Employee pulse survey: The trick to avoiding survey fatigue

Managers are now making use of surveys to gain insights into how employees perceive their company. These surveys are quicker and done more frequently than the annual feedback system. However, many still struggle with how an employee pulse survey is conducted and what it means, but this article will help develop a clear understanding.

The Employee Pulse Survey is a brief and concise survey sent out to employees regularly to measure the employee experience in terms of employee satisfaction, work environment, and work relationship. 

The survey also aims at receiving honest feedback from the company’s most important assets. It targets the topics that need attention the most at your company, which means it is a subjective survey and it isn’t consistent across various companies.

The number of questions included in a pulse survey usually varies from 5 to 15. Since they are done more frequently than other feedback exercises, it requires little time to conduct and boosts employee engagement. Managers can also use the report from these surveys to implement strategies that’ll act as remedies to pressing issues at their company. 

• Reasons why you should conduct employee pulse surveys

• 1. Increased employee engagement

Listening to the voice and demands of your employees is an effective way of improving the quality of their dedication to your company. Employee pulse surveys help companies check in on how their employees actually feel about certain activities, which encourages positive engagement. Knowing that their feedback contributes to the growth of the company will increase their dedication and input to support this cause.

2. More relevant feedback

There are no better sources to get resourceful feedback about the operations and work environment of your company than from those who work in it. Conducting pulse surveys help companies understand the current situation of things. Since they are done frequently, companies get fresh updates and the opportunity to make proactive decisions before issues escalate.

3. Gain meaningful insights

Pulse surveys help managers understand what employees need to perform better. Receiving frequent feedback helps them develop actionable plans and track the progress of newly implemented strategies in maintaining progressive company culture.

Employee pulse surveys also give managers the opportunity to cover a wide variety of topics over time, making it the perfect practice for companies that do not want to leave any stones unturned.

4. Serve as a reminder that management values staff input

Requesting employee feedback regularly is a huge indicator that you care about how they feel and their contributions to the growth of your business. These surveys act as a form of recognition for their hard work and act as proof that what they think matters a lot.

Paying attention to their concerns means you recognize them as humans, not bots. This, in turn, transitions their passion for the paycheck into positive intentions towards achieving the organization’s goals.

5. Promote open communication

Employees are more likely to be expressive about their concerns and contributions when surveys are taken frequently. Pulse surveys are also good for employees that are naturally introverted or not outspoken, as they are done anonymously. So, they feel more comfortable sharing their honest feedback. With these surveys, you gain access to the knowledge they have difficulties sharing.

Structure of an employee pulse survey

1. Driver questions  (70%)

Driver questions help companies identify the basic cause of the problems that they seek to measure. These questions aim at identifying actions and solutions that tackle the key drivers of certain issues. 

Driver questions account for 70% of the total pulse survey because they are solution-focused, preventing employees from being stuck in an endless loop of the problem analysis phase

Example: 

• How do you think we can improve engagement in our remote team?
• Will an enhancement in your workspace boost your performance?
• How well will adopting the flexible working hours model impact your work-life balance?

2. Outcome questions (20%)

Outcome questions are questions directed towards the solutions to a problem. They serve as tools used for impact measurement. It is ideal to use a scale after each question so employees can accurately indicate their perception of a question.

They usually account for about 20% of the total pulse survey questions, as they are measurement-focused questions, used in evaluating how employees feel about an adopted strategy.

Example: 

• How well did the adoption of the Sprynkl app help in increasing collaboration in your team?  

• On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this company as a good place to work?
• How much do you trust the leaders of this organization?

3. Open-text questions (10%)

Open-text questions are used to embrace employee self-expression. They give employees room to write their responses without any limitations on the number of answers that they can provide. These questions provide additional insights into how employees perceive company suggestions and challenges. 

Open-text questions account for 10% of the total pulse survey, as they are usually more difficult to analyze and could be time-exhaustive. It is recommended that they are kept at a minimum.

Example: 

• How does your team leader give feedback on delivered projects?
• What do you find most appealing about this organization?
• How has your transition into the remote workforce affected your communication and collaboration with your team?

7 steps to conduct employee pulse survey 

1. Choose the topics and questions you want to ask

Select topics that are relevant to the operations of your business. The challenges your company might be experiencing and how much of a negative impact it is. Some common examples of relevant topics will include; employee satisfaction, productivity, leadership style, and the overall company culture.

Example: Company culture questions

• Do you have a stable work-life balance?
• How well do you think your company cares for your physical and emotional health?
• Do you feel respected by your team members and leaders?
• Which aspects of the organization can be improved on to improve your productivity and overall experience?
• What can you say about the company’s dedication to diversity and inclusion?

Tip(s): Have a minimum of five questions and a maximum of 15 for each topic. It will help prevent survey fatigue.

• 2. Announce the survey to your company

Although employee pulse surveys are not time-exhaustive, giving your employees a heads up before the survey is sent out is important. It shows that you respect their time and would rather have them include it in their schedule and spare part of their time to it. Announcing the survey makes it feel like a polite demand for their opinions, not another company task they have to keep up with.

• Example: Announcement email

Tip(s): 

• Keep the announcement short. Remember, you’re trying to save time.
• Employees receive quite a lot of emails daily and chances are that the survey email might get lost. So, send reminders at intervals to ensure they don’t miss out on answering the survey.

3. Start the survey

Send the survey to your employees via different channels to ensure they can access it on any platform at any given time.

With software like Sprynkl, companies can create an employee pulse survey right on the mobile app and have it sent to their employees. 

Tip(s): Set realistic deadlines for each survey to prompt timely responses.

4. Analyse the responses

Once all responses have been submitted, take note of the company’s strengths and weaknesses. These records will serve as a reference point from which progress may be measured. It also brings your attention to areas that need improvement or total elimination.

Example 

Question: Do you feel respected by your team members and leaders?

Tip(s):  Use cross-tabulation to better understand and analyze the data.

5. Share the results 

The result of a conducted survey is proof that their responses have been recorded and appropriately acknowledged. Announce the results during a meeting or send a mail.

Example: Survey result email

Tip(s): Present the data in tables, charts, graphs, or infographics and have it sent to your employees.

6. Take action

Your employees have given their honest feedback, it is important that you show your appreciation by taking actions that favor their feedback. This step remains the most important one and it predicts the response rate to the next survey. Create an action plan and assign each duty to the appropriate parties to ensure its efficiency with target dates to measure progress.

Example: 

Tip(s): Get your employees on board with your action plan to ensure a  seamless collaborative process. 

7. Review and repeat

As mentioned earlier, employee pulse surveys are conducted regularly. The company management team also wants to keep updating the internal situation and the progress of the last action plan after conducting a pulse survey. It’s extremely crucial to continue reviewing and repeating this procedure to make sure everyone in the company on the same page.

Make the voices of your employees heard

Conducting an employee pulse survey lets companies create an awesome employee experience for their staff. It shows full recognition and respect for the hard work and challenges they face in their line of business.

However, a pulse survey could be as good as useless if employees' issues and concerns are not properly addressed. The HR team should be sure to acknowledge their responses and let them know their satisfaction is put on the priority list.