Retesting: What it is and how to use it
Retesting is a key part of our Ask, Listen, Act, Measure framework for continuous improvement. It closes the loop, helping you track whether actions are having the intended impact or if adjustments are needed — allowing you to quickly course correct.
How it works
When you run a survey, you'll uncover both strengths and areas for improvement. Usually, you will create actions to address or make progress towards the areas needing work.
But how do you know those actions are making a difference?
A simple way to find out is to ask the same questions again – or in other words, retest! By comparing the scores from the original survey to the new one, you can measure progress and assess if things are heading in the right direction. Think of it as a pulse check.
For example:
Your lowest-scoring question in the original survey was:
Poor performance is managed well at our organisation
You create and complete the following actions to address it:
- Provide manager training: Equip leaders with coaching skills to handle performance conversations effectively.
- Clarify performance expectations: Ensure employees understand what good performance looks like by clearly defining expectations in role descriptions and team meetings.
You then schedule a retest for 6 months time and include the question from the original survey to find out what impact the actions had.
How do I create a retest survey?
We will automatically create a draft retest survey for you if the original survey:
- closed after 3 March 2025
- has an end date (excludes Leadership Effectiveness 360, Service Reviews and Ongoing surveys)
- has at least 15 AskYourTeam Agree/Disagree questions
- met the minimum threshold to generate reports.
Your retest survey will be generated four weeks after the original survey closes.
It will contain the 10 lowest-scoring Agree-Disagree questions by default. You can change these, but make sure the questions you include relate to the actions you’ve taken and keep the survey short and focused.
To access your retest survey:
- Log into AskYourTeam.
- Select My surveys in the left menu.
- Go to the Retest column.
- Look for a button that says Review & Publish. Any survey with this button is a retest that has been automatically created.
- Select the button to review the survey's Overview page. Check each section carefully, including the communications. If you have AI enabled for your account, these will be AI-generated communications. They're based on communications from your original survey and modified for retesting. When you're happy with the overview page, just hit publish!
💡We will guide you through the process. We'll notify you by email when your retest is ready to review. If things get busy, that's OK. We'll send you a reminder in a few months' time and you can pick things up again then.
If the original survey closed before 3 March 2025, you will need to manually create a retest survey by selecting Create retest.
How often should I run a retest survey?
To make continuous improvement a habit in your organisation, we recommend retesting at regular intervals to stay on top of progress and maintain momentum.
Depending on your organisation's unique situation and business commitments, this might be every quarter, 6 months, 9 months or 12 months.
💡 Give your team time to act. Make sure you give anyone assigned actions enough time to complete them before scheduling a retest. This will ensure fair and accurate measurement of their impact.
How do I compare my original score to the retest?
When your retest survey closes, you can use the Compare section of AskYourTeam to measure progress.
- Select Compare surveys from the left menu.
- Select your original survey and your retest survey from the dropdown, then Next.
- You will see a list of questions that were matched between the surveys. Any question that does not match will have a broken link icon next to it. To see how the scores compare, select Reports in the top menu. This will land you on the Compare Report.
You can compare by Category or Question. Scores are represented as horizontal bars, and the difference between them will be shown in the column next to them. If there has been a positive gain, you will see a plus in front of the difference, e.g. +14, and if the new score is lower than the original, you'll see a minus in front of the difference, e.g. -7.
