A questionnaire in employees' mailbox every week: is that a good idea or not? So-called pulse surveys - weekly or monthly questionnaires - have become increasingly popular in recent years. But what exactly are the considerations for opting for high-frequency surveys? And what are the potential dangers? In this article, you will read all about the pros and cons of pulse surveys and find tips on how to use high-frequency surveys effectively.
Definition pulse survey
Pulse surveys are short, high-frequency questionnaires that can be used alongside or instead of extensive employee satisfaction surveys. The surveys are designed to be administered in weekly intervals. Just as human health can be monitored by checking the pulse, the health of an organisation can be measured by a pulse survey.
Benefits of high-frequency employee surveys
1. Monitoring impact of changes
By conducting frequent surveys, you can monitor in a targeted way and in the short term whether implemented changes have the desired result. Suppose research shows that employees are dissatisfied with working hours, and you decide to make them more flexible. Then it would be a shame not to be able to measure the effect of this until the next annual survey. A short follow-up survey makes it possible to quickly gather targeted information regarding changes.
2. Connection between employee and management
By asking employees for feedback on a weekly or monthly basis, you as an organisation convey that you are open to change and want to take action to increase job happiness. This makes employees feel heard and valued. This has a positive effect on the organisational culture, which translates into happier employees and lower turnover1.
3. Shift focus and deepen
You can focus on a different focus point for each pulse survey. If a survey shows that there is room for improvement in the area of communication, it may be valuable to focus on certain aspects of this in the next survey. If you opt for annual surveys, you may be left with questions following the survey that will not be answered in the coming year.
4. Encourages awareness of developments
By covering specific developments in the pulse surveys, the employee's attention is automatically drawn to these. When you take steps to enable more employee participation as a result of a survey, it can be useful to ask in the subsequent survey how the employee experienced this. This makes the employee feel heard, but also makes them aware of positive changes.
5. Resource sentiment
By using recurring questionnaires, you reduce the chances of temporary circumstances influencing the results. For example, suppose there was a workplace conflict the day before the survey. Or there has just been a move or renovation. This could (subconsciously) influence the way employees fill in the questionnaire. After all, questionnaires remain a snapshot. It could very well be that the reality is just a little different than at the time of the survey. Conducting frequent surveys will average out that effect, so to speak. This is the closest you will get to the actual, average sentiment of employees.
Potential hazards of high-frequency research
1. Researching too frequently
As described above, doing frequent employee satisfaction survey with a number of attractive benefits. However, doing employee surveys too frequently can be counterproductive.
When all is said and done, you conduct research to make changes based on the results. So there is no need to send out questionnaires before these actions are actually implemented and visible on the shop floor. Indeed, when doing employee research, one of the biggest frustrations is when nothing is done with employee feedback. And surprisingly, this still happens often enough. Last year, an employee engagement survey was conducted among more than 3,000 HR employees. One of the questions in the survey was: to what extent is the organisation prepared to take action based on the results of the employee survey? This showed that only 42% of the organisations were unquestioningly willing to act on the results2. It is logical that this has an effect on the response rate of employee. Too frequent surveys are therefore not recommended.
Incidentally, there is also something to be said about research being too infrequent. After all, if you act quickly on the results, but then don't do any follow-up research for a long time, that's a waste. Not only do you miss out on valuable information, you also stand still in your development.
Advice: Investigate only as fast as you can act
The optimum frequency of employee survey depends entirely on the time you need to do something with the results. For many companies, sending out a questionnaire once a quarter is feasible.
2. Starting without a reference point
When your interest in using pulse surveys is piqued, you would probably prefer to start sending them out immediately. Herein, however, lies a second danger. As discussed earlier in this blog, you can use pulse surveys to zoom in on points of improvement within the organisation. To know what these areas of improvement are, however, requires initial research. When you start sending out questionnaires without having a clear idea of what to focus on, you run the risk of asking irrelevant things. This is not only a waste of the employee's time, but also of the opportunity to gather valuable information.
Advice: Start with a comprehensive employee satisfaction survey
Through a comprehensive employee survey you get a complete picture of sentiment within the organisation. Based on the results, you can then choose the focal points you want to focus on in the coming periods.
3. Asking for topics that cannot be changed
It is not wise to address issues that are unchangeable in pulse surveys. For example, suppose initial research shows that employees are dissatisfied with salary, but there are no resources available to change this. While it may be interesting to gather more information about the reason for the dissatisfaction, it is then not useful to devote an in-depth survey to this. This creates expectations among employees that cannot be met.
Advice: Ask only about issues where action can be taken
It is important to choose topics in which changes can actually be made. This will avoid disappointments. Rather, focus on topics where gains can be made.
4. Sending out surveys that are too long
There are undoubtedly an awful lot of questions you would like to ask employees. However, it is not wise to bundle all these questions into one pulse survey. If the questionnaire is too long, more and more employees will gradually drop out. Especially if you opt for monthly or even weekly surveys.
Advice: Keep pulse surveys short
Pulse surveys are meant to keep a finger on the pulse, not repeat the initial survey. Therefore, make sure the questionnaires are short: Decidedly no longer than 5 minutes. This way, you will achieve the highest possible response rate and avoid survey fatigue.
Response rate in high-frequency surveys
You might wonder what sending out questionnaires frequently does to the response rate. Doesn't the high frequency of surveys cause the employee to lose motivation to participate? Or doesn't the recurring mail become such a habit over time that the employee stops paying attention to it?
Generally, this is not an issue. Frequent, short questionnaires create more engagement and a sense of connection between employee and organisation. When employees experience that something is done with their feedback (in the short term), they will remain triggered to participate in it. That is provided the questionnaires do not require too much time investment. The response rate in the average internal survey is between 30 and 40 per cent3. By properly communicating the purpose of the questionnaires, acting on the results of the survey and not making the lists too long, a response rate of more of 85% can be achieved.
An employee satisfaction survey every week?
At the start of this article, we asked ourselves whether doing weekly employee survey is a good idea or not? The answer is a little more nuanced than a simple yes or no. The optimal frequency of doing research is different for each organisation. The most important rule to keep in mind is that it is never wise to research faster than you can act.
Sources
- Rachel Muller-Heyndyk (2018). Bad company culture costs UK economy £23.6 billion. HR Magazine.
- Mark Murphy (2018). This mistaken belief is ruining most employee engagement surveys. Forbes.
- Andrea Fryrear (2015). What's a good Survey Response Rate? SurveyGizmo.
