Employee Pulse Checks & Surveys

In the past, organisations typically used an annual (or perhaps every size months) employee satisfaction survey. The problem, of course, was that done annually it provided very little opportunity to check-in on your employees and take meaningful action.

The reason Employee Pulse Surveys are growing in popularity is therefore not surprising – firstly they are much shorter and reduce the amount of time it takes employees to give their feedback and secondly, they enable you to check-in and react (you know, take action) on issues as they are occurring or to measure in real-time if actions you have taken are making a difference.

What are the key attributes of an Employee Pulse Survey?

It’s considerably shorter than an annual engagement survey and much easier to complete
It’s more frequent than annually (typically monthly or quarterly)
It asks the same questions/items over time so you can track progress (e.g How likely are you to recommend your company as a place to work to your family and friends?)

What types of questions should be in an Employee Pulse Check?

There aren’t really any hard and fast rules on what questions you should ask as they typically depend entirely on your goals.

But, it wouldn’t be like us to not help you right? A quick search on the internet will provide lots of ideas so we’ve collated 20 example questions you could use:

Example questions for Employee Pulse Checks:

How happy are you at work?
I know what doing a good job looks like
Are the expectations of your role clear to you?
I have access to all the tools I need to succeed
Do the systems you use make it easy for you to complete your work?
I receive meaningful recognition for doing a good job
Do you feel like there is genuine care and concern for employees?
I feel comfortable sharing my opinions to management
On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your work-life balance
My personal values are aligned to the company’s vision and mission
Do you feel internal departments work well together?
Do you feel that innovation is encouraged and rewarded in the workplace?
How likely are you to recommend <insert your company> products and services to a friend?
How likely are you to recommend <insert your company> as a place to work to your family or friends?
Do you feel proud of the products and services our company offers?
I am given opportunities to develop my skills
Do you feel you have the skills and training you need to be successful in your job?
Do you feel like your manager is approachable?
Do you feel like you receive regular feedback on your performance?
I can see clear career progression in my role

What is the best way to conduct Employee Pulse Checks?

Being able to distribute, collate and analyse the data will be critical to taking action so it’s best to use tools that can make the job a bit easier. These include:

Microsoft Excel
Survey Monkey (easy to use software that provides free and paid options where you can design your own survey)
Employee Pulse Check software (purpose-built software designed for conducting both pulse checks and annual satisfaction surveys)