Benchmark Report

A Benchmark Report helps bring more context to your survey results.

It shows you the average score across similar organisations for a specific question. This means you can compare your survey results and check if your scores are higher or lower than the average.

If you're leading the way, that might be something to celebrate! If you're tracking below, there might be a gap you need to close.

Benchmark reporting is available for specific AskYourTeam Agree-Disagree questions only. It is not available for custom questions (questions you create yourself) or other question types.

💡 Benchmark reports are an AskYourTeam account upgrade. If you'd like to upgrade your account to access this report, please get in touch with our Customer Success Team.

Add benchmark questions to your survey

If you want to use the Benchmark Report for an upcoming survey, make sure to use AskYourTeam Agree-Disagree questions. Just look for the graph icon when selecting questions for your survey.

The graph icon shows that:

the question is benchmark compatible, and
there is sector benchmark data available for you to compare your results to.

Navigate to your Benchmark Report

Your Benchmark Report is located in your survey's report section.

To find it:

Select Surveys from the left-hand menu.
Find the survey you need.
Check it's status is Active or Closed (otherwise no data will be available yet).
Select the title of the survey. This will take you to the reports section for that survey.
Select the Benchmarks tab.

We update our benchmarks every month, so you can compare your survey with the most up-to-date data. If your survey is active and running longer than a month, you might see small changes in the benchmark score during this time.

💡 Did you know? When the survey closes, the benchmark data will be locked. This means that the benchmark scores for a closed survey won’t change, even as the overall benchmarks are updated in future months. So if you review results from an older survey, you’ll see the benchmark scores that were relevant at the time that survey was completed.

Can't see your Benchmark tab?

Benchmark reports are an AskYourTeam account upgrade. If you'd like to upgrade your account to access this report, please contact our Customer Success Team.

This upgrade is only available if we have enough benchmark data to match your organisation's profile. For example, your sector or organisation size. If we don't have enough data to provide you with an effective comparison, we will not recommend the benchmark upgrade.

The good news is that our benchmark data is updated monthly. So if you're not eligible right now, you might be later on.

Understanding your Benchmark Report

When you select the Benchmark tab, you'll see a report comparing your survey results to the sector average. For example, if you're part of the private sector, your results will be compared to the private sector average.

At the top of the report, you’ll see two graphs summarising results:

Participation (Pie Chart)

This shows your survey participation rate compared to the sector benchmark. Participation rate is calculated based on the number of people who completed your survey.

Validated Average vs. Overall Benchmark (Bar Chart)

Validated Average: This is your organisation’s average score across all AskYourTeam Agree–Disagree questions in the survey.
Overall Benchmark: This is the sector average for the same questions, based on past surveys from other organisations in your sector.

Below the summary section, you'll find a list of all benchmark questions included in your survey. This allows you to easily see where your organisation scores above or below the sector benchmark, question by question.

💡Do you have Advanced Benchmarks? If your plan includes Advanced Benchmarks, you'll also be able to compare your results against additional filters like industry type or organisation size, where data is available.

How is the difference between scores calculated?

There is a Diff column next to each question in your benchmark report. This is an abbreviation for 'difference'. It shows the difference between your survey score and the benchmark score for that question. We calculate it by subtracting your survey score from the benchmark.

The score in the Diff column will be red, green or grey.

Here is what those colours mean:

Grey: The difference between the two results is not statistically significant.
Green: The difference is positive and statistically significant. A positive result means you've performed above the benchmark.
Red: The difference is negative and statistically significant. A negative result means you've performed below the benchmark.

What is 'statistically significant'?

When we compare your survey to the benchmark, we look at:

the difference between those two averages, and
how responses vary within the group of organisations within the benchmark.

Statistical significance refers to how confident we are that the difference in averages is not a fluke. We want to know, if you ran your survey again, would you get a similar difference? We use a T-Test and a probability value of 0.05 or 95% to help us determine this.

If the difference is displayed in green or red, it means we are at least 95% certain the difference is valid and significant. (So if you ran your survey 100 times you would get a similar difference at least 95 times out of 100.)

If the difference is displayed in grey, there is not a significant difference. It is likely that the small difference between the two was by chance.

Applying benchmark filters

If you've upgraded to the Advanced Benchmarks Report, you'll be able to compare your results to other benchmarks like industry and organisation size, as well as sector. This can be done by applying filters.

To apply benchmark filters:

Select Apply filters.
Select Benchmarks.
Choose which benchmark options you'd like to compare your survey results to.
Select See results, and you'll be taken back to your Benchmark Report.

The data you see will reflect the filters you've applied. For example, if you've applied the filters Sector > Private, Organisation Size 50-99, benchmark data from private sector organisations with 50-99 employees will be displayed.

You can also apply demographic filters to the benchmark report. For example, you can apply the demographic filter Department > Finance to your survey results and compare them with the benchmark.

Don't set benchmarks as performance targets

Benchmarks can be a useful way to compare your performance to a group of related organisations. This can bring more context of your results. We provide benchmarks for this purpose, but we do recommend caution when using them.

This is because no two organisations are the same.

Every company has a unique culture, perspective and challenges. If a group of organisations (the benchmark) scores high and low in certain areas, don't assume that your organisation should score high or low in that area.

For this reason, we recommend you don't use benchmarks to set performance targets. It is better to set your own goals and strive to achieve them.