55 Essential Employee Pulse Survey Questions For 2024

Employee surveys have come a long way from being long, dull, and manual. The new brand of employee surveys- called pulse surveys- have quickly become the preferred choice for organizations looking to measure employee engagement levels. However, the reason why pulse surveys are so powerful lies behind the simple, short, and impactful pulse survey questions.

55 Pulse Survey Questions For Your Employees That Every HR Pro Needs To Know

Employee pulse surveys are a type of employee engagement survey that organizations use to evaluate the overall employee experience by collecting relevant feedback from the workforce.

It is a quick, simple, and effective way to improve employee engagement by assessing the organization's strengths and weaknesses. A good employee pulse survey will assist you in measuring employee engagement by analysing your workplace's strengths and weaknesses. It allows you to see real-time insights by analysing engagement trends over time.

However, before proceeding to the analysis of the results, it is critical to frame the appropriate pulse survey questions. The right questions can help you focus on the issues that really need to be addressed.

We understand how difficult it can be to create such questions on your own. As a result, we have made some pulse survey questions that will serve as excellent examples for you:

Employee Experience

Improving employee satisfaction is a tricky problem. However, understanding the drivers of employee engagement is the first step towards enhancing it. You can start by building a baseline of how your employees feel about their current employee experience by using these pulse survey questions.

1. Do you think that your work and contributions are valued by the company?
2. How likely is it that you would recommend this company to your friends, family, or others?
3. How frequently do you feel stressed or burnt out due to your work?
4. Do you find your work fulfilling and meaningful?
5. Are you satisfied with the job security that the company provides?

Work-Life Balance

Work schedules that are too rigid are a no-no for today's millennial workforce. The modern worker seeks to balance their professional and personal lives without hampering the other. However, this is easier said than done. That is why you should include more pulse survey questions that assess current work-life balance:

1. Do you think you have a good work-life balance in your current position at the company?
2. Do you believe the company has a reasonable leave policy that meets your needs?
3. Do you frequently miss significant life events because of office hours or work obligations?
4. How often do you end up working overtime?
5. Do you feel that you can take your allotted leaves without fear of being judged by your coworkers or manager?

Leadership

Here's the deal. A leader's job is not to tell someone what to do. It is the leader's responsibility to understand what is required, to listen to new perspectives, and to decide on the best course of action. Include some pulse survey questions like the ones below to help you understand whether you have influential leaders leading your team:

1. Would you say that your manager offers a strong support system?
2. Do you feel that your manager is transparent and fair with the decisions they make?
3. Do you feel that the leadership team is treating you fairly, respectfully, and empathetically?
4. How strongly do you agree that your manager gives your opportunities to grow and develop?
5. How satisfied are you with the current leadership style of this company?

Compensation And Benefits

Offering incredible compensation and benefits has always been a sure-fire way for businesses to keep employees (and potential employees) satisfied. But the benefits industry, which includes everything from huge bonuses to free snacks, can appear difficult and vast to navigate. That is why, with the help of these pulse survey questions, it is critical to understand what employees truly want from the company.

1. How satisfied are you with your current compensation and benefits package?
2. Do you feel that you are suitably incentivized for putting up a great performance?
3. Do you think that the current employee benefits offered to you are beneficial?
4. How likely are you to choose great benefits over greater pay?
5. How satisfied are you with your current bonus structure being offered to you?

Diversity And Inclusion

Not surprisingly, today's modern workforce prioritizes diversity and inclusion when deciding where to work. Thus, unless you are serious about making some feasible changes to accommodate a diverse workforce, you will struggle to attract and retain the industry's star players.

The best way to start is to ensure that your company is as diverse and inclusive as you believe. We recommend that you begin by conducting a critical DE&I-based pulse survey with your employees.

1. Do you think that the current company culture is diverse enough?
2. Do you think that the current company culture is inclusive enough?
3. How likely is it that a new diverse employee will feel welcomed and safe at this company?
4. Do you feel physically and psychologically safe in spite of your differences from your peers?
5. How confident are you that the current pay, benefits, or compensation being offered to you is not based on discrimination?

Company Culture

Culture eats strategy for breakfast.
~ Peter Drucker

When several competitors are offering exorbitant salaries, incredible perks, and benefits to top talent, an amazing company culture is the one factor that will set a company apart. While perks and benefits are nice, shiny, and sought, culture is one of the cornerstones of your business. That is why it is critical to determine whether your company culture inspires your employees to bring their best selves to work:

1. How strongly do you feel connected to the company values and mission?
2. Do you feel that the current work environment is positive, healthy, and conducive to your success?
3. How likely are you to be distracted or demotivated because of your current work environment?
4. In your opinion, would you consider the company to be innovative and dynamic?
5. How strong is the culture of teamwork and collaboration within the company?

Internal Communications

Strong internal communication is a powerful medium to bridge the gap between the cultural, geographical, and other diversity that every employee brings to the workplace. It can bring people together and motivate them to work towards a common goal— which is the growth and success of the company.

