Assessment of Staff Needs and
Satisfaction in an Evergreen
Environment
David Green
NC Cardinal Consultant
State Library of North Carolina
Agenda
Assessment
Steps:
• Plan
• Create
• Collect
• Analyze, Report, Act
Culture of Assessment
“A Culture of Assessment is an organizational
environment in which decisions are based on facts,
research, and analysis, and where services are planned
and delivered in ways that maximize positive outcomes
and impacts for customers and stakeholders. A Culture of
Assessment exists in organizations where staff care to
know what results they produce and how those results
relate to customers’ expectations. Organizational mission,
values, structures, and systems support behavior that is
performance and learning focused.”
Lakos, A. & Phipps, S. (2004). Creating a Culture of Assessment: A Catalyst for Organizational Change.
Libraries and the Academy, 4(3), 345-361.
Service Quality
Gap theory of assessment:
perceptions, service quality and satisfaction
Perceptions  Service
“Only customers judge quality; all other judgments
are essentially irrelevant”
Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY: The Free Press.
Plan
Why?
• Goals
• Targets of interest
Because
• Goals
– Understand the perceptions and expectations of
library staff using Evergreen in NC Cardinal
– Make a plan to improve the services of NC
Cardinal
• Targets of interest
– Staff satisfaction and needs
– Development
Elements of an Assessment
Plan
•
•
•
•
•
•
Purpose
Links to strategic documents
Resources
Data policies
Goals
Timeline for continuous assessment
Elements of our Assessment
Plan
•
•
•
•
•
•
Purpose
Links to strategic documents
Resources
Data policies
Goals
Timeline for continuous assessment
Plan Summary
•
•
•
•
What do we want to know?
What is the purpose?
What kind of results are needed?
How do we report back?
Keep notes!
Create
Choose an Assessment Method
•
•
•
•
Depends on the goals
Multiple methods
Quantitative and qualitative
Selective
Our Assessment Method
• Survey
– Both qualitative and quantitative questions
– Under ten minutes
– Scale & Rankings
– Required demographics
• Follow-up interviews? Focus groups?
Survey Instrument –
Introduction
Survey Instrument –
Demographics
Survey Instrument – Services
Survey Instrument –
Communications
Survey Instrument –
Development
Survey Instrument – Circulation
Survey Instrument – Cataloging
Survey Instrument – Admin
Survey Instrument – Training
Survey Instrument – Final
Question
Create Summary
• From whom and where will you get data?
• How will you get the data?
• How will you analyze the data?
Keep notes!
Collect
Pilot
• Create a pilot sample
• Test in different settings
– Platforms
– Browsers
Sample
• Separate into groups
• Consider fatigue
Our Sample
• The entire population
• Response rate
• Representative?
Communicate
• Email, forums, liaisons
• Invitation
– Direct link to the survey
– Focus on benefits
• Incentives
• Reminders
– Once a week
– Include a thank you
Request to Participate
Subject:
NC Cardinal staff survey
Body:
Dear [Library Director],
As we plan for the future of NC Cardinal, it is essential that we understand the perceptions and expectations of all
involved staff so that we can provide services they most need.
Below is a link to a survey on staff satisfaction and needs. Please ask your staff to take a few minutes of their time to
respond – approximately 10 to 15 minutes. Their participation is important to maintaining the health of the NC Cardinal
consortium.
Please be assured that all answers are confidential and anonymous. No identifying links between responses and the
individual responding will be retained and only aggregated data will be reported. If there is any difficulty using the
survey, please let us know by emailing david.green@ncdcr.gov.
We would certainly appreciate it if staff would complete the online survey before [a date three weeks from this email]:
[Survey URL]
Many thanks for helping us improve NC Cardinal services!
I have reworded this message below, in case you would like to use it in communication to your staff. Next week, I will
send a survey reminder to the Cardinal listservs. Please ask everyone that uses Evergreen or otherwise is involved in
the consortium to take the survey, including you.
My sincere appreciation,
David Green
Direct Invitation
Subject:
NC Cardinal staff survey
Body:
Dear staff members of NC Cardinal libraries,
If you have filled out the staff survey already, thank you! If not, we ask you to take a few minutes to go to the URL
below and help us in this important endeavor by taking the survey. Only you can tell us how well we are serving your
needs.
[Survey URL]
Staff from newly migrated libraries Cumberland and Forsyth are also encouraged to take the survey. If you feel that you
do not have enough experience to answer any particular questions you may skip them or choose “N/A”.
Please complete the survey by [date two weeks from this email] (deadline extended due to the winter weather).
As we plan for the future of NC Cardinal, it is essential that we understand staff perceptions and expectations so we can
provide the services you most need. The survey will take approximately 10 to 15 minutes to complete. Your
participation is important in maintaining the health of the NC Cardinal consortium.
Your responses will be collected by the State Library. Please be assured that your answers are confidential and
anonymous. No identifying links between responses and the individual responding will be retained and only aggregated
data will be reported. If you have any difficulty using the survey, please contact David Green at david.green@ncdcr.gov.
Thank you for your assistance,
David
Thank You
Subject:
NC Cardinal staff survey is closed
Body:
Hello everyone,
Thank you to everyone who responded to the staff survey. We closed the survey this
week after 209 submissions. That means we heard from over 30% of staff at Cardinal
member libraries - an excellent response rate.
Now that we have your input, we will analyze the data and provide a summary of the
results to the consortium. From there, we can identify actions to take immediately and
develop plans to tackle long-term improvements.
Once again, we want to thank you for your participation in the survey. Your responses
and comments are essential to helping us improve NC Cardinal services.
Sincerely,
David
Collect Summary
• Sample
• Communication
• Flexibility
Keep notes!
Analyze, Report, Act
Analyze and Interpret
• Representativeness
Keep in mind:
• Goals
• Audience
• Written statement
Report
Purpose:
• Who is the audience? What do they want to
know?
Content:
• What did you do? Why did you do it?
• What did you find? How will you use it?
• What is your evaluation of the assessment plan?
Actions
•
•
•
•
Gather further data
Create long-term plans
Identify action items
Report actions taken
Analyze, Report, Act Summary
Keep notes!
Sources
• Babbie, E. (2009). The practice of social research (10th ed.).
Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
• Greene, J. & Caracelli, V. (1997). Advances in mixed-method
valuation. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
• Lakos, A. & Phipps, S. (2004). Creating a Culture of Assessment: A
Catalyst for Organizational Change. Libraries and the Academy, 4(3),
345-361.
• Oakleaf, M. (2010). Writing information literacy assessment plans: A
guide to best practice. Communications in Information
Literacy, 3(2), 80-90.
• Volkwein, J. (1996). Program evaluation and assessment: What’s the
question.
• Zeithaml, Parasuraman, Berry. (1999). Delivering quality service. NY:
The Free Press.
Thank You
Please write or call me any time.
David Green
State Library of North Carolina
david.green@ncdcr.gov
919-807-7408