{"id":12320,"date":"2021-11-18T18:46:45","date_gmt":"2021-11-18T18:46:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jboitnott.com\/?p=12320"},"modified":"2021-11-19T17:59:42","modified_gmt":"2021-11-19T17:59:42","slug":"what-is-a-pulse-survey-and-how-they-can-it-help-your-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jboitnott.com\/zh\/what-is-a-pulse-survey-and-how-they-can-it-help-your-company\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a Pulse Survey, and How Can it Help Your Company?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Employee pulse surveys have become more and more popular in recent years. Companies large and small, domestic and international, and across a wide range of industries use pulse surveys. These surveys measure employee engagement and their attitudes about company culture. Putting thought into pulse survey questions<\/a> can make them effective tools in helping steer your organization in the direction you want to go.<\/p>\n

What a pulse survey\u00a0is<\/h2>\n

An employee pulse survey differs from the traditional employee engagement survey in that it\u2019s quickly given weekly or monthly. The purpose of a pulse survey is to gain quick insight into a company\u2019s vital signs by gathering employee feedback.<\/p>\n

The primary purpose of a pulse survey is to quantify employee engagement. Employee engagement is the measure of enthusiasm and connection employees have with their organization. It\u2019s been historically difficult to assess. Attempting to measure employee engagement can be frustrating, because the results can either be inaccurate or outdated\u00a0 By the time you compile survey responses, the data may be too old to be relevant. A properly designed pulse survey is meant to address these issues.<\/p>\n

Another purpose of a pulse survey is measuring a company\u2019s culture. Companies gather all kinds of data on how they are serving their customers<\/a>. Gathering data on how a company serves its employees is as important to an organization\u2019s overall health.<\/p>\n

The benefits of pulse\u00a0surveys<\/h2>\n

Actionable data<\/h3>\n

Because of their frequency, employee pulse surveys give near real-time measurements of employee engagement. A typical pulse survey is between five and 15 questions. Because of their brevity, you can compile data quickly enough to take action based on employee feedback.<\/p>\n

Engaged employees<\/h3>\n

It makes perfect sense that pulse surveys can help to improve the very employee engagement they are designed to measure. Asking employees for regular, relevant feedback is itself positive employee engagement. Research clearly shows that engaged employees are more productive and take less time off. Engagement lowers the risk of turnover and helps team members interface positively with customers.<\/p>\n

Positive culture<\/h3>\n

One of the main reasons employees cite for leaving their job is a negative company culture<\/a>, so anything that could help improve company culture should be taken seriously. Employers who regularly encourage employee feedback and who follow-up on that feedback are encouraging a positive company culture.<\/p>\n

Analysis over\u00a0time<\/h3>\n

Because of their frequency, pulse surveys can be used as a reading of a company at a specific moment. They can be used also as a measure of employee engagement over time. For example, let\u2019s say in one of your surveys, employees listed the ability to work out during lunch as something that would boost morale. The company rolls out a plan to give employees a discount membership to a nearby fitness club. You can use a pulse survey to see what the effect of this change is during and after its execution.<\/p>\n

Higher response\u00a0rate<\/h3>\n

Employee pulse surveys often have higher response rates than traditional annual surveys or employee engagement surveys, because they take less time to complete and can be acted on more quickly by employers. Employees are more likely to complete surveys when they feel like their time isn\u2019t wasted.<\/p>\n

Building an effective pulse\u00a0survey<\/h2>\n

Building an effective employee pulse survey<\/a> requires questions that are both meaningful and easy to answer quickly for the employees, and answers that are both quantifiable and actionable to the employer. The next few paragraphs will give some guidance on how to achieve just that.<\/p>\n

The purpose<\/h3>\n

Every pulse survey has a purpose to it. That purpose should be clearly stated before the first question is asked. A brief statement at the beginning of the survey can set a positive tone before people start responding. A sample purpose statement could look something like this:<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the reasons we exist as an organization is to benefit the individuals who work here. Our core purpose at _______ is to help our customers ______________. We need to have ways to measure whether or not we\u2019re doing a good job meeting our employees\u2019 needs as well as our customers\u2019 needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keeping the survey\u2019s purpose in mind will help you formulate questions that will allow you to accurately take the temperature of your organization.<\/p>\n

The questions<\/h3>\n

As the person who\u2019ll be reading and interpreting the data, you want that data to be both quantifiable and meaningful. Asking not just questions, but the right questions, and giving your employees a way to answer that gives you the information you need as well as the ability to get the survey done and get back to work is important.<\/p>\n

Questions for a pulse survey should be action-oriented and allow the employee to express their agreement or disagreement with the question\u2019s premise. Besides being basic benchmarks of overall employee satisfaction<\/a>, pulse survey questions should address the main drivers of employee engagement: leadership, enablement, alignment and development. Below are some examples of pulse survey questions:<\/p>\n