Pre-decision Considerations
The OLA is an assessment of your organization or team (not an assessment of an individual leader). It is designed to be completed by everyone in the organization or group to provide a comprehensive view of how the organizational culture and leadership is being experienced by people from different position levels in the organization (1 – Top Leaders, 2- Managers/Supervisors and 3- the Workforce). Determine if the OLA is the right instrument for your assessment needs and talk to your SLP representative on how the OLA can best be used to meet your organizational assessment needs.
Setting Up For Your OLA Assessment
Once you have made the decision to use the OLA, the Contact person assigned by your organization will provide the necessary information to your SLP representative to set up your organization for the assessment. This information will include:
- Basic information on your organization
- Information on the Contact person from your organization who will be implementing the OLA
- Sub-groups (If desired) – The OLA allows you to identify sub-groups within the larger organization (departments, locations, functions) for which you would like to see a separate OLA report in addition to the Total Organization report you will receive.
- Subgroups should be clearly identifiable by those who will take the OLA as they will self-select their subgroup while completing the OLA
- There needs to be a subgroup for all participants to select one group
- The subgroups should not be too small (10 or under) since that may create uncertainty about confidentiality in your participants
- Talk to your OLA representative to review your organizational chart to determine the best way to identify sub-groups and how what reports you desire.
- Cost: The OLA costs only $15 per OLA instrument used and this includes your Total Organization report. Additional Sub-groups reports are $100 each.
- The number of OLA instruments you will need – you will only pay for the instruments that are used so you are not financially committed to this initial number.
[Click here for OLA setup information needed]
One your set-up information has been gathered, reviewed for accuracy and your OLA setup complete, your Contact person will receive through email your OLA Instructional Email which provides you with two critical sections of information.
- Your “Take the OLA” Message –provides you with a brief introduction to the OLA along with step-by-step instructions for how to assess and complete the OLA online, including your unique Org. Code # and PIN#.
- You will use this information to send out to all who are asked to participate
- You may customize the message of this email to better fit your organization
- Your “Track the OLA Process” Information – this provides the Contact person with a Username and Password (chosen when providing your OLA setup information) that the Contact person will use to access the OLA website to monitor the completion of the OLA. This will provide you with the number of completed OLA instrument by position/role level and by sub-groups. With this real-time information you can determine when to send out reminder notices and when to close out the assessment.
Implementing and Monitoring the OLA Assessment
Using the information from your OLA Instructional Email you will email out your “How to take the OLA” instructions to all participants. Everything is communicated through email and the OLA is completed completely online. The average completion time for the OLA is 15 minutes.
- It is very important that you instruct your people clearly as to which position/role level they should choose (either – Top Leader, Manager/Supervisor, Workforce). You may want to customize your “Take the OLA” message for each of these groups and email out a different set of directions indicating which of these positions they should select.
- You will want to place a deadline date for when you desire participants to complete the OLA
Click below for sample Take the OLA email indicating sub-groups and position selection
[Top Leader customized OLA email]
[Manager/Supervisor customized OLA email]
[Workforce customized OLA email]
Using the unique user name and password, the Contact person may monitor the completion of the OLA to determine when to send out reminder notices and when to close out the assessment. When you have received sufficient participation, notify your SLP representative to ask for your reports. You will receive a Total Organization report plus a full report on all sub-groups. These reports will be provided to you within 2-3 days in pdf format.
Following Up the OLA Assessment
The OLA report is presented in an understandable 26-page format using a combination of narrative description with color graphics to provide a wealth of information about your organization and its current level of health. Work with your SLP representative for a customized follow-up plan that may include all or part of the following.
- Meeting with your leadership team to review and explain the OLA results
- This meeting could be done in as little as 2-3 hours though a full day is recommended to begin to understand the implications of your results and how to include the whole organization in improvement efforts
- Conducting OLA report review sessions with those who participated in the OLA
- It is critical that people who participate in an assessment like this have the opportunity to review and understand the results. Sharing your results openly increases trust and the willingness to participate in future assessments
- The purpose of the OLA is to provide a snapshot of your organization’s health so that you can begin working toward improvement. These report review sessions are designed to provide accurate information and the opportunity to collect ideas for improvement from all participants within a positive and forward looking atmosphere.
- Ongoing organizational development projects and training opportunities to assist the organization in improvement efforts. Work with your SLP representative on customizing facilitation, training and interventions to assist your teams in seeking improvement.
- Plan ahead for 10-12 months to retake the OLA to show progress in improving your organization’s health.