Employee Pulse Survey: Real-Time Feedback for Real Action

Benefits of Pulse Surveys vs. Traditional Engagement Surveys

Traditional annual engagement surveys can offer valuable insights, but they usually lack the immediacy needed to capture the ever-evolving dynamics of a workplace. Because they are shorter and more frequent, pulse surveys provide a real-time snapshot of employee sentiment on specific topics. Here’s how they differ:

Gallagher’s 2025 Workforce Trends Report Series: Talent Benchmarks focuses on employee engagement together, with inclusion and diversity objectives. It states that the survey process and subsequent reporting should drive actionable changes rather than merely collecting data. Despite their State of the Sector 2024/25 survey finding that 75% of organizations use engagement surveys, data and insights featured in their U.S. Workplace Trends Report on talent benchmarks show that only 58% have conducted any sort of survey to measure employee engagement within the last two years. Additionally, 15% plan to conduct a survey within the next two years, and 9% conducted one more than two years ago, with 19% having no plans to conduct a survey to measure engagement. 

While they don’t highlight pulse surveys, they do talk about frequency. And, of course, pulse surveys can be used to delve into elements of employee engagement.

Chris Dustin, Gallagher’s Managing Director, People and Workplace Experiences, states that employee listening — which is new in Gallagher’s State of the Sector 2024/25 survey —  is essential. However, the way surveys are perceived depends on what happens after the data is collected. (That would apply to all types of surveys, including an employee pulse survey.)

“If employees notice meaningful changes and see that their feedback is being used positively, that’s way more effective than just doing monthly surveys. Surveys should act as a catalyst for change, and having a solid action plan is key to making it all work.”

Chris Dustin

How to Design an Effective Employee Pulse Survey

Crafting an effective pulse survey requires careful planning. Here's what you need to consider:

• Define your goals and objectives: What specific aspects of employee sentiment do you want to understand?
• Choose the right questions: Mix multiple-choice, Likert scale (which measures attitudes and opinions), and open-ended questions for a well-rounded view.
• Keep it short and engaging: Aim for 5-10 minutes to maximize participation.
• Ensure anonymity and confidentiality: Build trust by guaranteeing employee privacy.

What Should Your Employee Pulse Survey Tool Include?

When selecting an employee pulse survey tool, consider the following essential features to ensure you're getting the most out of your surveys:

• You want employee pulse surveys to be easy to create. They should also be mobile-friendly. Look for a tool that allows you to quickly build surveys and access them on any device, ensuring seamless participation from your employees.
• Aim for clear analytics and allow anonymous responses. Choose a tool that provides easy-to-understand data visualizations and guarantees the anonymity of employee responses, fostering a safe and honest feedback environment.
• Multiple-question formats work well. Opt for a tool that offers a variety of question types, such as multiple-choice, open-ended, and rating scales, to gather a comprehensive understanding of employee sentiment and provide a comprehensive data view.
• Action planning and integration are essential. Select a tool that enables you to turn insights into actionable plans. Make sure it integrates with your existing HR systems, allowing you to track progress and make data-driven decisions.

Additionally, consider the following features to further enhance your employee pulse survey tool:

• Automated reporting: A tool that provides automated reporting will save you time and effort in analyzing and presenting survey results.
• Customization options: Choose a tool that allows you to customize your survey questions, layout, and branding to fit your organization's unique needs.
• Real-time Feedback: A tool that provides real-time feedback and analytics will enable you to quickly address employee concerns and make data-driven decisions.
• Integration with other tools: Consider a tool that integrates with other HR systems, such as HRIS, LMS, or performance management software. This will help you to streamline your workflow and improve employee engagement.

Employee Pulse Survey Questions

It’s important to realize that pulse survey questions are short and used to gauge employee sentiment on specific aspects of the workplace. Typically, they consist of a small set of questions, often 5-10, that are designed to be quick and easy to answer. They may include:

1. Multiple-choice questions
2. Rating scales (e.g., 1-5)
3. Open-ended questions
4. Net promoter score (NPS) questions
5. Agree or disagree

Here are some sample questions you can adapt to your specific needs:

• How satisfied are you with your current role? (Scale of 1-5)
• I feel invigorated by the tasks I undertake daily. (Agree/Disagree)
• Do you feel you have a good work-life balance? (Yes/No)
• Overall, how would you rate your experience working here? (Scale of 1-5)
• Is there anything we can do to improve your work experience? (Open-ended)

Launching and Promoting Your Survey

Before sending out your survey, think about these key factors:

• Timing is everything: Decide how often you want to send out your survey (e.g. every month or twice a month) and choose the best times for people to participate.
• Choose the right platform: Pick a user-friendly platform like Cerkl to streamline and simplify the process.
• Encourage participation: Make sure people understand the purpose of the survey, and that their responses will be kept anonymous. You can also consider offering a little something extra to incentivize and motivate people to take part.

How Often Should You Send Pulse Surveys?

The frequency of pulse surveys should strike a balance between staying informed and avoiding survey fatigue. While there’s no universal rule, many organizations find that sending surveys quarterly or every two months allows them to keep tabs on employee sentiment without overwhelming teams or compromising response quality.

Monthly or even weekly pulse surveys can be effective in fast-moving environments or during times of major change, such as mergers, restructures, or crisis response. However, higher frequency requires strong internal processes to quickly analyze and act on feedback. If employees don’t see visible outcomes from frequent check-ins, trust in the process may erode. At the same time, the more frequently an employee pulse survey is sent out, the shorter it should be. For instance, if you opt for a monthly survey, 10-15 questions is optimum, while a quarterly pulse survey should contain 15-20 questions. 

