After an organization has conducted an employee engagement survey further dialogue may be required to validate and clarify results, unearth the root causes of issues, and provide deeper insights that feed into and assist with action planning. Employee focus groups probe identified problems and causes, and surface suggested solutions. The process allows participants to contribute without much preparation or effort, and promotes a healthy sense among employees that they’re genuinely being “heard.”
Here is an easy to follow, step-by-step guide on how to dig deep and get the most out of your focus group efforts:
Finding an experienced facilitator is the most important thing you can do to ensure good results from your focus groups. The facilitator guides conversation by asking questions, probing to clarify answers, keeping the group on topic, and making sure everyone is heard. These skills take practice. Make sure your facilitator has run focus groups in the past. The following skills and characteristics are beneficial:
Energetic – keeps the discussion lively, interesting, and productive.
Personable – puts participants at ease early in the session so they can comfortably and actively participate in discussions.
Agile thinker – handles quick changes in the session.
Organized – develops an effective written agenda and produces results within the preferred time frame.
Active listener- attends to each participant, clarifying meanings by using probing techniques such as paraphrasing.
Remembers – connects a participant’s current statement to a previous statement, developing a better understanding of the participant’s feelings and stimulating more discussion.
Knowledgeable- possesses background knowledge on the topic and organization. Experienced.
The reporter or note taker plays a vital role in a focus group discussion. This scribe must capture as much accurate detail from the discussion as possible and note participant comments, group dynamics, and interesting shifts in conversation. While it’s best to make an audio recording of your focus groups to ensure there’s a complete record of what was discussed, it’s still important to have a note taker present as both an observer and reporter.
Yes-or-no questions are one dimensional and don’t stimulate discussion. “Why” questions can put people on the defensive and may lead to “politically correct” responses on controversial issues. Open-ended questions are the most useful because they allow participants to tell their story in their own words and add details that can result in unanticipated insights.
Scheduling – plan meetings to be one to two hours long. Over lunch seems to be a good time for participants to find time to attend. Provide refreshments especially if the session is held over lunch.
Location/setting – hold sessions in a conference room or other setting with adequate air flow and lighting. Some other factors to consider when choosing a location:
Outline the flow of questions and topics to be covered. Build time into the discussion guide to pursue topics of interest that are raised by participants during the discussion and reveal ideas or sentiments that weren’t predicted. A typical employee focus group agenda includes:
Develop a list of attributes to guide the selection of participants. Typically you’ll want participants who cover a cross section of these attributes, such as:
As a general guideline you can also follow the outline below:
Each focus group should comprise 6 to 10 people to allow for smooth conversation flow. The common practice is to invite one and one-half as many people as you want to come (for a 66% response rate). For a focus group of 6 to 10 this means inviting between 9 and 15 participants for each session.
To ensure open and honest input, keep manager sessions separate from non-manager focus groups. One-on-one interviews are recommended for executives if they’re going to be part of the process.
To understand how employee engagement increases employee productivity it’s important to put employee engagement into context and…
Are meetings really a waste of time? Not all of them. Not all the time.…
When people think of diversity and inclusion in the workplace the first image that often…
New technologies can impact organizations and their work cultures in many ways. They can save…
As the COVID-19 crisis sweeps the globe, businesses are rapidly adjusting to current conditions and…
Imagine a circle with an employee or manager in the centre and employees who work…