Issue 11 2021

Acquisition International - Issue 11 2021 53 Data-Backed Business Improvement Michael has published award winning peer reviewed papers on this topic, and all surveys are passed by a global network of readers before the recommended wording is put forward to a client and translated in to up to 70 languages. The reviewers are looking for any question that might be misunderstood or could cause confusion once translated. It is this appreciation of differences, both within an organisation and globally, that has meant Protostar are increasingly being asked to run Equity, Diversity and Inclusion surveys, the most recent being for the global development agency “Practical Action”. Data security is another vital topic when running a survey, and Prototstar have always been ahead of the field when it comes to ensuring that a pragmatic balance between absolute security and ease of use is achieved. A common method for ensuring survey data is secure and no false entries are made is to allocate a passcode to each user, but that means there is a master list of names and codes, so strictly speaking the survey is not anonymous. To avoid this dilemma, Protostar have developed a range of techniques for making the survey as accessible as possible (and clearly anonymous) with safeguards to check that people outside of the organisation are not responding. This has proved to be very valuable in ensuring that response rates, along with the openness and honesty of comments are high. Lastly, Protostar have another test that all questions must pass. They call this the “So What Test”. According to Michael Coates “This test asks the client, what they will do with that information once they possess it. If it would simply create a brief moment of interest but then never be looked at again or form any part of their action plan, then why ask the question?”. With a number of headlines in recent years highlighting how disengaged many employees are around the world, Protostar are confident that their work will remedy that situation for their varied clients. Further Reading https://commons.emich.edu/gabc/vol5/iss1/4/ Company: Protostar Leadership Development LTD Contact: Michael Coates Website: protostar-uk.com Michael Coates – Managing Director Protostar