This article explains what surveys and declarations are, how they differ, and how you can set them up effectively in your organisation.
What Is a Compliance Survey?
A compliance survey is a tool used by organisations to check that employees and stakeholders are following relevant laws, regulations, policies, and ethical standards. Surveys typically ask employees for their views and experiences, sometimes including personal questions. Responses are usually anonymous and are not analysed individually. Instead, results are aggregated to produce a RAG (Red, Amber, Green) or score rating, which can be reviewed using interactive reports.
Common examples: Integrity surveys, Diversity surveys, Employee satisfaction surveys.
Tip: Surveys are generally completed by all employees at the same time, and individual responses are not tracked.
What Is a Compliance Declaration?
A compliance declaration requires employees to disclose or declare specific information about themselves. Unlike surveys, declarations often involve case management to address or flag disclosures for management attention. Declarations are assigned as needed and are not aggregated across employees.
Common examples: Display Screen Equipment declarations, Conflicts of Interest Questionnaires, Fit and Proper Questionnaires.
Note: Each declaration is reviewed individually, and responses may trigger follow-up actions.
Editing Surveys and Declarations
All Skillcast declarations are aligned with FCA requirements. If you need to make changes, please contact your Customer Success Manager. Remember, it is your responsibility to ensure continued compliance if you edit a declaration.
Make all required changes before launch and ensure all reviewers have signed off.
Editing after launch is possible, but adding or removing questions may affect reporting statistics.
Question Settings
Both surveys and declarations can include three types of questions:
Multiple choice question (MCQ)
Text input question
File upload question
All question types share two key settings:
Required: By default, all questions are required. Set to optional only if the question should appear conditionally.
Maintain response across submissions: If enabled, employees will see their last response when retaking a declaration.
Show submitted answer after module reset: If enabled, the most recent submission is shown after a reset.
Tip: Questions appear one at a time to prevent any from being skipped. Plan optional questions carefully.
Multiple Choice Questions
Input type: Options can be displayed as buttons or in a dropdown.
Option: Each option can have add-ons:
Confirmation question: Used to confirm a selection or suggest a resolution before submission.
Detail question: Allows for additional information via text input.
File upload question: Enables document upload for further review.
Alert: Highlights options needing attention; can trigger email notifications and appear as open alerts in reports.
Resolution: Marks alerts as resolved and displays them as closed alerts in reports.
RAG rating: Assigns a colour (red, amber, green, blue) to options for reporting.
Score: Assigns a numerical value (1–100) to options for rating purposes.
Note: Reports are visible to administrators only. Your Customer Success Manager can provide training on using these reports.
Text Input and File Upload Questions
Use these elements for mandatory or optional questions outside of MCQs. You can upload multiple files at once by selecting a ZIP file.
Submission Settings
When an employee submits a survey or declaration, you can choose how submissions are handled:
Archive previous submissions: Only the latest is visible in reports; archived data is available on request.
Overwrite previous submissions: Only the latest is kept; previous submissions are deleted.
Retain multiple submissions: All submissions are visible in reports (default).
Anonymous submission: All responses are anonymous and aggregated (surveys only).
Automated Email Settings
You can configure summary emails upon submission:
Sender: Default is [email protected]; can be changed if required.
CC email: Optionally CC another address (e.g., compliance or HR). Options include:
Do not CC
Only CC if there are open alerts (recommended)
CC if there are open or closed alerts
CC type: Choose between CC (visible to user) or BCC (hidden from user).
Subject, Introduction, Closed alerts, Open alerts, Conclusion: Customise the content of the summary email.
Limitations
Note:
Declarations must remain compliant with FCA requirements if edited.
Anonymous submission is not available for declarations.
Editing live surveys or declarations may affect reporting.
What's Next?
For further guidance on managing surveys and declarations, or if you need to make changes, contact your Customer Success Manager. For more information, see related articles or reach out to [email protected].