. You will need to ask two more questions: (1) why did we answer a particular Q12 question the way we did? And (2) what does the answer to question one say about our work environment? Lastly, you will need to act to address those areas of your work environment, which would make work a better place for you and your colleagues.
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Ken Iwakoshi is the Director for Trust Administration, a Loma Linda University Shared Services department.