When it comes to curating a stand-out employee experience, it is important to know how to get feedback effectively and regularly - both for you, and your team's, benefit.
There are a number of ways to source feedback from employees. Conventional methods include employee engagement surveys, which are typically long-form and look to source feedback quarterly, biannually or annually, as well as 'pulse surveys', a type of employee survey that's seen a surge in popularity in recent years.
What's the appeal of the pulse? Well, where the average employee engagement survey sees a 30-40% response rate, pulse surveys enjoy an average response rate that's 2x higher, at 85%.
Before we get into why the pulse survey sees such success in terms of voluntary participation, let's first iron out the basics - the definition of 'pulse survey'.
What exactly is a pulse survey?
A pulse survey is a brief and regular set of questions sent to employees, characterized by its short length.
Like any survey, the purpose of a pulse survey is to gather feedback. But, as the term 'pulse' suggests, these surveys are deployed at frequent intervals.
Pulse surveys are effective at building a picture of employee sentiment in-the-moment (vs. benchmarking sentiment on one topic over time), and tend to be time or event-specific. For example - a pulse survey would be effective in querying whether an employee found their last training session impactful, or how motivated they were feeling at work that morning.
How do pulse surveys differ from annual employee engagement surveys?
1. Specific
Pulse surveys tend to be deployed as follow-up to something specific, like an event, training session, or change in process. For example, you might want to send out a pulse on whether or not employees feel confident using a new POS system you've introduced in-store.
2. Short
Because pulse surveys' aim is to source feedback on specific, time-tied sentiments, they naturally err on the shorter side and involve less complex question types. For example, it's more likely you'll see simple yes/no closed questioning in a pulse survey than you would multiple, open-ended questions that prompt the respondent to share their written thoughts.
Though they can range anywhere from 1 to 15 questions the shorter, the better. A good rule of thumb to follow is: the more frequent the pulse, the shorter you should make it.
3. Frequent
Consisting of few, simple questions, pulse surveys are quick and straightforward to build. As the production time end-to-end is significantly shorter for this type of survey than for others, survey creators are able to commit to - and maintain - sharing pulse surveys at a regular cadence. Frequent roll out is not just attainable in the short-term, but more feasible to sustain over time.
What makes pulse surveys so effective?
1. Brevity
One of the main reasons pulse surveys see such high engagement is that they are short. Employees, particularly frontline workers who are often paid on an hourly basis, have little time to spare - or interest in - activities that may eat into their earning potential.
Not only do lengthy surveys hamper productivity (for both frontline and corporate employees alike), but seeing 'question 1 of 30' will cause most to opt out, negatively impacting survey participation rates from the outset.
2. Hyper-focused and contextual
Pulse surveys add context to evolving conditions. Since these surveys are performed frequently, you can get a snapshot of employee sentiment in-the-moment.
Perhaps your customer returns process has changed. Deploying a two-question survey on how this process change is working gives you the on-the-ground insight that can inform quick decision-making. And, as they're related to current events that directly involve employees, employees are much more likely to have an opinion, and want to engage.
3. Boost employee morale
To solicit feedback is an extension of care - it's a signal to an employee that you value their opinion. For frontline workers, where the relationship between employer and employee is often more transactional and where opportunities to build a sense of culture are few and far between, regular feedback-sourcing can act as a competitive differentiator. This effect is amplified even further if feedback is then implemented for employees to see.
Employees who feel empowered with a voice are 4x more likely to report being engaged at work, and engaged employees are more motivated, loyal, and productive.
4. Creation of a continuous feedback loop
Pulse surveys act as ‘temperature checks’ on your workforce, and as they're limited in scope, it makes them easier for survey creators to parse through, collate, and enact feedback-related changes, closing the gap on feedback-sourcing and feedback-based action faster.
To hark back to the example of the returns change process earlier, if all store associates respond 'no' to 'is this process working?', management are able to make necessary adjustments in a more agile way than if they had to wait until the longer survey set to take place in a month's time.
Seeing these adjustments implemented quickly reinforces the morale boost employees receive from being consulted in the first place. They aren't just given an opportunity to be heard, they have been heard. The power of this can't be understated - 90%of workers stick with their organization when their feedback comes into fruition.
It's a win-win - organizations can make iterative, positive, change much faster and employees feel more appreciated in the process.
5. Build culture and employer brand
These surveys also help to foster company culture and create more cohesion amongst employees.
As employees continuously contribute, the topics they are surveyed on may become a point of discussion in the workplace. When employees interact with each other more, especially in an organic/non work-mandated way, they are more likely to feel bonded as a team, and be more effective when problem-solving together.
In general, by executing such initiatives successfully, you provide value to employees, which increases your employer attractivity. And a strong employer brandattracts (58%) and retains (20%) top talent. With a strong employer brand comes more employee ambassadors who champion - loud and clear - the good things your organization does.
How can you get the most out of pulse surveys for your company?
1. Identify a topic and add questions
This starts with identifying the major goal of the survey. For example, it could be to find out how more tenured workforce members are adjusting to new hires.
2. Set expectations for participants
Here, the main objective is to let employees know when the survey will be taking place, how long it will last, and how they can participate. The more information you can give upfront, the more user-friendly you make the experience (and the more likely people are to engage).
3. Launch the survey
Distribute the survey at a convenient time using the most suitable method that ensures maximum participation.
4. Send reminders
If you've chosen the right channel to distribute your survey, you should organically see healthy engagement. Still, a gentle nudge doesn't hurt to further up participation rates. Send these reminders via whichever communicational channel puts you in front of the biggest audience. This could be Slack, email, or even a noticeboard.
5. Examine responses
Create a simple system you can use to tally up any quantitative data. Establish patterns in the results. Place more focus on the areas where employees express room for improvement or desire for change.
6. Share results with the team
If you want to, you can share a general overview of findings with the team. Doing so contributes to organizational transparency and builds a culture of trust.
7. Act
The end-to-end the survey process looks something like: ask > digest > act. Executing the first two stages without the final can have adverse effects on employee motivation long-term.
If you survey repeatedly and conduct no follow-up (acknowledging receipt of the responses, outlining next steps, and updating employees on action that's been taken), over time employees will begin to resent being asked to dedicate time with no return, and may discard future invitations for them to feed back. In other words, you disincentivize participation.
8. Survey time
Once you’ve acted, it's time to survey again. This survey is a bookending survey - you are measuring sentiment around the change you made following the original survey.
Choosing pulse survey software to get started with survey distribution
Pulse survey software comes in many shapes and forms - as either software that specializes in survey creation and distribution, or as an additional feature within a software that performs a different base function (e.g. training software).
In any case, some things to consider when choosing a tool to start deploying pulse surveys include:
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The solution should be mobile-friendly - this is non-negotiable if your workforce is deskless or distributed.
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Security is paramount - it should at the very least have an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate.
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Basic functionality must include options for both anonymous and identifiable answering.
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A customizable solution that accommodates varying question types and quantities is ideal (one-size-fits-all is never advisable).
- The interface should be user-friendly for both survey creators and respondents.
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Reporting features should provide just the right level of detail, be straightforward, and easily accessible.
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You should have no trouble finding positive testimonials from existing clients about the product or feature.
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Any additional features that align with your organization's specific needs from the product.
Using pulse surveys to improve training
Pulse surveys are now a critical part of modern business success. Are you ready to deploy them in your organization to gain valuable feedback while fostering an engaged and motivated workforce?
eduMe enables you to quickly and easily roll out pulse surveys to your workforce alongside training and learning. Delivered straight to your employees' mobile phones, the process is hassle-free, encouraging higher feedback rates and providing you with actionable insights. 👇
