What Censuma is

Censuma is a tool for the measurement of workplace climate by segment. Its purpose is not to produce a single organization-wide average, but to permit precise and actionable statements: that the Northern Region stands eight points below the rest, that the incidence is concentrated in night shifts, and that the situation has persisted for two years.

The problem it solves

Most climate surveys conclude in a single indicator and a PDF report. The indicator does not allow the organization to identify where to intervene: the average of an entire organization does not locate the problem. The report, for its part, admits no further enquiry of the data.

Censuma is designed around the stage that is habitually lost: the subsequent analysis. Results are disaggregated by any branch of the organizational structure, crossed with the demographic axes, compared against one another and monitored over time.

The three components

An organizational tree defined by the organization itself. There are no predetermined levels: the structure is modelled in accordance with the reality of the company, at whatever depth applies in each case. Employees, questionnaires, permissions and results are all organized from that tree. See The org tree.

An instrument in two parts. A common core of questions, which is what guarantees the comparability of results across areas and across periods, and a set of specific questions associated with each branch. A branch office may incorporate three questions of its own without the rest of the organization having access to them.

Two indices. Satisfaction, which measures the degree of contentment of personnel with the various aspects of their work, and Climate, which measures the perception of the working environment as a whole. They constitute two different measurements of the same population and are not comparable with each other. See Satisfaction and Climate.

Modes of response

There are two modes, both anonymous:

• Kiosk. A tablet placed at the workplace, with the option of enabling several stations. It is particularly suitable where a significant portion of the personnel has neither corporate email nor computer equipment.
• Email. Each person receives a single-use link.

Anonymity guarantees

This is not a commercial commitment but a characteristic of the database design: the record of who responded and the record of what was responded are stored with no link whatsoever between them. The system can report that a given person has already participated, a datum necessary for the management of participation, but cannot report the content of their responses. This restriction extends to the totality of users, the provider included.

To this is added a confidentiality threshold: the results of a group that does not reach a minimum number of responses are not published, given that a result based on three people is anonymous in formal terms but not in practice. See Anonymity and minimum N.

These criteria are best understood before the study begins and not once it has concluded. They constitute the explanation that will have to be conveyed to personnel in order to encourage candid responses, and they are likewise the reason certain expected results may appear hidden.

Results available once a study concludes

• Both indices, for every section of the tree that gathers a sufficient number of responses.
• The disaggregation by category and the question-by-question detail.
• Manually constructed segments, combining branch with sex, age band and tenure.
• The comparison with previous studies and the improvement targets for the period.
• The export of all the information in Excel, PDF or presentation format.

Continuation

The four steps before the first study describes the course from an unconfigured account to the survey being placed in the field.