Measuring often is not the same as measuring well. Pulse surveys shouldn’t be something you do “just because you’ve always done it” – they should be a natural part of how you drive development and engagement within the organisation.
The key is knowing which areas are most important to follow up, when during the year it’s most relevant, and how the results should be linked to your internal initiatives.
1. Start with the big picture – map the organisation’s current state
A broad employee survey forms the foundation for all further work. By measuring several areas, you can identify both strengths and development needs.
Brilliant Futures’ index areas help you gain a complete picture:
- Engagement – how motivated and proud employees feel in their work.
- Leadership (direction) – how clearly the organisation’s direction, goals, and strategy are perceived.
- Managerial leadership – how well immediate managers support, motivate, and follow up.
- Team effectiveness – how well collaboration functions and how effectively the team reaches its goals.
- Organisational and social work environment (OSA) – factors such as workload, influence, and recovery.
- Psychological safety – whether employees feel safe expressing opinions, sharing ideas, and making mistakes.
- eNPS – how likely employees are to recommend their workplace to others.
Together, these areas provide a holistic view of culture, leadership, and the work environment – and show where you should focus your efforts.
2. Use the results as a compass for what to measure in pulse surveys
After mapping the current state, the next step is to focus on the areas that matter most for further development. Pulse surveys are most effective when they follow up on:
- Areas with low results, to ensure that actions are having an effect
- Areas that are strategically important, such as leadership or engagement
- Areas that influence several other factors, such as psychological safety
Example:
If your survey shows that team effectiveness and manager feedback are weaker areas, you can focus upcoming pulse surveys on exactly these themes to track progress – while other areas can wait until the next full annual survey.
3. Connect your measurements to the HR annual cycle
To create a consistent thread between measurement and action, it’s wise to plan your pulse surveys based on the HR annual cycle.
This ensures that employee insights become a natural part of your internal activities and processes.
Examples:
- Spring: Pulse on engagement and leadership ahead of performance reviews and goal follow-up.
- Summer: Pulse on team effectiveness and workload before the holiday period.
- Autumn: Pulse on psychological safety and OSA as part of work environment initiatives.
- Winter: Pulse on eNPS and organisational leadership to wrap up the year and look ahead.
When the measurements are linked to your initiatives – such as training, leadership programmes, or team activities – a natural rhythm emerges in which each measurement strengthens the next step.
4. Follow up with action and learning
Pulse surveys only become valuable when the results lead to conversations, prioritisation, and concrete actions.
With Brilliant Futures’ action planning tool, you can quickly move from insight to action:
- Identify which activities to prioritise
- Follow up and document progress in real time
- Create transparency and accountability at all levels
5. Measure moderately – but meaningfully
The goal is not to measure as often as possible, but to measure with purpose and rhythm.
By combining an annual full survey with targeted pulse surveys, you gain both depth and pace – insights broad enough to understand the whole, yet focused enough to drive change.
How it works with Brilliant
Knowing where to start after conducting an employee survey isn’t always easy. That’s why we developed Brilliant Insights – a feature that provides each manager and team with unique, team-specific insights.
As a complement to an annual employee survey, you can easily send a smart follow-up pulse survey to ensure that each team’s focus areas are moving in the right direction. The pulse sends the right questions to the right group, making it easy to track development across the organisation.