Part 1 · Article 5 of 14
Why are Org360's surveys open source?
In short
- Org360 publishes its survey questions under a Creative Commons license, so anyone can use, adapt and share them, on Org360 or anywhere else.
- The best-researched 360 instruments are locked behind copyright and certification, and free templates rarely say where their questions come from.
- Org360's questions are built on published social and organizational science.
- The surveys improve as coaches and HR experts adapt them.
Org360 defines open-source surveys as question sets published under an open license, so anyone can use, adapt and share them, with credit.
What problem were we trying to solve?
The best-researched 360 instruments are kept under lock and key. Their questions are copyrighted, and access goes through certification. To administer the Center for Creative Leadership's Benchmarks 360s, you first complete CCL's Assessment Certification Course. Hogan's assessments are sold through certified practitioners. Even then, you can't really change the questions to fit your organization.
At the other end, general survey tools offer free templates. In Org360's experience, those templates rarely say where their questions come from or which leadership or engagement framework sits behind them.
Org360 wanted questions that were both well grounded and free to use.
Where do Org360's questions come from?
From published research. When Org360 writes a question, it looks at what social scientists, organizational behavior researchers and leadership and management scholars have found about the dimensions that matter, for example in employee engagement, and at what other practitioners are doing. Where possible, Org360 refers to those sources in the survey itself.
Where an established author's work fits, Org360 asks to use it. The Nonprofit Leader All-Rounder 360 uses items from Marshall Goldsmith, with his permission.
How do the surveys improve over time?
Org360's surveys are starter forms. Coaches and HR experts customize them for their own organizations, because context matters: a question that works in a 20-person agency may need changing for a hospital.
Org360 looks at the changes people make and uses the best ones to refine the main forms. Clients with niche needs, such as a 360 for healthcare leaders, build those surveys with Org360, and they go into the library for others to use. The library already includes Leading Care, a 24-question 360 for healthcare leaders.
Why give the questions away?
Because good feedback is too important to lock up. Org360 sees feedback tools as a common good, built together and owned by everyone who uses them. You're welcome to run Org360's questions in Google Forms if that suits you.
Org360 wants to be a place where HR professionals, founders, coaches and organizational psychologists improve feedback tools together, each bringing their own experience and context.
What the research says
- Engagement has a clear scientific definition. Kahn (1990), the founding paper on engagement at work, described it as "the harnessing of organization members' selves to their work roles." Engagement surveys that draw on this work ask about meaning, safety and having the energy to do the job.
- Even research-based scales limit commercial use. The Utrecht Work Engagement Scale is free for scientific research, but commercial use requires contacting its authors. Org360's open license goes a step further: anyone can use and adapt the questions, with credit.
- Good instruments are revised with data. When Peter Berry Consultancy and Hogan refreshed the Hogan 360, they analyzed around 2,500 assessments and retired, replaced or reworded items. Org360 applies the same idea, using the changes coaches and HR experts make to refine its forms.
Key readings: Kahn (1990); Schaufeli and Bakker, UWES manual; Peter Berry Consultancy, Hogan 360 refresh. Full references are in the research reading list.
Org360's view
Org360 believes a feedback survey should be easy to inspect, adapt and share. Open questions built on published research give organizations a sound starting point, and the people who use them make them better.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use Org360's questions outside Org360?
Yes. They're published under a Creative Commons license, so you can use and adapt them anywhere, including Google Forms, with credit to Org360.
Do I need a certification to use Org360's surveys?
No. Anyone can use them.
Are Org360's questions research-based?
Yes. They draw on published social, organizational and leadership science, and Org360 refers to those sources where possible.
Can Org360 build a survey for my sector?
Yes. Org360 builds niche surveys with clients, and they're added to the shared library.
Sources: Center for Creative Leadership: Assessment Certification · Hogan Assessments: Certifications