The Institution of the Year

This survey, the Institution of the Year, is a collaboration between Sameyki, the Ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, the city of Reykjavík and many other institutions. The survey will be sent to almost 35,000 employees in the public sector.

Gallup in Iceland is entirely responsible for the survey process, collection and storage of data, and reporting.

Will you be among the lucky winners?

Twelve prizes will be drawn from completed surveys from Sameyki’s members:

  • Two travel vouchers from Icelandair worth ISK 60,000 each.
  • Four gift cards from Harpa worth ISK 30.000
  • A weekend in Sameyki‘s vacation houses, outside the allocation period (total of five prizes).
  • One week in Sameyki’s vacation house in Spain, outside the allocation period.

Eight prizes are then drawn from completed surveys of governmental employees:

  • Four travel vouchers from Icelandair worth ISK 50,000 each
  • Four gift certificates, each worth ISK. 15,000.

Eight prizes will also be drawn from completed surveys of city of Reykjavik employees:

  • Four travel vouchers from Icelandair worth ISK 50,000 each
  • Four gift certificates, each worth ISK 15,000.

Remember to keep your lottery number in the email provided with the survey. The winning numbers will be published in February on Sameyki's website and Gallup will also contact the winners by email.

Q&A

How long does it take for me to answer? The average response time is 12-15 minutes. You can close the survey at any time and then resume answering when suitable. To resume answering, simply click on the link in the email.

What is the purpose of the survey? The purpose of the survey is twofold: First, to strengthen the working environment and management of public service employees by providing managers with detailed information about strengths and challenges in their work environment. Second, to choose the “Institution of the Year” and thereby recognizing workplaces/institutions that show exceptional performance with regards to its Human Resources.

How is the survey conducted? Institution of the year is an internet survey. The controllers of the survey send a list of survey participants to Gallup. When all preparations have been completed, Gallup sends the survey to all employees by email. If a participant does not have a registered e-mail address, the survey link might be sent by SMS to the participant’s mobile phone if your telephone number was included in the list of participants.

How do you participate and what is the subject of the survey? The survey is an online survey only and sent to employees and sent to survey participants via email or SMS. If you have not received an invite to the survey before November 3rd, please send an email to Gallup (stofnun-fyrirtaeki-arsins@gallup.is).

The questions in the survey are of diverse nature but classified into nine themes: management, morale, work environment, etc. Each question is answered on a five-point scale, and the choice of the institution and company of the Year is based on a total score calculated on these nine factors.

Where can I access the results? Data collection starts at the end of October and ends 3rd of December. Results are compiled in January. Results are then made public on the Sameyki’s website in February for all institutions attaining minimum response rate. Subsequently, all governmental institutions and all workplaces of city of Reykjavík will be sent a report with the results of all the questions of the survey or will get access to the report in an online survey display tool.

How is confidentiality ensured? All answers are treated with utmost confidentiality. Respondents answer the survey on Gallup’s secure service. Results are never analysed in such a way that individual identities can be identified. The following applies to data collection, storing and reporting of the data to ensure respondents confidentiality:

  • During the data collection there is a link between your email and the survey. This link is necessary for us to send out survey reminders. When data collection ends, this link between your email and your answers is broken. Pseudonymization is used for a limited time to be able to correct errors, in case these would appear, but deleted within 30 days from the end of the survey execution. From that time, the datafile does not include a number, or other personally identifiable information, that can be linked directly to you.
  • In all analysis and reports, five and more responses are needed for reporting of means and twenty and more answers for reporting exact distributions.
  • Analysis of the questions by background information, e.g., gender, age, industry, occupation, and union membership, is only performed for large groups as not to risk the confidentiality of the respondents. No analyses, data or reports are submitted to the controllers unless the anonymity of the respondents is guaranteed. Gallup receives the information about the workplace or the institution you work for from the controllers of the survey. Analysis by background variables is done for research and strategic/policy purposes only. For this purpose, general trends and patterns in the data is examined, i.e., to assess the overall impact of management and working environment on health and well-being of employees. For this purpose, questions are analysed by professions, industries, age groups, and gender.
  • Winning numbers in the Lottery are drawn from a list containing only necessary information for the draw. This list does not include your responses in the survey.

