Employee Pulse Surveys: The Complete Guide

To ensure that your workplace is thriving, use regular pulse surveys to gauge how employees are feeling! In our blog, you can find the complete guide on employee pulse surveys, and some sample questions you can use to kickstart your survey! 

What is an Employee Pulse Survey?

An employee pulse survey is a short and sweet check-in that is sent out to all employees regularly (weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc.) It is a great way to check in on employees and for managers to get a feel for how everyone's doing. Pulse surveys provides a “pulse check” on things like employee happiness, communication, work environment, and more. These surveys are not only convenient, but they are super handy because they give managers updated insights into how their team is feeling, allowing to improvements in the workplace. 

Why are Pulse Surveys Necessary? 

Pulse Surveys are needed and are often beneficial as checking in on your employees only once or twice a year is not enough. With too much time in between check-ins, it becomes difficult for a company to address crucial issues that may arise throughout the year. Furthermore, many concerns may be overlooked or pushed aside since too much time has passed since a certain incident. Pulse surveys are a quick way to get an overview of how employees are feeling. Any problems or concerns can easily be addressed as they will typically be recent. Due to the simplicity of pulse surveys, they can be done quickly and efficiently to provide feedback for management.

Benefits of Pulse Surveys

• Give employees a safe space to share their honest feedback.
• Gain valuable insights on various factors or metrics of employee engagement.
• Show employees that their ideas, opinions, questions, and concerns are valued.
• Understand what's going on currently on your team, and adapt in real time.
• Foster a feedback-positive culture and spark conversations that wouldn't happen otherwise.

For remote teams, the benefits of pulse surveys are: 

• You get a better view of the unique challenges of your distributed team.
• Can spot warning signs of misalignment, conflict, or burnout on the team.
• Create a virtual safe space for honest feedback about employee experience.
• Check-in on things that might get missed away from the water cooler.

Types of Pulse Surveys to Implement

• Open-ended employee engagement surveys: Allow employees to have the freedom to give any feedback they feel is necessary!
• Employee satisfaction surveys: Notice a drop in productivity at work? Conduct an employee satisfaction survey to understand what may be the problem. 
• Employee wellness surveys: Burnout is a common occurrence in the workplace, make sure to check in on your employees and encourage wellness breaks!
• Company culture surveys: Ask your employees how they feel about the workplace environment and what changes could be made. 
• Employee exit surveys: There are many reasons why an employee leaves a company, conduct exit surveys to enhance the offboarding process. 

Pulse Survey Questions

• Do communications among peers feel honest?
• How would you rate the importance that your organization gives to your opinions and suggestions?
• Do you feel that your direct manager understands your day-to-day reality?
• Is recognition meaningful when you receive it?
• Do you feel you have enough freedom to decide how you do your work?
• Overall, how do you feel about your level of work-related stress?
• Do you know what you need to do to meet your goals and objectives?
• How happy are you at work?

You can also use different scale systems and let your employees rank how they feel. Here are some questions you can start with: 

• I have access to everything I need to perform to the best of my ability
• I receive meaningful recognition for doing good work
•  I feel comfortable giving opinions and feedback to managers
• I am given opportunities to learn and develop my skills
• I can see clear career progression in my role

Best Practices for Employee Pulse Surveys 

1. Make it Anonymous! 

Allowing employees to stay anonymous will enable them to give the most transparent and genuine feedback. With anonymity, it allows employees to know that there will be no “finger-pointing” for honest and constructive feedback. 

2. Share Results

Your team will likely be curious to know what the feedback is. Share the results of the survey with your team and let them know the steps you plan to take to help resolve any issues. This is also a good chance to ask for any ideas they may have for the company. 

3. Follow Up

Follow up with your employees to follow through with the results! It is important to show that you are willing to create an engagement action plan that builds trust with your team. By showing that you respect and hear their feedback, it will reduce turnover and boost morale. 

Employee pulse surveys are a great way to get consistent feedback from your employees. Do not forget to implement one of the many best practices we have included in our blog above. If you are stuck, check out the sample questions we have included!