 Public
Opinion Surveys – Cost-effective Friend or Financial Foe?
Once again, the almighty ACI listserv brings to the table a very good
question with multiple good resources. First of all, what is a public
opinion survey, and why would you need one done for your organization?
It just so happens in this issue of The Balance Wheel we have an article
co-written by Mark Damian Duda and Joy Yoder of Responsive Management
- one of the leading public opinion survey firms in the U.S – and Beth
Brown, public information program manager from the Georgia Department
of Natural Resources. This article explains what types of surveys were
conducted to give Georgia credible information to formulate a plan for
the coming decade.
In the next Balance Wheel issue we will follow-up
with an article explaining how Georgia used the information to not only
make a plan, but validate the reasoning behind it. Oftentimes an agency
would like to hire a company like Responsive Management but lacks the
immediate funds to do so. We will cover other cost-effective options
in the spring issue of the Balance Wheel. For now, let’s find out the
benefits gained and processes undertaken to formulate a 10-year plan
for Georgia….
Effective Assessments of Agency Priorities and Programs
By: Mark Damian Duda, Joy Yoder, and Beth Brown
Agencies Need to Look Inside & Out
Today, it is of vital importance that wildlife and conservation agencies
operate with a clear direction for the future. In order to effectively
manage wildlife populations and to meet the outdoor recreation needs
of the public, fisheries, wildlife and natural resource organizations
need to be armed with the knowledge of the program needs and priorities
that exist among both internal employees and the public at large. The
strongest and most effective future directions arise out of both internal
evaluations, an “inside-out” approach, combined with external evaluations,
an “outside-in” approach.
Assessment from the “inside-out” means an organization takes a detailed
look at where it wants to go as an organization, sets realistic goals
and measurable objectives, evaluates its mission and undertakes the
job of better understanding the organization’s internal attitudes, values
and vision for the future.
Assessment from the “outside-in” means an organization gains a better
understanding of and working relationship with its various constituents
and the general public by learning the opinions, attitudes and program
priorities of those external constituents toward fisheries, wildlife,
and natural resources.
A thorough understanding of an organization’s internal workings placed
within the proper context of its external environment makes for the
most informed approach to creating policies and strategies for the future.
Georgia DNR Plans “Direction for the Decade”
Recently, Responsive Management, in cooperation with the Georgia Wildlife
Resources Division (WRD), conducted both an internal evaluation of Georgia
WRD employees and an external evaluation of WRD stakeholders and Georgia
residents to assess these constituent groups’ wildlife values and priorities.
This information was used to assist the WRD in setting program priorities
for the upcoming decade as part of the WRD’s “Direction for the Decade”
project. In short, the study was conducted to assess the challenges
that the WRD will face and to help formulate strategies to meet those
challenges in the coming decade. graph of survey
results
Focus Groups and Mail Surveys Help Make Plan
The study entailed three focus groups with WRD employees and one focus
group with stakeholders. Three of the focus groups were conducted as
face-to-face discussions; the fourth was conducted via telephone conferencing
due to the widely varying geographic distribution of stakeholders. Employee
focus groups assessed opinions on and attitudes toward WRD programs.
The focus group moderator helped keep the discussion within design parameters
without exerting a strong influence on the discussion content.
Working From the Inside-Out
The various methodologies used to produce this report targeted both
“inside-out” evaluations and “outside-in” evaluations. The “inside-out”
evaluation of the WRD included the employee focus groups previously
mentioned and a mail survey. These tactics sought to garner feedback
from the “inside-out” about how employees felt toward the present program
priorities and the future of the WRD. By learning the perceptions and
attitudes of its own employees, the WRD gained insight into those program
areas that need growth and improvement and identified areas of high
effectiveness. Including an “inside-out” evaluation, employees are given
valuable input into their own task evaluations and are allowed to become
active participants in the direction of the agency.
Past Responsive Management experience has indicated that “inside-out”
evaluations often elicit some of the clearest, most valuable identification
of both weak and strong areas within wildlife agencies. Employees of
fisheries, wildlife, and natural resource organizations often have strong
opinions and values toward the work they perform, and they often possess
some of the best information for identifying program priorities and
needed strategies for effective fisheries, wildlife and natural resource
management.
Working From the Outside-In
The “outside-in” evaluation of the WRD included one focus group with
stakeholders, a mail survey to stakeholders and a telephone survey of
the Georgia general population. For the general population survey, telephones
were selected as the preferred sampling medium because nearly all residents
of Georgia have access to a telephone, and telephone surveys elicit
higher response rates and produce a more representative sample than
do general population mail surveys.
The goal of the “outside-in” evaluation was to gain an understanding
of the attitudes of external constituents toward the WRD and the values
they place on fisheries, wildlife and natural resources. By learning
the attitudes and values that external constituents hold toward fisheries,
wildlife and natural resources, the Georgia WRD can successfully design
and implement program priorities, wildlife management plans and conservation
efforts that will enjoy broad public support.
In today’s tight budget constraints the need for broad public support
for fisheries, wildlife and conservation efforts is critical. Guided
by the knowledge of the program priorities that the public values along
with the knowledge of the type of messages that resonate with the public,
fisheries, wildlife and natural resource organizations can effectively
lobby public support and improve constituent relationships. For example,
a very strong majority of Georgia residents felt that protecting threatened
and endangered species (96 percent) and monitoring/inventorying wildlife
populations on state-owned land (94 percent) are extremely, very or
somewhat important. Given this understanding of the general population,
the WRD could strengthen public support by advertising those programs,
which it already implements to protect threatened or endangered species
and properly manage wildlife populations. Only by fostering good, healthy
public relations and education outreach can wildlife and natural resource
organizations ensure a bright tomorrow supported by public opinion and
adequate funding.
Bringing it All Together
When an agency or organization has a thorough knowledge of the attitudes
of both internal and external constituents, commonalities and differences
in these groups become evident. For example, in the area of outdoor
recreation, the largest percentage of the general population (95percent)
indicated it is important that the WRD provide wildlife-viewing opportunities
on state-owned land, while the largest percentage of WRD employees (97percent)
indicated it is important to provide hunting opportunities on state-owned
land. Commonalities are also identified. All constituent groups, both
internal and external, rated providing safety training for hunters as
the number one education program priority of the WRD.
The knowledge gained from a thorough evaluation of both internal and
external constituents provides the Georgia WRD with valuable knowledge
to improve programs and to build strong partnerships. Awareness of the
program priorities of employees and the general population produces
long-term benefits to fisheries, wildlife, and natural resource organizations
and creates Division plans that address important program priorities
for years to come.The Georgia Wildlife Resources Division has formed
an internal committee to review the survey findings and develop recommendations
for the future of the agency based on program areas identified as having
high importance and low performance by agency associates, stakeholders
and/or the public. More information on the internal process used and
the recommendations for the future of the agency will be provided in
the next issue of The Balance Wheel.
what else is in this issue?
|
