SURVEY POLICY

To: Survey Respondents

Subj: POLICY REGARDING THE COMMAND CLIMATE SURVEY (CCS) PROCESS

1. Background. The Command Climate Survey (CCS) was developed to aid commanders in assessing the overall health and readiness of their unit.
   
   
2. Policy. The purpose of this survey is to gather respondents' perceptions of their unit's command climate associated with leadership issues and to provide survey feedback to unit commanders. To protect the integrity of the process, the CCS will be implemented with the following principles. Violating these principles could endanger the accuracy of the survey data:
   
   
   1. Individual Survey Responses are Anonymous - The responses of individual respondents (Marines or Sailors within the unit) are protected and not identifiable in the system. All Marines and Sailors taking the survey must be free to respond without concern for reprisal, real or perceived.
      
      
   2. Unit Level Survey Results are Restricted - The survey results for a unit belong to the command. Every commander is responsible for advising higher headquarters of the readiness of the command and the CCS results will form part of such assessment. Survey results can be provided to higher headquarters in an aggregated format (e.g., Division CG can be provided responses given by all personnel in the Division for a set period - but the responses will not be identified to subordinate units).
      
      
   3. Ability to Conduct Targeted Research/Analysis of Data - Approved researchers in the academic or military environment may be provided limited access to data in order to study specific issues regarding leadership, climate, and culture. The identity of the individual surveyed or their battalion/squadron or Regiment/Group will not be provided.
      
      
3. Process.
   
   
   1. The CO/OIC may designate a Command Survey Administrator to schedule the survey and monitor progress. It is recommended that the Survey Administrator be the first person in the command to take the CCS so that they are prepared to answer any questions from respondents.
      
      
   2. The survey is conducted by assignment of an access code to the Survey Administrator, who distributes the code and survey website address to the Marines, Civilian Marines, and Sailors in the unit. Respondents may take the survey securely on any government or personal computer, or other device with Internet access within the timeframe established by the Survey Administrator. Commands that cannot ensure Internet connectivity may request and distribute the CCS in a spreadsheet format. COs with geographically separated subunits may authorize separate survey codes and debriefs. In that case, only the subordinate OICs would receive the results. Subdividing the survey, or use of spreadsheet responses should be discussed with the survey provider at the time of set up. Subdividing units should be an exception and not routine.
      
      
   3. The unit survey administrator has the capability of monitoring the number of respondents that have completed the surveys. The CCS is considered complete when the unit notifies the survey provider via telephone (888-603-3170) or email (surveys@AdvancedSurveyDesign.com) that the unit has attained maximum survey participation. The survey provider will NOT contact the unit CO with a debrief until notified.
      
      
   4. Upon completion, the survey provider will provide a code to the CO/OIC in order to access CCS results. The survey provider will guide the CO/OIC through the results and assist in identifying findings or issues. The CO/OIC may, at their discretion, conduct this review in a conference call with key staff or leaders, or solely with the survey provider. The debrief will include analysis and recommendations concerning specific areas of interest. Since the command owns the survey data, they may share the results of the survey data with whomever it chooses. For unit surveys set up after 13 November 2014, future COs may review the results of the last two CCS surveys taken by the previous CO.
      
      
   5. The survey provider will provide aggregate data and analysis to higher headquarters staff on request, or may provide certain program level staff with direct access to aggregate data. Aggregate data will reflect multiple units and will not be identifiable to a specific command. COs/OICs are expected to utilize survey results and findings openly in their discussions with higher headquarters leadership in order to establish goals and align resources for areas that may require improvement.
      
      
   6. An initial, change of command, or annual survey of any higher level command shall only include that unit's headquarters/command element, and not require a survey of subordinate commands.