Make It Count: TransLink Surveys at Key Touchpoints
With its large, diverse, and dispersed workforce, TransLink must be deliberate with both its communications and surveying strategies.
In the first year of the Pledge to Measure, TransLink chose to include questions on disability within its biannual inclusion survey, administered by a third party vendor.
Coast Mountain Bus Company (an operating company) drew upon internal expertise from its Communications and Labour Relations teams to edit the survey questions prior to distribution to ensure they were well suited to their approximately 6,000 operationally-focused, unionized employees.
The survey was scheduled to coincide with the quarterly “Sign-up period” for Transit Operators, in which bus drivers visit their respective depots in-person to sign up for the route(s) they will be driving for the next 3 months.
Sign-up period is a key opportunity to interact with Transit Operators and share information, as 40% do not visit the depot on a daily basis, and do not have associated work emails.
In advance of the survey launch, Depot Supervisors and Managers were provided with posters to advertise the survey, explain what information would be collected, and highlight why it was important.
Surveys were printed and placed in a sitting area at the Sign-up location. Due to COVID restrictions, instead of the EDI Team handing out the surveys, supervisors and managers handled the task.
They also went one step further, making drinks and snacks available to foster a comfortable environment where Transit Operators would be more likely to take the time to fill out a survey.
When completed, surveys were placed in locked metal boxes and sent to the external vendor for analysis.
Lesson to apply
Examine workflows and operations to find key touchpoints with staff who are not in the office regularly.
Adding perks for participation can boost employee engagement.