Measurement Matters

Back to work…

susanewalker — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:51:33 +0000

Next task will be the review my draft to update before sending off to Kogan Page for their input and constructive criticisms (which am looking forward to). It is easy to be so familiar with your material that comments that seem clear to you may be obscure to others. That’s where feedback is so valuable – makes you look at what you have written again to make it comprehensible to the reader…

Publication go!

susanewalker — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:07:07 +0000

Good news – book to be published by major business publisher Kogan Page late 2012. I need to get more of an international dimension so have some interviews organised and also stronger input from HR…next on my list!

Time can tell…

susanewalker — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 22:30:47 +0000

I’m firm believer in the power of a good editor – it is always hard to edit one’s own work…however, I’ve found that putting it aside for a while has made it much easier to be self-critical. Because you can’t recall your own thinkng it means you can suddenly ask yourself – what is meant by that? could be more succinct? Not easy to understand the reasoning – so currently doing a self-edit before the professionals take over…

Back on the case at last…

susanewalker — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 19:30:41 +0000

“What happened to your book?” A question I have been asked many times in the past year…having come across problems (I won’t bore you with the details) I became so frustrated I put the whole book in a drawer and shut it! But now persuaded to return by friends and colleagues I have opened the drawer and back on the case! So more news shortly after I have dusted off the pages…I(I’m talking about the printed out version of course!)

After a pause,,,

susanewalker — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 07:37:29 +0000

Having sent the first draft to the publishers I took a short pause from writing my book about internal research. This gave me the opportunity to reflect (as well as check the copy with those I had interviewed). A number of other ideas emerged (to be incorporated) and also a feeling that I should be more “up front” in the introduction about the poorresearch that is around…I believe that this pause will – I hope – improve the final version but also emphasised that as a colleague reminded me – one should set a date to say “enough”…otherwise redrafting would go on forever.

First draft finished..

susanewalker — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 21:32:18 +0000

At last the first draft is with the publishers – later than anticipated but that is probably always the story! One great help was advice from others and also comms colleagues who read sections and came up with some constructive comments…thank you! I still have all the appendices to do – my plan is to see the book as a gateway to further information as this field is never static. Which is another reason for the hold up – each time I thought I had completed the draft I read another book or saw another website…and there are still some new concepts I have not included…back to the draft I think! The latest book was Daniel Pink’s Drive which has some interesting ideas about motivation.

Planning the action…

susanewalker — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 08:40:23 +0000

This should be the easy section for me as it was due to my work on the action planning when I was communication manager that I was invited to join MORI’s comms and HR research practice. But it wasn’t. There was almost too much material and I found it hard to bring order to many ideas and create a consistent theme…One problem is that aspects of measurement are not consecutive but concurrent so it is only when the whole is read that it makes sense…action planning, for instance, should be there from the beginning. In fact I am a believer in starting with the end and envisaging the presentation before embarking on any planning. Now the main three sections – basics, strategy and action have been drafted I am moving on to the “conversations” with professionals in the field so the book is not just my own thinking but listens to others…

What makes employee research different?

susanewalker — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 07:42:14 +0000

What makes research among employees different from other research? There are four main factors:

• The audience may have a varied profile but is one community with a common interest in their organisation

• Deep understanding of that organisation, its business, market, culture and people is essential

• Its purpose is to listen, interpret, give feedback and develop ways to bring active improvements

• There is no end point: it can, and should, form a continuing close relationship with all in the organisation

When I was asked the question it made me realise that one can be so close to the topic that you don’t ask the obvious question. I would say that it combines research and consultancy (but of course other research areas might claim that) and Ii outlined the above for my book. What do you think? Anything to change/ add?

Brand matters

susanewalker — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:21:32 +0000

Interesting conversation with Simon Barrow and Jenny Davenport at People in Business about employer branding and Simon will be sending me a few well thought out words on the topic. We also talked about mergers and acquisitions and this really brought home to me that this was an ommission so far in the book. With so many organisations joining together (e.g. Kraft and Cadbury) with their very different cultures, this has be be a vital issue increasing in importance. It can cause much concern (sometimes well founded) but is clearly an opportunity for research to help guide and direct these changes. So am on the case now!!

Great feedback…

susanewalker — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 09:41:40 +0000

Yesterday met with Lyn Roseaman, a former colleague at MORI, who had kindly agreed to look at my first section: The basics. This turned out to be most valuable – sometimes one can be so close to the subject that some obvious points get overlooked. Lyn asked how is employee research different from other types of research – I had overloooked this basic point thinking it as a given. But not as Lyn pointed out, for some readers. She also spotted some research “jargon” which I need to simplify. Jonathan at Gower is a great editor but it can also be useful to get other experts in the field to look over what you have written. There may be some aspects/points that you forgot to include – I certainly did, so thank you Lyn!