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New Qualtrics 360™ Features

Longitudinal Analysis

When building reports, you can now pull data from multiple sources—even other 360s in your account! How does this add value? Let's say you conducted a 360 evaluation with your executives two years ago, then had them take the same evaluation this quarter to measure progress. Now you can create graphs and charts that include data from both of these unique studies and compare results in the same view. Read More »

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What Makes a Good Survey Question?

Getting quality data from your survey panels starts with asking the right questions. We have been getting flooded with emails about what makes a good survey question. We thought we would make our response interesting with a cool infographic.  Be sure to click on the graphic to enlarge. Read More »

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Selecting 360 Evaluators: Administrator Options

360 degree feedback has many advantages over single-source evaluations—including improved accuracy, confidentiality and an increased ability to promote change. But the quality of the feedback is only as good as the sources it comes from. Administrators of a 360° assessment have a variety of options when defining who gets nominated to complete evaluations. Let's take a closer look at the available options:

Option 1: Enable participants to choose any evaluators they'd like

This option requires the least amount of administrative oversight. Users will be able to invite as few, or as many, evaluators as they'd like. One potential downside to this option is that participants might fail to nominate key relationships (such as a manager or direct reports) which would undermine the intended 360° scope of the feedback.

Option 2: Enable participants to choose evaluators according to custom nomination requirements

If the administrator outlines nomination requirements ahead of time, participants can be expected to adhere to them. Example nomination requirements might include something like, "At least one manager, at least 3 peers (but no more than 5), and at least 2 direct reports." Qualtrics Tip: Qualtrics 360™ makes it easy to set custom nomination requirements to meet the needs of any 360 evaluation. When requirements are defined ahead of time, users will see a simple task list in their account that guides them through the nomination process.

Option 3: Enable participants to choose evaluators, but require manager approval

Whether administrators pre-define custom nomination requirements or not, they can require that managers approve the nominations before they're sent. This gives managers the ability to review all the proposed evaluators, and make corrections where necessary.

Option 4: Give managers the ability to manually assign evaluators

If the managers require tight control over the nomination process, this is the way to go. In this scenario, participants will be informed who they'll evaluate, and who will be evaluating them.

Keep in mind that there's no "one-size-fits-all" approach to selecting 360 evaluators—every evaluation should be approached with a fresh perspective and lots of careful planning! Please visit the rest of the site for more information about survey software.

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Create The Perfect Survey

We thought it would be helpful to create a nifty infographic about how to create the perfect survey.  Please be sure to visit the rest of the site for more information about Qualtrics' survey software.

Click for a bigger version. Be sure to share the graphic with all of your Facebook and Twitter friends!

Perfect Survey Graphic


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Looking for an Online Survey Panel?

Quality is the Key

Do you need help finding quality respondents for your online survey panel? Are you stressed and need more responses to be statistically valid? Are you getting pressure to gather responses “tomorrow”? At Qualtrics, we pride ourselves in providing the highest-quality online survey panels.

Each online survey panel is pre-screened to identify and eliminate issues with duplicate IP’s and other instances of illegitimate data. Qualtrics also includes an attention filter in each of its surveys to ensure that panelists are paying attention to their responses, providing you with solid, actionable data.

Hassle-Free Experience

Once a survey has been designed in Qualtrics, the Panels Team will take care of the rest. You get a personal project manager assigned to your survey. You will have access to this project manager for questions, comments or concerns.

The Qualtrics team member will find the online survey panel respondents, distribute the survey, monitor the responses, and close the survey when we’ve collected a sufficient amount of data. Quotas based on predetermined criteria are guaranteed to be met, so you’ll never have to worry about paying too much, or not getting enough. Finding your online survey panel is truly a hassle-free experience.

The Need for Speed

The Qualtrics panel’s team understands the need for speed. Once the survey has been created and the green light given, Qualtrics can launch your survey. The turn around time is usually 24 hours for a typical survey; it will take 5-7 days to gather your responses (specific criteria for sample and length of survey might increase the time to gather the data). We work our best to meet any deadlines you might have, and get you the best quality responses as fast as possible.

For any questions or quotes on pricing, please feel free to contact us with your target demographic and sample sizes. Email us at panels@qualtrics.com or call us at 1-800-340-9194.

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Tip: Using 360° Feedback To Become a More Competitive Applicant

Occasionally companies require that applicants participate in 360° feedback evaluations as part of the pre-employment screening process. While this feedback can indeed give potential employers a 360° snapshot of an applicant's qualities, it could also be a turn off to the very individuals they're trying to hire.

But some enterprising applicants have embraced this practice—with a twist. In hiring situations where 360° feedback isn't required, requested, or even considered, some potential hires areproactively volunteering 360 feedback during the interview process.

This strategy is particularly useful for those who are trying to distinguish themselves from a pool of applicants that look comparable on paper. Think about how it would be perceived by a prospective employer! Not only does it demonstrate that the applicant is confident in his or her trajectory, it also demonstrates a clear commitment to transparency.

So if you're looking for a job and feel confident that your positive traits can be ratified by those you've previously worked with, consider leveraging 360° feedback to bolster your competitive advantage.
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Menu-Based Conjoint Analysis

Conjoint analysis is now a widespread survey strategy in market research.It is a method used to uncover the feelings a respondent has for the features and attributes of a product or service. There are several models of conjoint analysis,including choice-based conjoint analysis, full profile conjoint analysis, adaptive conjoint analysis and self-explicated conjoint analysis. Each of these models has its strengths and weaknesses. A relatively new conjoint analysis model that is gaining momentum in the marketing world is menu-based conjoint analysis.

