Manage groups in Employee Surveys

How are groups synchronized with Employee Surveys?

Groups in Employee Surveys mirror group data exported from Simployer One. Depending on the integration configuration, the synchronization can include:

• Organizations
• Offices
• Departments
• Teams
• Employment types
• Manager groups, when manager group synchronization is enabled

Important: Only group ownership and viewing rights can be managed directly in Employee Surveys. Manage people and group data in Simployer One. Changes made directly to people or groups in Employee Surveys are overwritten during the next synchronization from Simployer One.

For instructions about sync scope, manual and scheduled synchronization, exported fields, and error messages, see How do I sync employees and employee data from Simployer One to Employee Surveys?

How do I find a group in Employee Surveys?

1. Go to Employee Surveys > People.
2. Open the Groups tab.
3. Select the + icon to the left of a department name to expand the full group structure and view its subgroups.
4. Select a group name to open the group details.

Expected result: The group page shows the group structure, members, Viewing rights and Owners.

What is the difference between direct and indirect group members?

Each Employee Surveys group contains direct members and can also contain subgroups. Direct members receive surveys sent to the group and submit their responses within that group. In the People list, direct members appear furthest to the left.

Membership is aggregated upward through the group structure. A user in a subgroup automatically becomes an indirect member of the parent group. In the People list, indirect members appear slightly indented to the right.

When you send a survey to a parent group, Employee Surveys sends the survey to:

• Direct members of the parent group
• Indirect members inherited from its subgroups

If the group People list looks incorrect, update the relevant information in Simployer One and run a new Employee Surveys sync. The corrected group membership is reflected in Employee Surveys after synchronization. If you add or remove group members in the People list directly in Employee Surveys, those changes are overwritten during the next synchronization from Simployer One.

Note: Group owners and users with viewing rights do not become survey participants just because they have access to the group.

Where do I manage group ownership and viewing rights?

You can handle ownership for departments and teams through Simployer One by making a person a department lead or team lead. The next synchronization makes that person an owner of the corresponding group in Employee Surveys.

You can also manage group ownership and viewing rights directly in Employee Surveys > People > Groups. 

Important: If a person is a department lead or team lead in Simployer One, removing that person as an owner in Employee Surveys is temporary. The next synchronization assigns the person as owner again. Remove or change the department lead or team lead in Simployer One when the ownership should be removed permanently.

Detailed role requirements, ownership behavior, viewing rights, inherited access, and synchronization rules are covered in How do user roles work in Employee Surveys?

Important: Use the roles article before changing group access. It explains which permissions come from Simployer One and which manual changes will be overwritten by synchronization.

What happens if I delete or move a group?

Deleting a group also deletes the group’s historical survey results. Moving a group within the structure, changing its group ID, or replacing it with a newly created group can also affect access to historical results. If you still want to delete or move groups, make sure to export any historical results you want to keep from the Heatmap view. Manage groups in Simployer One.

Important: If you feel unsure what to do or what effect the change will have on historical results, contact Simployer Support before deleting, moving, or changing the ID of a synchronized group. Export the results first to reduce the risk of permanent data loss.