Pulse surveys are an agile way to gathering employee feedback. This post provides key advice on the things to consider when it comes to design them effectively.
The approach to designing an effective pulse survey uses the same principles of designing any effective employee survey. The key phases are:
Be clear on the objective for your pulse surveys
Before creating the survey, determine the specific objectives you wish to achieve. Are you looking to monitor engagement, assess well-being, or track the impact of a recent change? Having clear objectives will guide the structure and content of the survey.
Pulse surveys tend to be used in one of three ways:
Pulse surveys can be used to confirm the findings from a previous survey. For example, imagine that your employee engagement survey indicated an issue with wellbeing. You could run a pulse survey after, say, six months, asking the same questions around wellbeing as you had in your engagement survey. By only focussing on the wellbeing questions, you will quickly be able to confirm whether or not wellbeing is still an issue.
Once you have confirmed that there is an issue you could use a pulse survey to explore the issue in more detail. For example, one of our clients recently identified that communications was an area that could be improved across the organisation so they asked us to help them design a pulse survey to explore the impact of their internal comms in more depth.
Pulse surveys can be used to evaluate the impact of actions implemented as a result of your engagement or pulse surveys. Using our wellbeing example, you may have implemented various wellbeing initiatives as a result of your previous surveys. Repeating the pulse survey will allow you to see if those initiatives have had an impact on the survey scores for wellbeing. A slightly different variation of this is to run another pulse survey that asks more direct questions around how well those initiatives are being received by your employees.
Define the main themes your pulse survey needs to measure
The themes you may wish to measure in your pulse survey will depend to a large extent on the purpose of your survey.
For example, if you are using the pulse survey to gather more specific detail around an issue such as communication, then all of your pulse survey questions may just focus on that one theme. If you are using your pulse survey to evaluate progress against actions that have been implemented then this will guide the themes in your pulse survey.
In the absence of a clear objective for your pulse survey then our own model of employee experience will help provide a guide around key themes to measure in your employee pulse survey.
Formulate your pulse survey questions
In our employee surveys we recommend three types of questions that work best in practice.
Demographic questions
Demographic questions enable you to collecting information about things such as age, gender, job role, which part of the business people work in etc. Demographic questions are where people are asked to select one answer from a pre-defined list of answers. This can include yes/no questions.
Qualitative questions
Qualitative questions are open-ended questions where people are asked to provide their opinions in their own words. They are usually in the form of a free-text question and are useful for allowing people to provide feedback on anything they want.
Quantitative questions
Whereas qualitative questions are open-ended, quantitative questions are measurable so you can easily measure the strength of feeling employees have about an issue. There are different types of rating scale, but basically people are asked to rate how strongly they feel about something different aspects of their employee experience.
The key to a successful pulse survey is brevity. Aim for a small number of questions that are direct and relevant to your objective. Avoid overwhelming employees with too many questions, as this can reduce completion rates and lead to survey fatigue.
What are some example questions to use in an employee pulse survey?
While the specific pulse survey questions used by companies may vary depending on their unique goals and organisational culture, here are 20 commonly used pulse survey questions covering various aspects of the employee experience:
1. Overall Satisfaction: How satisfied are you with your current role and responsibilities?
2. Job Engagement: How engaged do you feel with your work and the company’s mission?
3. Managerial Support: Do you feel your immediate supervisor provides adequate support and feedback?
4. Work-Life Balance: Does your workload allow for a healthy work-life balance?
5. Team Collaboration: How effective is communication and collaboration within your team?
6. Organisational Communication: Are you satisfied with the frequency and transparency of internal communications?
7. Career Growth and Development: Do you feel the company invests in your professional growth and development?
8. Diversity and Inclusion: Do you believe the company fosters a diverse and inclusive work environment?
9. Recognition and Rewards: Do you feel adequately recognised and appreciated for your contributions?
10. Wellbeing: Are you aware of and engaged in the company’s wellness programs?
11. Feedback Mechanism: How comfortable do you feel providing feedback to your manager?
12. Workplace Safety: Do you feel safe and supported in your workplace?
13. Job Clarity: Do you have a clear understanding of your job responsibilities and expectations?
14. Teamwork: How well do you feel your team collaborates to achieve common goals?
15. Communication with Managers: Do you receive regular and constructive feedback from your managers?
16. Company Culture:How would you describe the company’s culture in three words?
17. Decision-Making Process: Do you feel your opinion is considered in the decision-making process?
18. Work Environment: How comfortable and conducive is your physical work environment?
19. Job Stress: How often do you feel stressed in your role?
20. Employee Advocacy: How likely are you to recommend the organisation as a great place to work?
In conclusion
Pulse surveys are a powerful tool for maintaining a direct line of communication with employees, enabling organisations to stay in tune with the workforce’s needs and concerns. When designed and implemented thoughtfully, they offer timely, actionable insights that can improve engagement, well-being, and organisational performance. By focusing on clarity, brevity, and purpose, businesses can harness the full potential of pulse surveys to foster a healthier, more connected work environment.