How to schedule a pulse survey in Employee surveys

Use the Scheduling tab in Employee surveys to send a pulse survey once or repeatedly. A scheduled pulse can target groups, subgroups, or a specific segment within selected groups.

Who can schedule pulse surveys in Employee surveys?

Administrators in Employee surveys can schedule, edit, and remove all pulse survey schedulings. Managers in Employee surveys can schedule, edit, and remove pulse survey schedulings they have created. Managers in Employee surveys can only schedule pulse surveys for groups where they are group owners.

How do I schedule a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

Schedule pulse surveys from the Scheduling tab in Employee surveys.

1. Go to Employee surveys > Schedule.
2. Open the Scheduling tab.
3. Click Add schedule.
4. Choose Pick a pulse.
5. Pick the pulse survey you want to send. You can choose one of your own pulses or one of the predefined surveys.
6. Review the preview of the survey and questions.
7. Click Next.
8. Turn on Advanced at the top of the page.
9. Select the recipients of the survey.
10. In the Results visibility box, turn on Advanced and set result visibility for the scheduling.
11. Click Next.
12. Choose the date settings. Select the Open questions on date and time. Turn on Advanced if you want to select the Questions close on date and time. Then choose whether the pulse survey should repeat or not.
13. Preview the notification email.
14. To customise the notification email, activate Advanced settings first. Then turn on Custom notification email. You can edit the Email header and add a Notification message.
15. Preview who the result emails are sent to.
16. Keep the result email toggle on if result emails should be sent, or turn it off if result emails should not be sent. To change who receives result emails, complete the pulse survey scheduling first. Then go to Account > Email Settings tab > Results email section.
17. Click Complete to save the pulse survey scheduling.

How do I select recipients for a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

Select the recipients that should receive the pulse survey. If you select a parent group, the survey is sent to all members in that group structure, including direct members of the parent group and indirect members from subgroups.

Important: Do not use Select everyone when scheduling a pulse survey. Select the relevant groups instead.

Select a parent group when you want to see an aggregated result for several groups. If you do not want to include all subgroups, select the parent group first and then clear the subgroups one by one. If you do not want an aggregated result, select the separate groups instead.

To target a specific segment within the groups you selected, click Advanced settings. You can only schedule a pulse survey for a segment if attributes have been added to your Employee surveys account. Segments are based on those attributes.

Important: There is no limit to how many groups you can select when scheduling pulse surveys. However, results may be hidden by the integrity framework if selected groups are almost identical. There must be a difference of at least 3 responses between the groups for results to be displayed.

How do I set result visibility for a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

In the result visibility step, turn on Advanced in the Results visibility box. Then choose who can see results and comments for the pulse survey scheduling.

Note: Administrators in Employee surveys always have access to all results and comments. Their access is not controlled by the Results visibility settings.

• Group members: Users who answer the questions
• Group owners: Managers who are owners of the group
• Results: Gives access to results for that group
• Comments: Gives access to all submitted comments within the targeted groups

When Advanced is turned on, you can change result visibility settings. Use the question mark icons next to Group members and Group owners in Employee surveys to read examples.

Note: In Results visibility, Their own group depends on the user's group role. For Group members, it means the group they are a member of. For Group owners, it means the group they own. If a user is both a group member and a group owner, both visibility rules can apply.

Important: If you want users or managers to see comments, comments must also be enabled under Account > Company Settings tab > then got o Results integrity section. If comments are disabled there, users and managers cannot see comments even if Comments is selected in Results visibility when scheduling.

How do I choose date settings for a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

In date settings, choose when the pulse survey questions should open and close. Select the Open questions on date and time first.

Pulse surveys close by default on the next Sunday at midnight. To choose a different closing date and time, turn on Advanced and select the Questions close on date and time.

The Questions close on date and time controls when employees can no longer answer the pulse survey. A pulse survey can be open until a maximum of the second upcoming Sunday. If you open the pulse survey on a Monday, it can stay open for 2 weeks. If you open the pulse survey on a Wednesday, it can stay open for about 1 and a half weeks, because the limit is still the second upcoming Sunday. After you set the open and close date and time, choose whether the pulse survey should repeat or not.

Note: Results are generated on Monday mornings. You can close the survey on another weekday, such as Wednesday, but result reporting is still available the next Monday.

How do I repeat a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

You can repeat a pulse survey if you want to send it more than once until a defined end date.

The available repeat options for pulse surveys are:

• Weekly
• Biweekly
• Monthly
• Bimonthly

If you want to send the pulse survey only once, keep the setting Do not repeat. If you want to repeat the pulse survey on another interval, select Do not repeat and create a new scheduling for the desired date.

How do I customise the notification email for a pulse survey in Employee surveys?

To customise the notification email, activate Advanced settings in the notification email step first. Then turn on Custom notification email. You can edit the Email header and add a Notification message before you complete the pulse survey scheduling.

Tip: Preview the notification email after you add the Email header and Notification message. This lets you check how the notification email will look before the pulse survey is scheduled.

When are pulse survey result emails sent?

Pulse survey result emails are generated automatically when results are ready. Result emails are sent on the Monday after the survey has closed.

During scheduling, you can preview who the result emails are sent to. Keep the result email toggle on if result emails should be sent, or turn it off if result emails should not be sent. The recipients are based on Email settings.

How do I edit or remove a pulse survey scheduling?

Important: Administrators in Employee surveys can edit and remove all pulse survey schedulings. Managers in Employee surveys can edit and remove only the pulse survey schedulings they have created.

1. Go to Employee surveys > Schedule.
2. Open the Scheduling tab.
3. Adjust the timeline at the top of the page if the pulse survey scheduling is not visible in the list.
4. Find the pulse survey scheduling you want to edit or remove.
5. Click the three dots to the right of the scheduling.
6. Click Edit to edit the scheduling, or click Remove to delete the scheduling. For future or ongoing pulse survey schedulings, you can edit all settings. For past pulse survey schedulings, you can only edit result visibility. Click Save, and the new setting applies immediately.

Note: You can only change Questions close on while the pulse survey scheduling is still live. The maximum open period still applies: a pulse survey can stay open until the second upcoming Sunday from the date set under Open questions on. If the scheduling already uses the maximum period, you cannot extend it by another week.

Important: If you delete a past or ongoing pulse survey scheduling, the results for that scheduling are permanently deleted. This cannot be restored. If you change an ongoing pulse survey scheduling, the change affects the current state and can affect results.

FAQs

Can I send a pulse survey only once?

Yes. Keep the repetition setting as Do not repeat.

What repeat options are available for pulse surveys?

Yes. You can repeat a pulse survey weekly, biweekly, monthly, or bimonthly until a defined end date. If you want to repeat the pulse survey on another interval, choose Do not repeat and create each additional scheduling manually.