A r c h i v e d  I n f o r m a t i o n

Assess and Analyze Employer, Employee, and Community Needs

Assessment Guidelines

Before decisions can be made about what new or expanded efforts are needed, companies conduct informal or formal assessments. These assessments determine existing levels of company support to employee and family involvement in education; the needs of the population to be served; the priority order of these needs; and the existing resources (human, financial, material) that can meet these needs. Figure 1 provides assessment guidelines for companies to assess their needs both within their organizations and the community.

Assessment Tools

Common forms of assessment to solicit employee and partner feedback include internal company and/or community audits, analysis of records, written surveys, e-mail questionnaires, interviews, focus groups, forums, and meetings. These assessment tools are used by companies and organizations to determine needs related to improving education through employee and family involvement.

Internal company audits can access demographic information about employees: if they have children; ages of their children; their access to child care and other family services; how far away from work they live; whether they commute or live in the community; and their perceptions of local schools. The box below describes the data Marriott International culled from its audit.

Getting to Know You Marriott International operates a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week lodging and food service. Eighty percent of its employees are low-wage earners-hourly, non-exempt employees who are engaged in shift work. Marriott's development of an array of programs to meet employees' needs in balancing family and work life and to increase productivity was gathered through anecdotal information from employees, focus group sessions, and a massive survey targeting 1,600 employees (one-third of whom are managers) in Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington, D.C., and Los Angeles. Through this audit, Marriott accessed the following information. At least 26 different languages are spoken at the company; all communications are conducted in English, Spanish, and eight other languages; 65 written languages are recognized. The audit uncovered the average number of children per employee and the percentage of employees who have dependents under the age of 12 (35 percent) and under the age of 5 (15 percent). Marriott determined how much work time employees had missed because of child care issues; how much they paid for child care; and the kind of care they preferred. The average Marriott executive associate with children younger than 12 is absent four days per year and tardy five days because of child-related issues. Other data collected reflected problems with replacing child care, dual dependency concerns, and elder care, as well as turnover and lower productivity data. For example, Marriott experienced increased resignations during the summer, probably because parents had difficulty getting summer care for their children. Source: Charlene Marmer Solomon, "Marriott's Family Matters," Personnel Journal, October 1991, pp. 40-42.

Community audits. Southern California Edison's community audit included primary and secondary research from local to national sources. This research confirmed the input that was solicited from an Educational Advisory Council and education and community contacts--lack of family involvement is a key factor in determining school success.

Another utility company, UGI Utilities, Inc., asked its HR staff to conduct a simple tally on applicants for entry-level positions--how they complete applications, spell words, etc. Results were astoundingly poor. UGI also looked at workforce development in the area, what industries had left the area, and replacement industries coming in.

Other community audits have focused on how to address the difficulties of being a working parent or a caregiver for an elderly relative. For example, the American Business Collaboration (ABC), initiated in 1992, is a broad national coalition of companies that are working together to help meet dependent care needs of employees and support family involvement in education. WFD, Inc., which provides guidance and expertise to this effort, worked with "champion" members of ABC to identify common issues through a combination of manager interviews, employee focus groups, and survey results. They then recommended specific projects and programs to participating companies in each city for support. Programs for school-age children represent the largest percentage (42 percent) of ABC's agenda because employees expressed such a need.²⁹

Record analysis. Analysis of records encourages organizations to access baseline and longitudinal data on internal and external needs related to employee and family involvement in education. Eastman Kodak Company conducted national comparisons of the percentage of job applicants who are typically rejected for jobs because they do not possess the basic skills; it also examined how much money is spent on remedial training nationally. Kodak used this information as an important component in the development of corporate initiatives to support employee and family involvement in education.

Surveys/Questionnaires. Mattel, Inc. commissioned a national study which revealed that regardless of race, education, or socio-economic status, educational involvement is a priority for parents. However, the help parents provide at home needs to be linked with what teachers are doing in school, but parents lack information about opportunities to participate in schools and schooling. Lack of time and employer flexibility was noted as particular problems for low-income parents who said they need the support of employers willing to provide them with the flexibility to visit schools. This information triggered a community audit and extensive interviews with local and national experts who indicated that many school restructuring initiatives affirmed the value of parent and community involvement, but both schools and parents needed help with linkages to local nonprofit organizations sharing their goals.

Interviews. The Hewlett-Packard Company's assessment became a two-year process that included forming an advisory committee comprising managers from government affairs, public affairs, and philanthropy; interviewing principals and teachers; interviewing local and regional elected officials; and getting input from experts in the field.

Sikorsky Aircraft had very up-to-date policies, full benefits for part-time employees, flex-time since the mid-1980s, part-time, work at home, and job-sharing since the early 1990s, but people were not utilizing them. In order to learn about employee and management concerns and issues with these programs, Sikorsky conducted informal interviews with associates and managers to determine their perceptions of the programs and services. Interviews also accessed information from the people who were taking advantage of flexible work arrangements. Interviewers discussed how the employees' participation came about and how it was working.

Focus groups, forums, meetings. Discovery Communications consistently assesses teachers nationally through focus groups and forums. By listening to them, the company determines teachers' instructional and curriculum interests and needs.

Through the Reinventing Education grant program, IBM Corporation asked superintendents, principals, teachers, and other school district personnel a single question: "Based on your experiences with school reform and your commitment to high academic standards, is there an issue that you think has been a barrier to your progress that could be overcome or ameliorated by technology?" Their answers provided IBM with 10 projects-each dedicated to finding new ways technology could help people on the front lines to raise student achievement. Working with school districts and state departments of education, IBM is creating customized technologies focused on a range of issues, including professional development, assessment, school-based decision-making, reading, integrated math/science curriculum, flexible scheduling, and parent involvement.

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