What is an Employer Survey?
The employer survey is one of the tools used to identify current and future labour market demand, generating data on employers’ skills needs and the investment required to develop them.
It is important to collect data about the skills demands of the labour market and how these can be satisfied from the employer's perspective. The employer has a key role in determining the content of jobs, the skills required by the workers in those jobs, the applicable levels of remuneration, and the training to be provided to employees, etc.
Success factors: maximising the focus to take advantage of employer surveys
Database: checking the validity of lists of companies and contacts
Objective: clearly explaining the objective and focus of the survey
KISS the questionnaire: keeping it short and simple with a limited number of questions that won't take too long to answer – employers are busy!
Questions:
- Carefully select the questions to meet the specific objectives of the survey.
- Ask only factual questions.
- Avoid sensitive questions or making questions optional.
- Be precise.
Testing the questionnaire before launching the survey
Focus groups and expert panels to interpret the results
Regularity in conducting the survey
Combining the interpretation of the results with other sources of information
Implementation steps
1. Defining objectives, resources and timing
Having clear objectives for the survey will influence and facilitate all the further steps. Checking the financial and human resources available will define the scope and method of the implementation; for example, quantitative and face-to-face surveys are more expensive and take longer to implement.
2. Choosing the survey methodology: quantitative or qualitative
Fieldwork comprises the process of data collection using survey methods such as:
- Face-to-face interviews
- Telephone interviews
- Postal interviews
- Online surveys
3. Defining the scope of the suvey: the geographical scope (national, regional) and the sectoral scope (all sectors, one sector)
The target groups need to be carefully defined: geographical area (national, regional, local); economic sectors (all or some sectors, based on the International Standard Industrial Classification, ISIC Rev.4); company size (small, medium, large companies); specific adjustments of the survey/target groups according to the specific country context (e.g. large informal economy, large share of micro and small companies, sectoral/geographical diversity).
4. Defining the survey sample design based on the companies database
Identification of the research population (universe) requires the full knowledge of existing enterprises in a given country, which is generally collected by statistical institutes through business surveys (or censuses). Surveys can cover all existing enterprises (censuses) or a representative sample.
5. Building the questionnaire
The questionnaire should follow the objective to be achieved. At the same time, applying a clear typology and classification will facilitate completion of the questionnaire and further analysis.
- Classifying economic sectors: e.g. ISIC, NACE
- Classifying occupations: e.g. ISCO, ESCO
- Classifying qualification levels: e.g. ISCED, EQF
- Skills typologies: e.g. technical skills, soft skills, foundation skills
6. Defining involvement and responsibilities in conducting the survey, data collection and analysis: who, how, when?
Conducting a survey requires a clear definition of tasks and responsibilities, both within the organisation and among stakeholders. Very often other institutions are responsible for some of the elements involved (e.g. the register or database of companies), thus establishing a mode of cooperation is important for the success of the activity.
7. Completing data collection and data analysis
Once the design of the employer survey has been agreed, piloting and fieldwork must be conducted based on the survey method chosen. Data collection is followed by data analysis (mostly in statistical programmes such as STATA, SPSS or using internet-based free software i.e. QTAFI) and reporting of the findings. Discussions could be organised on the results of surveys for wider validation and dissemination.
8. Use of results: dissemination, use in policy-making
Very often surveys are conducted but their outcomes are shared only within a limited group. Wider dissemination would facilitate fruitful exchanges and better interpretation of the results. A combination of the findings from different sources would also better direct policy formulation.
9. Periodicity and continuity
Deciding on frequency and continuity: results are more valuable and reliable when surveys are conducted regularly, as this can detect changes over time, assist in the monitoring and evaluation of policies, and help researchers to infer causation from the data.
Most common survey methods
Fieldwork is the process of data collection using different methods. The most common survey methods are:
Face-to-face interviews
This is the most frequently used method of collecting quantitative and qualitative data. The advantages of personal interviews come from the direct communication. The interviews are usually conducted at the place of residence of the respondents, in order to allow more time for the process and to ensure any clarifications can be given that may mitigate errors and misunderstandings.
However, such interviews are more costly than other methods as the interviewers need to be specially trained and more time needs to be dedicated to reaching the interviewees.
Face-to-face interviews can be assisted by technology: the CAPI (Computer Assisted Personal Interview) method represents the tech evolution of face-to-face research. Data are collected by an interviewer in a face-to-face (and not virtual) meeting with the respondent.
Using a smartphone, tablet or PC, the interviewer can carry out the interview and send back the answers in real time.
Telephone interviews
Telephone interviews are another common method, and with no need for displacement, it is more efficient in terms of time and resources. Currently, this method is also often supported by technology: in the CATI methodology (Computer Assisted Telephone Interview), which improves and simplifies telephone interviewing process, the software automatically supports and leads the interviewer during data collection. Questions are displayed on the computer followed by the possible answers that the respondents may give.
This methodology has several advantages:
- High quality of collected data by avoiding misinterpretation or incorrect question administering;
- Time reduction: call-back is automatically managed by the system, the interviewer can also directly insert the data without using paper (with all its issues);
- Greater accuracy: being a questionnaire displayed on a computer and completely automated, there is relatively little room for errors or unclear compiling;
- Complete control on the progress of the interview process: a recap function allows the checking in real time of how many interviews have been completed and how many are incomplete or have been dropped.
Online surveys
Online surveys have become very popular thanks to the use of modern tools, supported by CAWI methodology (Computer Assisted Web Interviewing). Using CAWI, a wider and more generic population can be reached. A link is sent to the respondents via email and they just follow the link to complete the questionnaire independently. It is a simple and less costly method:
Step 1. The software autonomously send the emails and takes care of their subsequent classification. Finished questionnaires are marked as completed, with no need for extra control.
Step 2. The respondent is invited to participate (usually) via email and clicks on the link to answer the questionnaire.
In order to carry out a CAWI survey the email addresses of all the potential respondents need to be kept up to date. In addition, the tool exercises automatic control of the responses
However, errors might be more frequent as some questions might be misunderstood and there is nobody to provide any further explanation. Moreover, it might be difficult to ensure a high response rate from the target population, as people are rather reluctant to reply to such questionnaires.
Which method is the best?
There is no straightforward answer to the question of which method is best, and all of them have their advantages and disadvantages. The method chosen needs to be appropriate to the context, and very often a combination of different methods is used to improve the results.
Overcoming challenges
- Establishing contacts with employers’ representatives to build trust and partnerships. It is important to understand from the outset employers' perceptions of the relevance of specific skills to their companies' growth and the kinds of skills they value.
- Designing the questionnaire in consultation with employers (or their representatives). Clear and simple questions should be used that can be easily understood by employers and provide relevant information.
- Keeping the questionnaire as simple and short as possible. It is crucial to balance the need for data (information) against the time required to answer the survey.
- Designing specific outputs that target employers and would encourage them to participate. The outputs of the survey supply the employers involved with interesting and useful information.
- Implementing actions to help develop a sense of 'ownership' of the data among the employers. The survey data and its results must be accessible and also easily understandable and usable by employers and the broader public.
How to ensure good results?
- Conduct pre-tests of the questionnaire.
- Ensure there is a rigorous follow-up procedure to complete the information gathered.
- Organise additional focus group discussions and expert panels to better understand respondents' answers.
- Combine the results with other sources of information.