Planning/Preparation. Identify groups of employees who perform similar duties in the court, such as bailiffs, court reporters, counter and courtroom clerks, and calendar and probation staff. The court’s management and supervisory personnel should form a separate group. Classes of employees might also be distinguished by court divisions or other relevant organizational subdivisions. These classes of employees are designated on the questionnaire forms (see Section VII of Form 4.3.2, Employee Survey on Personnel Practices and Employee Morale).

Courts should review Form 4.3.2 and add or modify questions to better fit their local circumstances. The questionnaire covers such subjects as recruitment, promotion, termination, salaries, and communications. A modification all courts should make is to tailor the system for coding employee position categories so that specificity of employee groups (by unit, job function, or demographic data) is balanced with the need to preserve confidentiality. One way to preserve confidentiality that is credible to employees is to have no position or demographic group code for groups with fewer than 10 members. The provisions for preserving confidentiality should be clearly explained on the questionnaire form.

Data Collection. Survey forms should be distributed to all employees in a way that ensures that they receive them. It is important that the court have an accurate count of the number of surveys distributed to employees (total and by each group). The count should not be assumed to be equivalent to the number of employees or inferred in some other way based on the procedure for distribution. One method for obtaining an accurate count of surveys distributed is to ask unit supervisors to deliver them personally and request that employees initial a distribution list. If this alternative is chosen, it is important to brief supervisors personally about the importance of getting an accurate count. Another way is to enclose the survey with employee paychecks. In any case, the distribution and collection of the survey and the design of the questionnaire itself should be done in a manner that makes it obvious to employees that confidentiality is being preserved. Questionnaires should be distributed to employees with return envelopes that can be sealed, and identifiers should not be included on the questionnaire. It is important to stress again that employee groups should not be so small that employees believe that their identity or likely identity could be deduced. A suggested number is no fewer than 10, as noted above. This should be clearly stated in Section VII of Form 4.3.2.

Analysis of the results should not begin until at least 80 percent of the questionnaires are returned. It is suggested that response time be limited to no more than 24 hours and that a followup notice be sent after 2 days if 80 percent of the questionnaires have not been returned.

Data Analysis and Report Preparation. Questionnaire data is entered into a computer for analysis using statistical software. The services of an analyst who is skilled in the design and interpretation of statistical analyses are required. Analysis using summary statistical methods is useful, but for larger courts (e.g., more than 30 employees) the analyst also needs to understand and apply techniques for correlating variables (e.g., relationship between pay levels, category of job, and attitudes about hiring or promotion). Although it is useful to correlate attitudes with factors such as gender, race, or seniority, this analysis should not be attempted if there is an appreciable risk of compromising confidentiality and the validity of the results.

The report prepared by the analyst should be provided to the steering committee established for evaluating the results of the personnel measures (see the introduction to all measures for Performance Area 4 and the overview of measures for Standard 4.3).