What happens to the summary of results if only part of the organisation is included in the survey?
In situations where smaller, selected parts of the organisation participate in a survey, there are certain criteria in place to ensure that the data is comparable and the results are representative.
When only smaller, selected parts of the organisation are included in a survey, the way results are aggregated and summarised is affected. It's important not to compare apples (parts of the organisation) with oranges (the entire organisation).
The 70% Rule
At least 70% of respondents within a chosen summary level must be included in the survey for the results to be considered representative and merged into a summarized result.
Note: The 70% rule is independent of response rate and is based solely on the proportion of respondents included in the survey. Standard anonymity rules still apply.
Example
You invite one business area, representing 35% of the organisation, to participate in a survey to follow up on areas with low scores.
A business area = a higher-level summary consisting of several underlying summaries and teams.
When results are reported, no total result for the entire organisation will be shown — only the result for the relevant business area.
This ensures that you're not comparing a result based on the entire organization to a result based on just one business area. Apples and oranges.
Same Rule Applies at All Organizational Levels
The 70% rule always looks downward at the underlying groups and teams within the selected summary level.
For example, if you select individual teams within a business area, the same rule applies — 70% of respondents within the business area must be included for the result to be considered representative and shown as a summary.
Sending Surveys to Selected Parts of the Organization?
Do you have distributed groups and/or respondents in your organization that you often want to measure and see aggregated results for? For example, based on manager structures, country divisions, project groups, or other matrix-like groupings?
Get in touch with us at Brilliant, and we’ll help you find a solution that suits your needs.