In today's world of work-from-home stints, it's vital to keep communication flowing smoothly, quickly, and efficiently. Here are some sample pulse survey questions to assist you in getting the feedback you need from your employees:

1. How strongly do you agree that your manager offers valuable and timely feedback about your performance?
2. How frequently do you think the company keeps you up to date on major developments and decisions?
3. Do you feel like there is a transparent and honest communication flow happening between you and your peers?
4. Do you think that the current communication tools are easy to use and understand?
5. Are you comfortable approaching your manager about any work-related issues or mistakes?

Career Goals

A significant component of an employee's professional life is timely training and career development. Without it, the fundamental motive for working is debatable. Especially in today's competitive market, employees are always looking to upskill and progress quickly. To keep in tune with their career expectations, HR leaders can ask the following pulse survey questions:

1. Do you see yourself working in this company 5 years from now?
2. In your opinion, does the current working culture support learning and development practices?
3. Do you feel that this company supports and advances your career journey?
4. How strongly do your personal goals align with the company goals?
5. How often do you get to put your skills and knowledge to use in your current job role?

Flexibility And Remote Working

When it comes to remote work, the dreaded efficiency slump becomes even harder to manage. Without face-to-face interaction, discussions, or meetings, it is difficult to predict, diagnose, and manage the inevitable drop in productivity. As an HR professional, you must first ask your employees about their thoughts on remote work experiences using the following pulse survey questions:

1. According to you, how effective was remote work for increasing your productivity?
2. Do you think that this company should shift permanently to a remote or work-from-home arrangement?
3. How satisfied were you with how the company handled your transition to remote work?
4. How often did you feel micromanaged during your entire remote work experience?
5. Do you think that remote work has made you feel more connected to your team members?

Rewards And Recognition

Recognizing an employee can boost productivity, reduce employee turnover, and inspire loyalty. Thus, to attract and retain top talents, rewards and recognition must be considered an organizational necessity.

When it comes to getting appreciated, employees want it to be instantaneous, public, and impactful. If you are an HR leader, it is critical to ask your employees whether they are being recognized in a meaningful manner:

1. How often does your manager acknowledge or appreciate you for doing a good job?
2. Do you think your team celebrates each other's personal achievements in real-time?
3. Do you have a clear idea about which behaviors or values are rewarded in this organization?
4. In your experience, do special milestones (such as work anniversaries) receive appropriate recognition from your peers and managers
5. Do you feel that everyone has a fair chance of getting rewarded and recognized?

Health And Well-being

According to Deloitte's 2020 Global Human Capital Trends report, while 80 percent of companies said employee well-being would be important or very important for their success over the next 12-18 months, only 12 percent said they were very prepared to address this issue.

The first step is to take the relevant feedback from people who'll actually be affected by the health plan. Your employees. Here are some pulse survey questions that will help you understand the current state of your company's employee wellness:

1. Do you believe that your health and well-being are a top priority for the company?
2. In your opinion, is the current work environment physically and psychologically safe?
3. How often do you feel disconnected from your peers and manager?
4. If the company launches a new wellness program, how actively will you participate in the program?
5. In your experience, how beneficial is the current corporate wellness program?

How To Make Pulse Survey Questions More Effective?

By examining the strengths and shortcomings of your workplace, a good employee pulse survey help you see how the employees' experience is. It allows you to see real-time information by looking at engagement trends over time.

The survey data shows the changes in employee sentiments, allowing you to conclude whether a new action plan is working or failing. This type of analysis aids in determining not only engagement levels, but also other areas such as employee attrition.

Some pulse surveys, such as Vantage Pulse, go a step further by calculating real-time department-level engagement scores. This feature assists you in determining why certain teams are highly engaged while others are not.

To assist you in collecting meaningful employee feedback from a much larger pool, a pulse survey should be exceedingly user-friendly. As a result, when creating survey questions, it's important to keep certain pointers in mind.

Meaningful

The survey questions should be designed in such a way that every employee can deduce the meaning of the question after reading it. Otherwise, the validity of survey response rates may be questioned and inconclusive unless and until this happens.

Simple

Survey questions should be written in clear, concise, and plain sentences. Make it as simple as possible to reduce the possibility of misunderstandings.

Avoid Open-Ended Questions

It can be hard to understand the company's strengths and weaknesses because many employee surveys use "yes" and "no" questions. An eNPS-driven survey, which allows participants to answer survey questions on a scale of 1-5 or 1-10, is a better approach.

Pulse surveys, such as Vantage Pulse, use the eNPS format for measuring engagement. eNPS stands for employee Net Promoter Score, a much quicker and easy way for organizations to measure employee loyalty.

This article is written by Barasha Medhi who is a part of the marketing team at Vantage Circle. Barasha can be found either searching for interesting HR buzzwords to write about or looking at pictures of cozy Bel Air mansions. For any related queries, contact editor@vantagecircle.com.