How often should you run employee pulse surveys?

What are pulse surveys?

Pulse surveys are short surveys that are sent to employees more regularly than annual surveys. Some organisations send them on a fixed schedule e.g weekly, fortnightly, monthly, or quarterly, whilst others prefer to send them on an ad-hoc schedule.

Their name comes from the idea that they are usually shorter than annual or employee onboarding/exit surveys, using between 1 and 10 questions. This means they are much quicker for employees to complete, and tend to achieve better response rates too.

Pulse surveys are also really flexible with the topics they can explore. Their focus can change from one survey to the next which makes them a great option for organisations who want to take an employee focused approach to their engagement and explore topics relevant at the time e.g burnout, mental health, financial wellbeing, or communication. So, why use employee pulse surveys?

Why should you use pulse surveys in your team?

Teams of all shapes and sizes benefit from pulse surveys, their format compliments the structure and working patterns of many different organisations. There are many different benefits to using them, here are just a few:

• Fast turnaround
  Pulse surveys are quicker to create and send than more traditional employee surveys such as annual surveys.

• Good response rate
  Their short and simple format encourages good response rates from employees so you can collect a more accurate view of how they’re thinking and feeling.

• Supports continuous improvement
  Gathering feedback at regular intervals means that you can continuously measure and improve new and existing initiatives, adjusting them when needed.

• Real-time status updates
  The simplicity of a pulse survey means that the data is easy to analyse, giving you an up to the minute understanding of the insights from employees so that you can create change based on how they are currently feeling.

How often should you run employee pulse surveys?

The answer is, it depends!

Every organisation is different and benefits from a different pulse survey schedule – there is no ‘one size fits all’ rule for pulse surveys.

So, how can you make sure you get it right for your team? Use our questions and considerations below to help you decide on the best schedule for your employees.

Things to think about when considering your pulse survey schedule

• What themes are you exploring with your pulse survey?
  The theme of your questions (and any you wish to repeat) provide a good guide for how often you should send them. For example, if you include questions on employees’ wellbeing, you may find it helpful to ask these monthly.

• Do your employees have increased workloads at certain times of the year?
  Take into account your employees’ workloads when planning your schedule so that you can ensure your response rates remain high and you’re not adding an extra task to their list!

• How quickly can you communicate the results once the survey has closed?
  We recommend communicating with employees about your last survey before launching a new one. This shows employees that you are committed to taking action based on their feedback, and will help you maintain good response rates and build trust!

• Will you need to make changes based on the survey feedback? And will they need to be approved by senior management?
  If you need to make changes based on pulse survey feedback e.g updating your working from home policy to give employees better guidance, it is best practice to ensure you have an idea of specific changes and timelines – and communicate them with employees – before your next pulse survey.

• Do you have more employees on annual leave at certain times of the year?
  Keep in mind that if a large proportion of your team are on annual leave, they won’t be able to contribute to your survey. It is worth taking this into account when creating your survey schedule.

• How long is your pulse survey?
  The more questions you include in your pulse surveys, the less frequently you should send them. This helps balance the time commitment you are asking of employees, and ensures you maintain a good response rate. For surveys of around five questions we recommend a monthly cadence.

• How often does your business report on other key metrics?
  Aligning your pulse surveys with the reporting of your organisation’s KPIs means you can include the results within management reports. This is an effective way to communicate the results to colleagues, and also shows them how seriously you’re taking the results!

How to create a pulse survey schedule for success

Regular survey cadences will help you keep your finger on the pulse of how employees are thinking and feeling. They also help you keep an eye on the impact of your changes, leading to more engaged employees and more successful business outcomes.

The most important thing to remember when creating a schedule is consistency. Consistency helps you and your managers create a habit with your pulse survey routine. It also helps improve survey engagement from your team as they begin to see regular changes created as a result of their feedback!

Stribe gives you a simple employee survey solution that makes it easy for you to create and send pulse surveys when it works best for your team, helping you gather employee insights that help you create real change that matters.

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About the author

Lucy Harvey

Lucy Harvey, COO at Stribe, has 11+ years’ experience in purpose-driven leadership roles across health, wellbeing, internal communications, employee engagement, and marketing. She is passionate about creating workplaces where people are happy, fulfilled, and feel comfortable and safe to talk.