PML Diversity Team Supporting Statement

OMB Control No. 0693-0031 – NIST Generic Request for Customer Service-Related Data Collections

Title: Physical Measurements Laboratory Diversity Team (PML DT)

CUSTOMER SATISFACTION SURVEY

FOUR STANDARD SURVEY QUESTIONS

1.  Explain who will be surveyed and why the group is appropriate to survey.

This Survey will be issued to all the NIST employees (federal employees) and Affiliates (non- federal employees – i.e. contractors, students …) of Physical Measurements Laboratory (PML) through an independent consultant survey firm working with the PML Diversity Team (PML DT). For purposes of Office of Management and Budget clearance under the Paperwork Reduction Act, this submission of the expected responses and burden hours apply to the non-federal employees who will be participating in this collection.

The PML DT intends to gain insights about the concerns and interests that PML Staff and Affiliates have (hereafter referred to as “staff”) on issues surrounding diversity policies and programs within PML.  The goal of the survey is to assess broad diversity issues -- including hints or perceptions that some PML staff feel they are "second class citizens" either due to their education or to their status as affiliates.  The outcome will be to better understand how PML can create a more inclusive environment so all staff (both employees and affiliates) feel empowered and excited about being part of PML. The staff’s replies, gathered from this survey instrument, will be used to help improve diversity awareness amongst individual staff, by providing training seminar opportunities, information literature and web links, as well as providing a liaison resource for staff.  Information from the survey will also assist in increasing diversity hiring and retentions.  

2. Explain how the survey was developed including consultation with interested parties, pre-testing, and responses to suggestions for improvement.

The PML DT hired an experienced survey consultant to work with the DT to develop a draft survey instrument of 25 questions maximum. Before releasing the survey to the staff, the survey draft has been vetted through the PML DT. Additionally, the survey was fully vetted through the PML lab office, and the seven division chiefs of the PML. The final instrument reflects these recommendations for acquiring the most relevant responses from staff, while maintaining anonymity.

3. Explain how the survey will be conducted, how customers will be sampled if fewer than all customers will be surveyed, expected response rate, and actions your agency plans to take to improve the response rate.

The Survey shall be announced through email to the entire PML staff. The email will describe that the survey is voluntary and confidential. It will also explain how the survey response shall be used to bring awareness to diversity for all staff as well as encourage employee diversity and retention within PML. The survey shall be conducted through a web link to a survey tool (Survey Monkey).

The survey is designed to be completed in less than 10 minutes which has been shown to improve response rates. Additionally, the survey clearly states that responses will be kept anonymous and this has been planned for in the analysis procedure. The email will include an endorsement from the division chiefs to the staff encouraging them to complete the survey. The email explains that the results will be used to inform PML management in improved ways and policies that promote an inclusive work environment where all staff is valuable to the success of the organization. The survey will also be promoted through various internal communication channels (advertisement flyers). There will be a minimum of two reminder emails sent to any staff that has not yet completed the survey. These reminders will be directed to the non-responded individuals and should increase the likelihood of their response.  The survey response open period will be 2- 3 weeks from date of issue. The PML DT anticipates a 50- 70% response rate which is a significant reflection of the staff population. Once the survey is closed, we will conduct a non-response bias analysis if it is determined that response rates or other factors caused potential bias in sampling. 

4. Describe how the results of the survey will be analyzed and used to generalize the results to the entire customer population.

The Survey responses will be tallied and will be presented in a written report from the consulting survey firm. The analysis will include a statistical evaluation of responses with a cross-tabulation of categories such as demographic information and attitudes. We will provide the results of responses to all questions with a written analysis with appropriate recommendations. A qualitative analysis will be conducted on all open-ended responses (comments) with overarching recommendations from general themes of these comments. The complete unedited comments will appear in the analysis report as a separate appendix. The consultant shall maintain anonymity with the comments.

The report will be presented to the PML lab management and Division Chiefs in a meeting with the consultant.  The recommendations from the report are expected to help develop programs and staff policies that endorse and support greater diversity in the workforce.  The survey instrument results and report can be used to help improve diversity awareness amongst individual staff, to address any diversity issues that may be identified, as well as to assist in increasing diversity hiring and employee retention.