Employee Pulse Survey

What is an employee pulse survey?

An employee pulse survey is a short questionnaire sent to employees regularly to collect feedback on different organizational processes. Companies use these surveys to gather accurate and updated employee satisfaction reports and create appropriate action items to address thoughts and concerns. 

Companies can leverage employee engagement software to automate the way they manage and analyze this valuable information. Employee engagement solutions help businesses create and design surveys, archive response data, and share the findings internally. They can use these tools from the very beginning of the survey drafting process to targeting and interpreting the results. 

Types of employee pulse surveys

Employee pulse surveys vary based on business areas. Companies can choose one survey or a combination to meet their unique needs.

• Engagement pulse surveys ask employees how motivated they feel at work and what support they need to improve their performance.
• Action planning follow-up pulse surveys track progress from survey to survey with feedback on the action plans generated from previous reports. 
• Company culture pulse surveys focus on learning about employees’ experience of a company’s mission and values.
• Compensation and benefits pulse surveys collect feedback on employee satisfaction in terms of current compensation and benefits. This survey may be conducted less frequently than others. 
• Change pulse surveys are the most common and gather quick feedback on areas that clearly need improvement.

Benefits of employee pulse surveys

Employee pulse surveys help companies keep track of their employees’ sentiments, thoughts, and concerns at any given time. With the right questions, companies can use this information for overall improvement. Some of the added benefits of employee pulse surveys are:

• Employees are heard more frequently. An annual business review is great, but employees think about their company all the time, not just once a year. An employee pulse survey stresses the importance of collecting regular feedback. 
• Information is always up to date. Because companies often generate annual reports, employee pulse surveys are more accurate than yearly or quarterly reviews. 
• Constant insight helps to adapt in real time. With updated information, companies can now respond quickly to questions and concerns. 
• Surveys allow employees to be more honest. Employees who feel their opinions are valued are more likely to improve and grow. This is why companies need to create a survey asking employees to be honest without fear of judgment. Companies should also consider whether anonymizing a survey garners more unfiltered employee feedback.
• Customer satisfaction increases. Happy employees perform better. This positively impacts customer service and leads to greater customer satisfaction.

How to conduct an employee pulse survey

Before the employee pulse survey process even begins, companies need to do a lot of background work to determine exactly why they want to conduct a survey. This “why” lays the foundation for asking relevant questions and getting valuable answers.

1. Identify a survey’s purpose. The first step in building a survey is determining why it’s taking place and the results a company is looking for. Assess if the questions are on general satisfaction or company resources, how many questions to include, who the audience is, and how to distribute the survey.
2. Curate survey questions. Since employee pulse surveys are shorter, the questions a company includes are highly significant. These questions help respondents understand the survey’s purpose and guide them to give honest and extensive feedback. Fewer questions leave room for confusion, and too many overwhelm the employees. Additionally, incorrect prompts don’t provide the results needed for successful changes. Surveys can have between 10-30 questions, with more frequent surveys having fewer questions than others. Questions can be formatted in different ways, such as open-ended, rating, or multiple choice. 
   
   
   

   Examples of survey questions:

   • On a scale of 1 to 5, where 5 is extremely satisfied, how satisfied are you with your personal and professional growth at the company?
   • Do you feel informed about changes going on in the organization? 
   • Do you trust your manager and company leadership? 
   • Do you have all the resources you need to do your job?
   • Which area of the company do you think needs improvement? Why?
3. Share survey instructions and expectations. Walk the audience through the entire survey, explaining how to complete it and the expectations. This includes whether the responses are anonymous, where the survey is conducted, and who will see the answers.
4. Conduct the survey. Once the questions are finalized and the respondents know the expectations, companies can sit back and wait for the results.
5. Analyze findings. Companies should take optimal time to interpret the survey results and identify the pain points in the organization. They can also reflect on positive feedback and what they want to continue doing to maintain that positive impact. If historical data is available, companies use this stage to compare against previous survey results and determine which processes are improving or declining and why.
6. Create action items. A survey is a waste of time if companies don’t use the results to create change. When employees take a survey, they’re honest, hoping their responses are considered. Companies should use survey reports to create concrete action points that streamline faulty processes and strengthen what’s already working. 
7. Share survey results. Companies shouldn’t be afraid to show their employees what they learned and how they intend to address the findings. This transparency and a clear plan of action comfort employees knowing that their voices were heard and their opinions valued. It may even inspire them to be more honest in the next survey.
8. Repeat the process periodically. An employee pulse survey can only provide accurate results if conducted continuously. Companies should set a survey frequency depending on how often they want feedback. Survey data should also be stored securely to track survey-to-survey improvements.

Employee pulse survey best practices

Conducting an employee pulse survey is quite simple, but getting expected results takes some work. The following best practices bring companies closer to the desired results.

• Make sure employees understand the purpose. Companies should never skip the survey instructions and expectations step; rather, take extra time to guide the staff through the questions. When employees understand the overall goal, they’re more likely to respond in a way that provides the company with detailed and valuable information. 
• Keep it short and to the point. Surveys shouldn’t take too long or be too complex to understand. 
• Include only the most pressing questions. When creating a pulse survey, it’s always quality over quantity. Because pulse surveys are quick and simple, companies should prioritize the most important questions on the most time-sensitive issues.
• Ask for action items. A pulse survey report aims to study the findings and help organizations make the necessary changes. Company leadership shouldn’t be afraid to ask employees for advice on improving. Consider questions that ask respondents directly what they would change about the company and how.