HRD explores how to make pulse surveys work for you in 2021
Amid the uncertainty of 2020, pulse surveys emerged as a fast and simple way to canvas the workforce. Giving immediate responses to what was working – and what wasn’t – proved invaluable to assess how employees were handling the daily hurdles posed by COVID-19. But can employers now use those tools in a more effective way?
Employee feedback is a pillar of great culture and in a remote world, culture is more visible than ever. In an upcoming webinar by Culture Amp, experts will explore how pulsing should be used in 2021 and how to gather feedback with intention.
HRD spoke to Culture Amp’s senior people scientist, Fiona Scullion, about some of the biggest challenges to creating effective pulse surveys.
“The first thing is understanding the difference between pulsing and polling,” she said. “Conducting short weekly surveys is polling whereas pulsing is more in-depth and commonly related to a particular topic.
“Then it’s important to understand the right frequency in which to use pulse surveys. You should only send out pulse surveys at about the same rate that you believe meaningful change might occur, and pulsing too often - or pulsing with no intention of acting on the information - is something that can lead to continuous ignoring, rather than continuous listening.”
Read more: Feedback fatigue? Make frequent feedback work
The other challenge HR often faces is encouraging leaders to own the feedback, rather than it becoming purely an HR function. Scullion said encouraging leadership buy-in and communicating the value of employee feedback is often the first key step to overcoming those challenges.
She also highlighted the importance of acting on survey information, communicating the results and the next steps. Implementing responses should be swift – after all, feedback is an agile tool – and it’s even better if leaders are visible in promoting that action.
Scullion said reacting quickly was a stand-out lesson of 2020 to many business as they adapted to an agile way of working. Less is more when it comes to surveys, with short, sharp pulsing proving to be most effective in a time of rapid change.
Read more: Building effective engagement through feedback
“Nothing stands still,” she said. “Feedback can be for a few reasons, such as implementing evidence-based action and also to gauge sentiment. “But be honest about why you are asking the questions to your people and what, if any, follow up will be.”
To hear more about pulsing in 2021 and learn about designing successful surveys, register for the upcoming Culture Amp webinar here.
