Employee Pulse Surveys are fast becoming an important communication tool. It's important to listen to feedback from employees and understand value in what they have to say.
Gathering feedback can be tricky on a one to one basis. You might want measurable insights from certain groups or even the whole company. Using pulse surveys means you can gather large amounts of data.
But what questions should you ask, and why? In this blog post we’ll be sharing 24 pulse survey questions you can ask your employees as well as:
- What is a pulse survey?
- How long should my pulse survey be?
- Pulse survey structure
- Employee pulse survey sample questions
What is a pulse survey?
Pulse Surveys are a communication tool. They let employees tell you how they feel about particular subjects on a frequent basis. They’re perfect for getting fast and targeted feedback.
Conducting regular pulse surveys has a huge benefit for companies. Employees can voice their opinions or needs, they also help drive engagement. By letting their voice be heard, employees know that their opinions matter.
Want pulse survey tips and best practices? Read our ultimate guide now.
How long should my pulse survey be?
The frequency you plan to send out your pulse survey will ultimately determine how long your pulse survey is.
A general rule of thumb is the more frequent the pulse survey, the shorter it should be in length.
So if you're sending your pulse surveys out monthly it should consist of 10 - 15 questions. If it’s quarterly, 15-20 questions, and bi-annually should contain between 20-30 questions.
Did you know that employees actually want more frequent pulse surveys? Find out why in our guide to pulse surveys.
Recommended Reading 📖 Pulse Surveys: The Ultimate Beginner's Guide [Tips & Best Practices]
Pulse Survey Structure
You know what a pulse survey is and how many questions you should have but what questions should you actually include? The structure of your pulse survey is important as it will help guide the reader clearly and easily through what you’re trying to get feedback on. It’s important to structure your pulse survey using different types of questions.
There are three types of questions you should be asking in pulse surveys. Outcome, Driver and Open Text questions.
Outcome Questions:
"How happy are you at work?" is an outcome question that relates to the topic of employee satisfaction. Outcome questions ask your employees something related to what you're interested in measuring such as employee satisfaction. We’ll show you some examples further on in this blog post.
Outcome questions are also known as 'tracker items' as you can track their progress over time. Outcome questions use rating scales to track how your employees feel about a certain topic such as “How happy are you at work on a scale of 1-10?”. Responses are reflected by numerical data which allows you to measure the concept over time.
Driver Questions:
Driver questions relate to certain concepts, behaviours and practices that can have an impact on the topic that you’re exploring. If you’re looking at employee satisfaction, a driver question might be “Do you believe you have a good work life balance?”. This is because there is a definite correlation between having a good work life balance and employee satisfaction.
Work life balance is just one ‘driver’ that might affect employee satisfaction. Other drivers might be having the right tools to do your job or how you feel you belong to your team.
Through driver questions, you can create action and solutions. If you discover employees aren’t happy with their work life balance, you can identify and work out how to improve this within your organisation.
Open Text Questions:
Having open-text questions lets employees speak in their own words and explain their answers to driver and outcome questions. By giving them the opportunity to explain their responses it gives you deeper insight into their thoughts and allows you to create solutions.
An open ended question will follow the outcome and driver questions. A good question would be "What can the company do to improve work life balance?"
So how many of each should you use? It’s recommended to have a 70:20:10 ratio:
- 70% Driver (Action focused)
- 20% Outcome (Measurement focused)
- 10% Open-text (Qualitative)
Employee Pulse Survey Sample Questions
The questions used in a pulse survey will vary between businesses. It will also depend on what you want to find out from your employees.
Group questions into themes. Pulse surveys focus on a specific issue or question so identify your goals and what you want to measure! Take a look at our list of questions on certain topics below.
Employee Satisfaction Questions
It’s important to know if your employees are satisfied with their job role and working for the company as a whole. Satisfaction is important. It indicates employees are happy, loyal and are also working to their best ability. Having satisfied employees leads to employee retention and higher revenues for the business. Measure employee satisfaction using these types of questions:
- How happy are you at work?
- On a scale of 1-10 how would you rate your work life balance?
- How much do you enjoy the company culture?
- If you could, what's the one thing that you would change about your job?
Employees Opinions of the Company
The opinion of your employees matters, they’re who complete the business and make it what it is. Value and trust has a big impact on the way employees communicate and express their thoughts. Employees are 23% more likely to offer ideas and solutions if they trust their workplace. Ask these questions to gauge how your employees view the company?
- My personal values align with company’s vision and mission
- How likely are you to recommend your organisation to someone you know?
- How much do you trust the leaders of this organisation?
- I believe this organisation will be successful in the future
Feedback on Company Initiatives
To build a great company it’s important to listen to what your employees say. You need to give employees the chance to be open and honest about their views.
Did you know that 77% of employees say that they'd be more honest in a survey than an actual conversation.
Have a plan to take appropriate action from their feedback. See how your employees feel about company initiatives with these questions:
- I noticed positive changes as a result of the last survey
- My manager shared the results of the last survey with our team
- Our organisation has done a good informing employees about [initiative]
- Is there any way we can improve the feedback process?
Employee Engagement
Having engaged employees impacts so many areas of your business. It's and is integral to company success. Engaged employees are happy, passionate and invested in their work. They produce high quality work and results.
If the majority of your employees are engaged, you’re onto a winner. Use questions like this to measure employee engagement:
- I receive meaningful recognition for doing good work
- I feel comfortable giving opinions and feedback to managers
- I see myself still working at [Company Name] in two years time
- [Company Name] motivates me to go beyond what I would in a similar role elsewhere
Recommended Reading 📖 Employee Engagement: The Ultimate Guide for 2021
Personal Growth
Focusing on the personal growth and development of employees is essential for success. Create an environment where employees can progress and learn. This has a huge impact on engagement, self belief and mental wellbeing. Ensure employees are getting everything they need by asking these questions:
- I can see clear progression in my role
- I have access to everything I need to perform to the best of my ability
- I know what constitutes good performance in my role
- Is there anything we can do to help employees learn and develop my skills?
Remote Working
COVID19 has transformed how companies will work, with many adopting hybrid working models. More people are working from home than ever before. It’s important to gauge how your employees feel around this subject.
Find out if employees can perform duties both at home and in the office and if you can do anything to support them. Discover how your employees feel about remote working with questions like these:
- I feel connected to my team when working from home
- I feel informed about the organisation's goals and priorities when working from home
- Our remote work tools are suitable and allow me to complete my work effectively
- Is there anything we can provide or do that will make working from home easier?
Pulse surveys are quick and frequent. They're the perfect tool for discovering how your employees are feeling. Because they’re so quick to complete pulse surveys yield high participation.
Be consistent with pulse surveys to engage your employees. Let them have their say in the building of a strong company culture and organization.
Looking for other ways to improve employee engagement? Read our blog post on how to improve employee engagement in 10 simple steps.
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