An application of the survey‐feedback method in a service operation

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Abstract
As the nature of the U.S. economy has become more service oriented, the field of operations management has broadened to address the unique problems of managing service operations. Most service operations are highly labor intensive, and efforts to improve system performance cannot ignore the attitudes and behaviors of the workers. The survey‐feedback method is a potentially promising technique for operations managers to gauge the attitudes of workers and to allow workers to provide input for solving problems. This paper provides evidence of the usefulness of survey‐feedback techniques for operations managers by describing an application in an actual operating environment.The survey‐feedback process involves (1) administering a survey instrument to the workers in order to assess their attitudes, (2) conducting feedback sessions to discuss work attitudes and ways of improving performance, and (3) implementing operating changes based on the input provided by the workers. This research involved a two‐year project in a major electrical utility where the survey‐feedback process was used to reduce the nonproductive time of traveling work crews engaged in repair and maintenance tasks. Prior to the study, a disturbing upward trend existed in the nonproductive time of the work crews.A survey instrument was designed to assess worker attitudes in five areas believed to be related to the problem of time utilization: communication, organizational rewards, job scheduling, supervision, and job satisfaction. Feedback sessions were held in which the summarized survey responses were presented, and potential causes for the high nonproductive time were discussed. Based on the suggestions of the workers, management made a number of operating changes involving equipment maintenance and required training for workers and supervisors.Nonproductive time was monitored by the use of direct observation time study at regular intervals both before and after the changes were made. Also, the survey instrument was administered again at the end of the two‐year period to see if the expressed worker attitudes had improved. To provide a basis for comparing performance, a control group of workers was established that participated in the surveys, but these workers were excluded from the feedback sessions and had no input into the operating changes that were made.The results showed that a dramatic downturn in nonproductive time occurred during the two‐year study period. The downturn occurred after the operating changes were made, and it was observed in both the test and control groups. The improvement in nonproductive time is related directly to the operating changes made by management. Despite the fact that these changes were based on input provided by the workers, no positive changes in worker attitudes were observed on the survey variables over the two‐year period. The results provide evidence that the survey‐feedback process can be effective in changing the behavior of workers in a service operation, but not necessarily their attitudes. These results are very similar to the findings of another major study of the survey‐feedback method which was done in a completely different operations environment.