How often to run an employee satisfaction survey

Most companies run an employee satisfaction survey once a year with the full questionnaire and, in between, a short pulse survey of three to five questions roughly once a quarter. The annual survey gives the full picture and the trend from year to year, the pulse survey checks whether the changes you are working on are taking hold.

• The full survey once a year: all 37 questions in the same period of the year and with the same wording of the scales. Only then can you compare the results and eNPS with last year.
• A pulse survey every quarter: three to five questions from the areas the annual survey flagged as priorities, plus the question on recommending the employer. It takes a few minutes, so even people with no time for a long survey answer.
• After a major change: after a reorganization, a change of management, an office move or a merger, add an extra short survey. Send it a few weeks later, once people have settled into the new setup.
• When more people are leaving: a growing number of resignations or frequent answers counted in months to the question on how much longer the work will satisfy the person are a reason not to wait for the annual date.
• No more often than you can respond: surveys that come too often lead to survey fatigue. People answer less and less carefully, especially when they saw no change after the last round. So plan the next round when you have something to show.

In Quanda you create the full survey from the template: in the Surveys section choose Create new survey and pick this template from the library in the drop-down menu, as the help article Creating and setting up an online survey describes. Create the pulse survey as a new short survey with questions worded the same way. Name each round after its period, for example Pulse survey, Q1, and share the link outside Quanda campaigns so that it stays anonymous. You find the results of each round in the Analysis of answers of that survey.

How to read the results area by area

An employee satisfaction survey is not a single grade but a map of eight areas. Each page corresponds to one area and in each it pays to look for something different.

• eNPS and overall satisfaction: look mainly at the development between years. More important than the number itself is whether it is growing and how many people would choose the company again.
• Clarity of expectations: those who do not know what is expected of them can be neither satisfied nor productive. A weak result is a task for managers, not for the HR department.
• The purpose of the company in their own words: read all the answers. When the descriptions differ markedly, people are not pulling in the same direction, because everyone sees a different goal.
• Conflicts and stress: read both questions together. Frequent stress without conflicts points to overload, frequent conflicts to relationships or unclear responsibilities.
• Direct manager: the seven qualities show what managers are good at and what they are not. Passing on information and assigning work can be learned the fastest.
• Pay and the rules of remuneration: dissatisfaction with the rules tends to be a bigger problem than the level of pay. You can explain or change the rules without increasing the budget.

The question on how much longer the work will satisfy the person is an early warning. A growing number of answers counted in months means departures that you can still prevent.

How to send the survey to employees from Quanda

An anonymous survey is a survey in which the answers cannot be linked to a specific person. In Quanda you achieve this by sharing the public survey link outside Quanda campaigns.

1. Create a new survey in Quanda and enter the questions of the template page by page, each page keeps to one topic. The help article Creating and setting up an online survey describes the procedure.
2. In the Distribution step switch the survey status to Ready to use. A public link to the survey is generated.
3. Send the link to employees by ordinary company email, through the intranet or the company chat, not with a Quanda campaign. A Quanda campaign always recognizes the respondent, a link sent any other way stays anonymous.
4. In the email write why you are running the survey, that it is anonymous, that it takes ten to fifteen minutes and until when you collect answers. Two weeks is usually enough.
5. After a week send one reminder to everyone the same way. In an anonymous survey you do not know who has already answered, so thank those who have completed the survey in it.

Give people without a company email, for example in production or in the warehouse, the same link as a QR code on the bulletin board.

How to evaluate employees' answers

eNPS is the employer recommendation score, the difference between the share of people who would recommend the company as an employer and the share of those who would not.

1. Open Analysis of answers in the survey. For each question you see the counts and shares of the individual options.
2. Calculate eNPS from the second question: from the share of answers 9 and 10 subtract the share of answers 0 to 6.
3. Go through the results page by page and for each area add up the share of the answers Definitely not and Probably not. The two to three areas with the highest share are your priorities.
4. Use the advanced filter to compare groups, for example people working in a team and independently. Do not read groups smaller than five people, you would put anonymity at risk.
5. Download the results as a PDF in the Final report and present them to employees together with what will change on their basis.

How to work with the results so that people answer next time too

A survey after which nothing happens is worse than no survey. People remember that their time and openness had no effect, and next time they do not answer.

• Publish the results within a month of the closing date, including the unpleasant ones. Everyone notices results that have been kept quiet.
• Choose two to three areas, not ten. For each say what will change, who is responsible for it and by when.
• Discuss the results concerning managers with them first, only then with the teams.
• Respond to the answers from the open questions in summary. Do not quote them word for word, the author can be recognized by their style of writing.
• After half a year remind people what has changed since the survey. It is the best invitation to the next round.