Staff Perception Report

The Staff Perception Report (SPR) gathers feedback from foundation staff members about their experiences and their views of the foundation’s overall operations. The report contains a mix of quantitative and qualitative feedback—giving leadership the opportunity to assess their work environment and culture, to compare their ratings with peer institutions, and to use SPR feedback as a benchmark for internal changes and improvement efforts.

The SPR covers internal perceptions of organizational performance in areas such as:

• Supervisor–subordinate relationships
• Utilization of staff members’ skills and expertise and perceptions of workload
• Internal and group culture
• Perceptions of the funder's grantmaking effectiveness 

The SPR Process

The SPR process takes about three months, starting when surveys are sent to all foundation staff and concluding when CEP finalizes the report and presents findings.

SPR Data in Action

• Doug Kridler, CEO of the Columbus Foundation, describes his staff’s enthusiastic participation in the process, and explains why he chose the SPR over other tools.
• McKnight Foundation President Kate Wolford began her tenure by using the SPR, and by making institutional changes based on her staff’s desire for more clarity and transparency about decision making.
• “An important aspect of The Commonwealth Fund’s performance scorecard is how we manage our human resources. CEP’s Staff Perception Report gives us reliable metrics on our own performance in this regard, as well as valuable benchmark comparisons with peer foundations. The Fund uses the SPR annually. The surveys have alerted us to some issues that needed attention and given us timely feedback on how we are doing in addressing them—while also giving staff a greater appreciation of the organization’s comparative strengths.”
  –John Craig, executive vice president, The Commonwealth Fund

Some Questions the SPR Can Help You Answer