What it is and what it's for#
The pulse is a continuous measure of how the workforce feels. Instead of a long survey every six months, each person gets one random question a day, answers it in a moment and gets on with their work.
The difference from a survey is one of nature, not of size:
- 1
A survey is a snapshot
It is launched, it is closed and it gives a result with a date on it. It is useful for comparing waves.
- 2
The pulse is a series
It is always open. It is no use for a single day's figure: it is useful for seeing where the organisation is moving.
Results are read on the Organisation pulse screen, which aggregates every response and cuts it by question, by category, by location and by area.
Pulse and surveys do not compete. The pulse tells you that something is moving and on what topic; the survey lets you ask in depth once you know where to look.
How it's set up#
Only one thing is configured: the catalogue of questions. Distribution, calculation and the cuts are automatic.
The questions#
Each question is defined with these fields:
| Field | What it does |
|---|---|
| Category | The topic it belongs to. It is the axis along which the results are really read. |
| Question (ES) and Question (EN) | The wording in each language. |
| Start date and End date | The period in which the question can go out. |
| Enabled for projects | Which projects it is distributed in. |
| Locations | Restricts the question to certain sites. |
| Status | If it is switched off, it stops being distributed. |
Always word questions positively and about a single idea. A question that bundles two things together ("do you have the means and the support you need?") produces a number that cannot be interpreted: you don't know which of the two failed.
The category is what makes the pulse useful. A question with no category, or filed under a category it doesn't belong to, breaks nothing visibly: it simply contaminates the series of the wrong topic and nobody notices.
How it's distributed#
Each person gets one random question a day, the first time they log in. There are no reminders and no chasing: if they don't log in that day, they don't answer and nothing happens.
This has a direct consequence for reading the data: because distribution is random, the number of responses to any one question is small and variable. The screen says so explicitly, and that is why it always shows each question's response count next to its result.
How to read the screen#
At the top you choose the period: 30 days, 90 days or 12 months. Below there are four indicators.
| Indicator | What it is |
|---|---|
| Pulse index | The average of the responses taken to a 0 to 100 scale, so it can be compared between periods. |
| Participation | People responding as a share of the active workforce. |
| Unfavourable | What share of the responses are the two worst points on the scale. |
| People responding | How many responses and from how many people. |
The index moves very little: almost every organisation lives within a narrow band. The variable that really moves is participation, and a drop in participation usually comes before a drop in the index.
The rest of the screen expands on the figure:
What to look at now
The readings the system infers from the period's data, ordered by urgency. It is the entry point if you are short of time.
Questions
Every active question with its result. Opening one shows its month-by-month evolution: Month, Responses, People, Index, Previous index and Unfavourable. When there is no previous period to compare against, that is stated instead of inventing a change.
Monthly trend
Index and participation month by month. It is the chart to look at before any other.
Response distribution
How the responses spread across the scale. A decent average with many responses at the extremes is not the same as a decent average with everyone in the middle.
Index by category
The actionable cut. Here there are enough responses per topic, and it is where you decide what to act on.
By location and By area
The same results split by site and by organisational unit. Only groups above the minimum sample appear.
Voice of the workforce
The recent comments, with the most critical first. It is what gives the numbers context.
What the employee sees#
- One question, the first time they log in that day. Never more than one.
- They answer it on a short scale and, if they want, add a comment.
- There is no obligation: they can ignore it and carry on using the app as normal.
- They don't see anyone else's result or their own history: the pulse is not a scoreboard.
- They are not identified in the results. Cuts by site or by area only appear when there are enough responses for nobody to be recognisable.
The pulse only works if the workforce perceives it as genuinely anonymous. If management comments on a small team's result in a way that makes it possible to guess who said what, participation collapses and does not recover.
Frequently asked questions#
Why does a question have so few responses?
Because distribution is random and daily: each question only reaches part of the workforce each day. It is normal, and that is why the response count is always shown next to the result.
Can I find out who answered what?
No. The pulse is anonymous by design and small cuts are hidden so that it cannot be worked out.
Why doesn't a site appear in the cut by location?
Because it does not reach the minimum sample. It will appear once it accumulates enough responses.
How often should the pulse be reviewed?
Once a month, looking at the series. Reviewing it daily leads to reacting to noise.
What do I do if a category's index falls?
First, check whether participation has fallen too: if it has, the problem is with the programme before it is with the climate. If participation holds and the category falls, then there is a signal, and that is the moment to launch a survey that goes deeper into that topic.
Limits and warnings#
- A single day's figure is worth nothing. The pulse is read as a series. Comparing two isolated weeks produces false conclusions almost every time.
- The result of an individual question is noise. The unit with a large enough sample to decide on is the category, not the question.
- A stable index with participation falling is bad news, even if the headline number does not move: it means the people who are worst off have stopped answering.
- Groups below the minimum sample are not shown. It is an anonymity protection, not a fault. In small sites you may never see their cut.
- Changing a question's wording breaks its series. If you need to measure something else, switch the question off and create a new one rather than rewriting the existing one.
- A question with no category or with the wrong dates stops contributing without warning. Nobody gets an error: that part of the climate simply stops being measured.