March 08 Issue - Employee Monthly Magazine

Goal: Communicate effectively with our employees, customers, community, stakeholders, and the public at large

More work to be done: 2007 Community Leaders Survey shows improvement

Ever wonder what your neighbors really think about you? For the past nine years, the Laboratory has done more than just wonder. It has commissioned an annual survey by Research and Polling Inc. in Albuquerque to find out what leaders in Northern New Mexico have to say about their community's relationship with the Laboratory.

Deputy Laboratory Director Jan Van Prooyen talks with Cedric Page, left, executive director of the University of New Mexico, Los Alamos at a regional community leaders breakfast in Pojoaque. Photo credit: LeRoy Sanchez

The survey is provided to Northern New Mexico leaders in government, economics, business, education, and tribal affairs, as well as to those involved with special interest groups. The survey measures the Laboratory's perceived progress in maintaining community relationships, including listening and responding to the needs of communities in Northern New Mexico. It also measures changes in the community leaders' awareness of and satisfaction with Laboratory programs and activities throughout the year.

Input garnered from the survey allows the Laboratory to better shape and direct its contributions in Northern New Mexico.

In the latest survey, community leaders note that the Laboratory is doing a better job of communicating with local communities. Fiftyseven percent of leaders expressed satisfaction with the methods available to communicate with the Laboratory. This is an improvement from the 44 percent who expressed satisfaction in 2006.

The Lab also has improved in its efforts to respond to the concerns of the community, according to 53 percent of the leaders, who say they are satisfied with the Lab's efforts. This is an increase of 19 percent from 2006.

Although the survey showed progress, the Laboratory still has some work to do in this area, according to 39 percent of leaders who express dissatisfaction with the Lab's response to community concerns. Many of these leaders say the Laboratory needs to listen to the communities and hear their voices.

"Find out [the] involvement that the community would value and then work on being involved in those ways... instead of inventing your own ideas," wrote one respondent.

Overall, more than half of the community leaders, 52 percent, have a favorable opinion of the Lab, while 32 percent have neutral or mixed feelings, and only 13 percent have an unfavorable opinion.

To find out more about the 2007 survey and its results, go online to http://community.lanl.gov/source/orgs/cpo/surveys/2007.pdf.

To access past surveys, go to http://community.lanl.gov/source/orgs/cpo/survey_archives.shtml.