What is a Pulse Survey?
A pulse survey is a short, fast survey that is sent out to employees on a regular basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.), depending on requirements. This survey is essentially a check-in, providing a pulse check on topics such as change management, employee satisfaction, job role, communication, relationships, and work environment.
These surveys are typically only less than 15 questions; therefore, they are not time consuming and very easy to answer. They are useful because the feedback your employees give can help you decide which areas need improvement and form the basis of a regular measure of changes in engagement and satisfaction levels within your organisation.
- Create engagement and buy-in for change management.
- Show leadership is listening.
- Get people more comfortable with speaking up.
- Help you determine what the majority feels.
- Fast and efficient voice capture process.
- Track perceptions over time.
- Examine patterns across the company.
- Anticipate issues before they become a larger problem.
- If they are sent out too often, they can lose their effectiveness.
- If no action is taken post survey, people will quickly lose faith in the process.
How to Get Started
How can you get started with pulse surveys for your company?
Select the questions to ask
This starts with identifying the goal of the survey, for example it could be to monitor the level of engagement of employees to a major change initiative such as a new payroll system. Or it could be to find out how employees are adjusting to a corporate wide merge or acquisition.Announce the survey
Here the objective is to let employees know that there will be a survey taking place, the purpose of the surveys, how long it will last and how they can participate.Begin surveying
Distribute the survey at a convenient time using combined campaigns and questions. Consider a recipients’ preferred platform, email, app or sms delivery for a better user experience.Examine the responses
Look at the results by geography, division, role and individual to establish any pattern in the results. Place more focus on the areas where employees suggest areas for improvement or request for more information and focus on actionable insights.Share the results
To keep staff motivated and interested, it is important to give the employees an overview or dashboard analyses of the findings of the survey.Take action
Without a doubt, this is the most crucial part. While it may not be technically seen as part of the survey itself, it is a part of the survey journey since the pulse approach is continuous.Evaluate and repeat
Once you’ve taken action, follow it up with a campaign and survey to measure its success. Keep the actions that work, modify those that don’t and repeat. Always have one eye on the end goal to ensure the original vision is adhered to at all times.
One Last Word on Analytics
Being able to uncover trends or reveal the impact of specific events on the employee experience is a benefit of frequent staff surveying, however, with that comes the need for more advanced analysis. Communic8 offers deep analytics, being able to slice data by geography, department role right down to the individual.
Contact Communic8, your pulse survey solution with a focus on continuous engagement and communication, complete with messaging and analytics.
Thanks!
