Reports & Services

For over fifteen years, our consultants have been supporting colleges and universities across the country get the most out of their participation in the Great Colleges to Work For Program. The Post-Survey Process Consultation is designed to do just that. We will review your post-survey communication plans, advise on action planning and share best practices and current trends to engage senior leaders and key stakeholder groups. We will also create space to address any questions and/or concerns that you and your colleagues might have, for example:

While some institutions have extensive capabilities in survey analysis, many do not have expertise with the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey© survey instrument and its underlying constructs. And, at some institutions, the objective perspective of a content expert from outside the institution is better positioned to navigate the internal politics. Given our knowledge of the survey instrument and our collective experience analyzing and summarizing survey data sets at hundreds of colleges and universities, we can quickly and efficiently provide institutional leaders with a summary of their survey findings.

We will identify elements that emerge as cultural strengths and play critical roles in the day-to-day experience of your faculty and staff and the health of your institution’s culture. We will address the potential vulnerabilities and soft spots that, left unaddressed, might undermine your efforts to create the best employment experience possible, or worse, exacerbate human capital risk exposure. And, we will provide important context regarding national trends and best practices and provide relevant benchmarks so that you can better understand not just the strengths and opportunities of your culture, but also how it measures up against your peers. The Findings Presentation deck can be used as a resource for additional internal presentations.

In this post-pandemic environment, virtual meeting and presentation capabilities have created opportunities for enhanced flexibility and efficiency. Sometimes, however, there is no substitute for the benefit of being face-to-face, particularly when the ability to read the room and manage distinct personalities is critical to having meaningful conversation.

ModernThink Consultants are regularly engaged to support our clients onsite. Sometimes, that’s to deliver Findings Presentations in-person to senior leadership teams. This can be particularly helpful in cases where the leadership is relatively new or has undergone transition or when there may be some concern that senior leaders might have some level of “data-denial”.

In other situations, clients find it helpful to have an objective, external expert deliver Findings Presentations to key stakeholder groups (e.g., Provost’s Council, Faculty Senate, Staff Council, Board of Trustees, Well-being Committees). Similarly, ModernThink Consultants are well-positioned to support large scale Open Forums and/or Town Hall meetings and more informal open office hours.

The open-ended questions on the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey are designed to help you better understand what your faculty and staff appreciate most about working at your institution and to solicit their input on how their employment experience could be even better. Whether you perform that analysis, or we assist, the insight, ideas, and suggestions “buried” within those comments merit “mining”.

In lower trust environments, it’s often helpful to have a third party perform that analysis, particularly if there are concerns about anonymity and confidentiality. The quantitative data from the belief statements tell a story of the day-to-day experience of your faculty and staff. The Comments Analysis brings that story to life.

Our Executive Summary is just that…a succinct, narrative findings report for senior leaders. Typically, ranging between 3-5 pages long, this high-level summary provides senior leaders with what they “need to know.” We identify key findings, potential risk exposure and relevant context as to how the results measure up against peers. This stand-alone summary is readily accessible, easily digestible, and ultimately, actionable.

While it cannot replicate the benefits of a real-time, interactive Findings Presentation with a ModernThink Consultant, the Executive Summary can be an efficient option when senior leadership or the board requests a brief narrative report.

A survey provides information about what faculty and staff are thinking and feeling. Focus groups provide additional insight into the why underlying these perceptions. Our consultants are skilled in designing and facilitating focus group processes, where participants feel comfortable sharing candid feedback. The final Focus Group Report includes a summary of themes and recommendations that can inform effective action. Special focus group packages and pricing have been designed specifically for Great Colleges participants. Focus groups can be conducted virtually or in-person.

Administering a survey is only the beginning; it is what happens next that matters. Leaders are most effective in using survey results to drive organizational change and improve performance when they are supported by well-prepared internal champions. We have designed the Train-the-Trainer Workshop Series to give HR Business Partners and other internal champions the information, skills and tools they need to provide that support.

These sessions include a deep dive into the ModernThink Higher Education Insight Survey and address topics such as influence and collaboration, sources of resistance, approaches to data sharing as well as templates for action planning, goal setting, project management, measurement and ownership. Sessions are customizable and employ a high-impact delivery strategy that blends virtual and in-person sessions.

Decades of research have identified that a significant percentage of change initiatives fail to fully deliver hoped-for outcomes. These experiential Implementation Workshops provide leaders, managers and internal champions with the concrete tools necessary to successfully identify both what actions to take and how to implement them.

Participants will leave each session with skills, tools and templates that can be immediately applied to their specific situation. Sessions are customizable and employ a high-impact delivery strategy that blends virtual and in-person sessions.

Surveys have the potential to positively impact an institution’s culture if action is taken based on the results. Taking no action can erode trust and lead to feelings of cynicism and mistrust. The customized ModernThink Action Planning Guide© pairs a proven action planning process with worksheets and templates that are prepopulated with client data.

The Guide includes a toolkit of resource sheets covering the typical areas of focus for action planning. This offering also includes a 90-minute consultation on how to leverage the Guide, including methods and processes for involving others in analysis and action planning.

To schedule a conversation with a member of our consulting team, simply send an email to consulting@modernthink.com or call 1.888.684.4658.