Ultimately, the right frequency is one your organization can support with consistent follow-through. Pulse surveys should be part of an ongoing conversation, not a box-checking exercise. Whether you survey every four weeks or every quarter, the key is to communicate findings, take action, and close the loop every time.

Nevertheless, there is a caveat. According to the Qualtrics 2025 Employee Experience Trends report, employers aren’t bombarding employees with daily, weekly, or even monthly surveys. Instead, they are focusing on “passive listening” and tapping into what they call unsolicited data. Examples they cite include employees who decline meetings, answer questions on public platforms, or email customers. 

“Employees don’t want to fill in surveys every day, but they also want their employers to understand and improve their experiences. This is why organizations are going beyond surveys with passive listening, making better use of the data that already exists in their work systems.”

Qualtrics

Analyzing and Interpreting Results

The true value of an employee pulse survey lies in taking action based on the results. Despite advances in employee listening technology, many organizations aren’t harnessing the opportunities presented by valuable employee feedback. 

Qualtrics is now focusing on employee listening. Their 2025 Employee Experience Trends report examines “the state of employee listening,” finding that the percentage of employees asked for feedback more often than once a year rose from 35% in 2024 to 48% in 2025. 

However, they also found that many leaders are making daily decisions that impact people without timely, relevant employee experience data. 

“Leaders will struggle to build trust if they only have access to and inform their decisions based on financial and operational information. It’s experience data that helps them make smarter, better decisions that build trust, increase profitability, and enhance experiences for employees.”

Qualtrics

Whatever data and information you extract from pulse surveys, there are steps you need to take to make the best of it. 

• Analyze and interpret results: Identify trends, patterns, and areas requiring attention.
• Benchmark against industry standards: Understand how your employee sentiment compares to similar companies.
• Utilize open-ended responses: Gain a deeper understanding of employee concerns and suggestions.
• Develop action plans: Prioritize issues, assign ownership, and establish timelines for improvement.
• Communicate and demonstrate progress: Keep employees informed of actions taken based on their feedback.

Building a Culture of Continuous Improvement with Cerkl

Employee pulse surveys are a powerful tool for fostering a culture of continuous improvement within your organization. By regularly gauging employee sentiment and taking action based on feedback, you can create a more engaged and productive workforce.

Cerkl Broadcast Pulse Survey solution makes it easy to design, launch, analyze, and take action on your pulse surveys. Just be aware that you have only one Pulse Survey question available for each Broadcast Email Blast you send. For this reason, instead of sending employee pulse surveys weekly or monthly, it works to continue the survey over five days to a week. The benefit is that you can improve employee engagement because the questions will be part of a single theme. Still, if you do this, it’s important to plan your questions in the same way you would for any other pulse survey.   

We asked members of the Cerkl Customer Services (CS) team to provide insights into how Cerkl Broadcast clients use pulse surveys.

How Do Organizations Use Cerkl Broadcast Pulse Surveys? 

Typically, Cerkl clients use Broadcast Pulse Surveys at the bottom of the Email Blasts for quick feedback. They also use them to encourage ideas and employee engagement. 

Questions might include:

• How would you rate your onboarding experience?
• How are you feeling about your job today?
• Have you heard about our new feature?
• How likely are you to recommend our company to a friend?

It might even simply ask if the email Blast was helpful.

Sometimes they include an invitation for employees to add something further. For example, the Pulse Survey question might ask if they enjoyed this week’s Broadcast News Digest. This is followed by a request for more ideas to be emailed or added to a collaboration channel like Teams or Slack.

Another idea some Cerkl clients love is to use the Pulse Survey for a question of the week. They can be trivia questions about the company or feedback/questions on timely topics. Then, they’ll put the responses from the previous week in each newsletter. This is a fantastic way to increase employee engagement.

What’s Next?

When you create Cerkl Broadcast employee pulse surveys, the questions you ask are pivotal. Our free employee pulse survey template will give you significant insight into how to create a survey. It includes sample questions for single-question pulse survey ideas as well as a five-question sample survey.

Remember that any employee pulse survey should be considerably shorter than a regular employee engagement survey. Also, it should be focused on one specific area of interest. The key is for it to be short and quick for employees to complete.

FAQ

What is an employee pulse survey? An employee pulse survey is a short, frequent, and informal survey that measures the sentiment and opinions of employees on specific topics, providing a snapshot of their feelings and attitudes toward their work, organization, and leadership. It is typically used to gauge employee sentiment and identify trends and areas for improvement.  

What are questions for a pulse survey? Questions for a pulse survey can vary depending on the organization's goals and objectives, but common examples include questions about employee satisfaction, engagement, communication, leadership, teamwork, and job satisfaction. Some examples of pulse survey questions include "How would you rate your overall job satisfaction?" or "Do you feel valued and recognized by your manager?"  

What is the difference between pulse survey and employee engagement survey? The main difference between a pulse survey and an employee engagement survey is the frequency and scope of the survey. Pulse surveys are typically shorter, more frequent, and focused on specific topics or issues, while employee engagement surveys are longer, less frequent, and more comprehensive, aiming to measure overall employee engagement and satisfaction.  

Why do employees do pulse surveys? Employees participate in pulse surveys because they want to be heard and have their voices amplified, allowing them to provide feedback and input on issues that matter to them. By participating in pulse surveys, employees feel more connected to their organization and more likely to feel valued and recognized, which can lead to increased job satisfaction and reduced turnover.