Here you find a link to Gallup’s privacy policy: https://en.gallup.is/terms/privacy-policy/

If you have any further questions regarding confidentiality, you are welcome to contact Gallup by email: stofnun-fyrirtaeki-arsins@gallup.is

How are the institution’s results reported?
For each workplace reporting is limited to five or more responses. Also, for each public institution, the response rate must at least reach 35%. For workplaces or units at the City of Reykjavik the response rate of the division that the unit / workplace belongs too must at least reach 35%. Thus, response rates at individual workplaces at the City of Reykjavík might be lower than 35% but the number of respondents will never be lower than five.

The results for all institutions that reach minimum participation for all the nine factors will be available on Sameyki’s website at the end of February 2025.

The City of Reykjavík will receive reports for all workplaces (starfsstaði) if minimum participation is achieved. At the beginning of the survey the name of the workplace where the respondent is registered will appear. If you are incorrectly registered, you may change the registration.

All governmental institutions that fulfil the above requirements for participation, will receive a report containing the results of all factors and all questions.

Generally, results are only reported for the institution overall. However, if you are working for the following institutions, reporting differs from that of other institutions:

  • Barnaverndarstofa
  • Fangelsismálastofnun
  • Háskólinn á Akureyri
  • Heilsugæsla höfuðborgarsvæðisins
  • Lögregla á höfuðborgarsvæðinu
  • Ríkislögreglustjóri
  • Tryggingastofnun
  • Vinnueftirlitið
  • Háskóli Íslands
  • Skatturinn
  • Heilbrigðisstofnun Vestfjarða
  • Heilbrigðisstofnun Norðurlands (HSN)

In the above institutions results are analysed by units (e.g., workplaces, divisions, or departments). This is done so the results can be utilized better for improving the work environment than if only being able to view results for the institution overall. Still, in the reporting it will be ensured that no individual data will be revealed. Means will only be shown for five responses. No analysis is done by background variables for units (e.g., division, department) within institutions.

Why should I respond? Good participation increases the chances that management of your workplace taking the results seriously and responding to challenges in the work environment. Many institutions have taken advantage of the results from previous years and used them to improve and strengthen the internal environment of their institution. By answering you are playing a part in enabling managers to improve the internal environment of your institution.

When will the survey be delivered to participants?
Data collection starts at the end of October and emails should have reached everyone before November 12th. The survey will then be open till December 3rd. If you have not received a survey before the 12th of November, we ask you to contact Gallup at stofnun-fyrirtaeki-arsins@gallup.is.

Do I decide if I participate in the survey? Participation in the survey is voluntary, that means that it is your choice if you participate or not. But we want to stress that the better the participation, the more likely it is that that the results will reflect the situation of your workplace.

Can I skip individual questions? You can always skip answering individual questions by clicking “Do not wish to answer.” Alternatively, you might click on “Not applicable” or “Do not know” if you feel the question does not apply to you or if you do not know the answer.

Why do you ask about occupation and education? Gallup only asks questions necessary for fulfilling the purpose and goals of the survey. In an overall report, results are analysed by background information that shed light on the impact of the work environment on the well-being and attuites of employees.

Again, we emphasis that we treat all responses with full confidentiality. You are free to skip individual questions or the survey altogether, but we stress that for the results to be of the best use, it is important that you participate. If you need further information about the data collection, storage of the data, or reporting, you are welcome to contact us by email stofnun-fyrirtaeki-arsins@gallup.is.

Here you find a link to Gallup’s privacy policy: https://en.gallup.is/terms/privacy-policy/