The theory behind menu-based choices is to allow the respondent to package their own product or service. In a survey, the respondent would be shown a list of features with associated prices. The respondent then has a choice of what they want in their ideal product while keeping price as a factor in their decision. The presentation of the features is important in that there is proper randomization and balance. If there are different prices that a feature can be offered at, each possibility should be shown. Below is an example of a menu based conjoint analysis question.

The outcome of menu-based conjoint analysis is that we can identify the trade-offs the consumer is willing to make. We can discover trends indicating must-have features as well as characterizing luxury features. The analysis of this approach is done primarily with counts and percentages; counting the number of times the feature for a specific price was selected in regards to the number of times it was presented. Another key piece of information that comes from menu-based choices is the comparison of what was selected and what was left out. If feature A for $100 was included in the menu question but feature B for $100 was not, it can be assumed that this respondent prefers feature A over feature B.

In conclusion, menu-based conjoint analysis is becoming a more and more popular way to test the trade-offs people are willing to make. The highlight being that it is a more engaging and interactive process for the survey-taker than your typical choice-based conjoint analysis question. It allows the respondent to feel more in control of their selections. This, along with providing a relatively easier analysis model, makes menu-based conjoint analysis a great fit for product querying.

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Why 360 Degree Feedback Should Be Collected Online

Data is safe in the cloud
Imagine how awful it would be to spend weeks conducting a 360° evaluation, only to have the resulting data destroyed by fire, flood or an untimely coffee pot spill? While this certainly doesn't happen regularly, you can't afford the risk. With the right online 360 solution, data is always safe because it's backed up on multiple servers, safely out of harm's way.

Loose papers aren't password protected
If 360° feedback data is ever printed or handwritten, you automatically have a serious privacy concern on your hands. How many times have you been to a company printer and found sensitive information in the tray? Or how problematic would it be if un-anonymized 360 feedback data slipped out of an executive's hands on his way out of the office? By providing a password-protected, secure online portal for administrators and subjects, you eliminate the risks that come with hard copy data.

Pencils and spreadsheets are slow
Any time you create a paper survey, manual data entry is required. And once your data is manually entered, you have to manipulate a spreadsheet full of raw data into a series of meaningful reports. Both processes are inefficient, and both are done better with advanced technology. And let's face it, the computer's arithmetic is probably a bit more reliable than yours.

Invites and reminders are automated
360° evaluations can get messy very quickly due to the sheer number and complexity of feedback sources. If you're collecting 360° feedback for a large corporation, you could have thousands of nominations to keep track of, and thousands of reminders to send when people forget to complete their evaluations. With an online 360 degree feedback solution like Qualtrics 360™, invitations and reminders are handled intelligently and automatically. Simply set reminder dates, and all outstanding tasks are combined into a digest and emailed to individuals automatically.

TTT: Total turnaround time
Old school: Evaluations are printed, distributed by hand, taken with a pencil and paper, returned, entered manually into a spreadsheet, analyzed and built into reports—one by one. New school: Evaluations are built online, distributed with the click of a button, and data is automatically computed for an endless array of powerful reports. The beauty of a good online 360 evaluation solution is that it does the heavy lifting for you, reducing the the important metric of "total turnaround time."

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5 Reasons to Implement Company Surveys

Company surveys give way to consumer research data, which is obtained by firms that
specialize in evaluating consumer information and reporting to the interested party how
that information correlates with business performance. In essence, consumer research
investigates the behavior of consumers as a whole and how this can be used by a business
for purposes of marketing, product development, sales projections, and a variety of
other aspects of the world of commerce. Most of the big companies in areas such as
car insurance, credit cards, and insurance all use company surveys to better their products and
workforce.
Read More »

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5 Tips on Preparing Employees for 360° Evaluations

Last week I spent some time browsing a 360-related query in Twitter's real-time search. Mixed in with the deluge of updates were tweets from individuals voicing reactions to 360° evaluation invitations. Some were pleasant, other were (quite vocally) not. While there wasn't enough context on Twitter to be sure, I'd venture these 360 participants' satisfaction levels were closely correlated to how well they were prepared for the experience. Here are a few tips for preparing employees for 360° evaluations:
1) Know your objectives well before you launch.
Not only will this help you ask the right questions and choose the right competencies, it will also prepare you for communicating objectives to employees and other relevant parties.
2) Clearly communicate your evaluation's purpose.
The last thing you want to do is stir up confusion, fear and doubt. Let participants know up front why you're collecting this data. Is it being used for development? Performance assessments? Both? Whatever you decide, be upfront about it.
3) Tell employees what you expect of them.
Express confidence in your employees' ability to evaluate themselves and others with honesty and objectivity. Take the opportunity to walk through the evaluation process so that it's clear to everyone. In many cases there will be employees who've never participated in a 360 evaluation before—use this opportunity to give all participants a refresher.
4) Disclose privacy issues fully.
Let the participants know exactly who will see the data, and who will not. If there's any doubt, your data will most certainly be subject to unnecessary bias. Communicate the controls and measures that are enacted to assure anonymity. Facebook has been blasted over how they've dealt with privacy concerns and it would be a shame to instigate the same controversy in your organization.
5) Provide an open forum or line(s) of communication to discuss concerns.
It may sound difficult, awkward or unnecessary—but experience has demonstrated quite the contrary. Often times participants will ask helpful questions that answer common concerns you may have overlooked. Leaving participants without a voice will be detrimental to your evaluation and your organization's relationships.
+ Bonus Qualtrics 360™ Tip: Use the customizable "Welcome Message" space as another avenue for communicating with participants and setting expectations. Imagine how helpful it would be to embed a video of the CEO greeting and educating each participant upon login! With the "Welcome Message" space you have complete creative control to set the tone for each evaluation.
After designing your evaluation, proper communication should be your primary objective. Remember that you have the ability to make this experience very pleasant, or very unpleasant—prepare accordingly!
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