Special Edition Pulse Survey: Understanding and Supporting Your Teams at This Moment
WHY
Understanding how your team is doing during times of high conflict or significant emotional stress can help you meet your employees’ needs so that they, and you, can be empowered to focus on the important work you’re doing together. How is your team during this difficult moment, and what do they need?
WHAT
Leading Edge is offering a special edition Pulse Survey focused on what leaders need to know for managing teams at this difficult time for the Jewish world.
Pulse Surveys are short, customizable surveys that organizations can use to get a quick sense of how your employees are experiencing work or an aspect of work in the immediate moment. Individual organizations administer pulse surveys to their team on the Culture Amp platform (the same platform used for Leading Edge’s annual Employee Experience Survey), and Leading Edge provides guidance and support for administering the survey.
WHAT’S BELOW
- How to register for a Pulse Survey and set up the logistics
- How to frame your organization’s context and goals for planning your Pulse Survey
- Pulse Survey questions and some additional questions to consider
- An email template you can use to tell your team about your Pulse Survey
IMPORTANT NOTE ON LANGUAGE
This document is just a template. Different Jewish organizations have many different preferred languages they might use when referring to Israel, the current war, the recent upsurge in antisemitism, or other aspects of the world since October 7th. In choosing and editing optional questions from the list below, each organization should feel free to change the language from this template to meet their own needs and preferences.
How to register and run your Pulse Survey
- Register for a Pulse Survey. Start here. You will first review a Memorandum of Understanding about the terms to which you’re agreeing. At the bottom of that memo is a link to register your organization for a Survey Administrator account, and upload your staff list of names and email addresses.
- Set up your account with Culture Amp (our survey partner).
- Build your survey in the Culture Amp platform.
- Communicate to your staff that the survey is forthcoming.
- Administer the survey.
- Review the results and develop an action plan. (Please note: Unlike with the Employee Experience Survey, for this Pulse Survey, Leading Edge will not offer pro-bono consultations to help you interpret your results and form an action plan.)
- Post-survey resources: Leading Edge will send all participating organizations further resources and recommendations after their Pulse Surveys are completed.
Keep in mind as you build your Pulse Survey
- Leading Edge will be closed the last week of December — 12/25/23 to 1/1/24
- Keep it short — Pulse Surveys are intended to be brief. We recommend that Pulse Surveys ask under 30 questions and take no longer than 10 minutes to complete. Keep this in mind as you consider any additional questions to the Pulse Survey question set.
- Confidentiality is crucial — If you want people’s honesty, prioritize confidentiality. Make sure staff know that whatever is asked in this survey is completely confidential and that no one in either your organization or Leading Edge will have access to how any individual employee answered. (See the email template below for an example.)
Pulse Survey question menu
NOTE: All rating scale questions are asked on a standard 5-point Likert agreement scale from “Strongly Agree” to “Strongly Disagree”.
⚑ Questions with this flag are those that are the same (verbatim or almost verbatim) as questions in the 2023 Employee Experience Survey (EES). If you participated in the EES in April/May, you will be able to compare results to understand any shifts in your organization between spring 2023 and now.
Core Questions:
Questions
1. ⚑ I feel proud to work for my organization
2. ⚑ I would recommend my organization as a great place to work
3. ⚑ I see myself still working at my organization in two years
4. ⚑ My organization helps me stay motivated to do my best work
5. ⚑ Most days I feel that I am making progress with my work
6. ⚑ Our leaders communicate honestly with employees
7. ⚑ I am kept appropriately informed about major decisions and events happening at my organization
8. I have a good understanding of our organization’s current priorities
9. ⚑ I have confidence in our leaders to lead the organization effectively
10. ⚑ I generally enjoy my job
11. At the moment, my workload feels manageable
12. ⚑ I have access to the information that I need to do my job effectively
13. My manager keeps me informed about any changes that are happening
14. ⚑ I have clarity around what I am expected to do and by when
15. ⚑ Employee well-being is a priority at my organization
16. ⚑ My organization demonstrates care and concern for its employees
17. ⚑ My manager demonstrates care and concern for my well-being
18. ⚑ I have colleagues who I can turn to for support
19. ⚑ I feel like I belong at my organization
20. My feeling of belonging at my organization has changed as a result of October 7
21. ⚑ My identity is respected at work
22. I feel safe being in Jewish spaces
Open-ended Questions
Your responses to open-ended questions will be seen exactly as you write them. If you choose to identify yourself, you can do so here. If you choose to keep your answers confidential, please avoid including information that may reveal your identity.
23. What has our organization done well to support you?
24. What can our organization do better to support you?
25. Is there anything else you'd like to share with your leaders at this time?
Demographic Questions
26. I belong to the following generation:
- Silent or older (born before 1945)
- Baby Boomers (born 1946 - 1964)
- Generation X (born 1965-1980)
- Millennials (born 1981-1996)
- Generation Z (Born 1997-2012)
27. Do you identify as Jewish - religiously, culturally or in any other way?
- Yes
- No
28. I identify as
- Asian / Asian American
- Black / African American
- Hispanic / Latina / Latino / Latinx
- Middle Eastern / North African
- Native American / American Indian / Alaska Native / Indigenous Peoples
- Native Hawaiian / Pacific Islander
- White
- More than one / multiracial, please specify
- I prefer to self-identify
Optional Questions to consider:
Organizational Questions (rating)
- ⚑ I believe my organization creates a supportive environment for all employees during the situation in Israel and the rise in antisemitism
- I understand the ways in which I can express my opinions about the situation since October 7 internally (e.g., with colleagues, supervisors, the leadership team, the board, etc.)
- I understand the ways in which I can express my opinions about the situation in Israel externally (e.g., with clients, community partners, on social media, etc.)
- I am experiencing relational tensions with colleagues related to views or conversations since October 7
- Our leaders effectively communicate the organization's action plan around the situation in Israel
Management Questions (rating)
- My manager effectively communicates the organization's position about the situation in Israel
- My manager keeps our team focused on our top priorities
- I feel supported by my manager during this time
Well-being Questions (rating)
- ⚑ Employee well-being is a priority at my organization
- I have the support I need to do my work
- ⚑ I have colleagues who I can turn to for support during the situation in Israel and the rise in antisemitism
- ⚑ The leadership team demonstrates care and concern for staff well-being
- The situation in Israel has had an impact on my work (please elaborate in the comments)
- The situation in Israel is making it hard for me to focus on my work
- ⚑ I am enabled to take time off as needed
Physical Security (rating)
- I feel safe being in our office
- I believe my organization has taken the necessary precautions to make us feel physically safe at work
Open ended
- What are your biggest challenges at work right now?
- What types of support would be helpful to you at work during this time?
- What is one thing we can continue doing that has been helpful to you at this time?
- What communication/updates would be most useful to you during this time?
SOURCES: The sample questions above are inspired by questions asked in the Leading Edge Employee Experience Survey, literature from Great Places to Work, a Ukraine-Russia War Pulse Survey, COVID-related surveys, and Culture Amp’s Leading Through Change Survey.
Email template — communicating with your staff
Dear Team,
We know that this is a hard moment for our community and our employees are our priority as we navigate this moment. Leadership and culture are never more important than when times are hard.
Due to the situation in Israel and the rise in global antisemitism, we have decided to administer a Pulse Survey supported by Leading Edge. This survey will ask for your honest feedback about communication within the organization, feelings of safety, well-being and more. It will take about 5 to 10 minutes. Your responses will provide insights on how the team is doing, what your current needs are, and how we can better support you and your work.
Your perspective is important and your feedback is vital! The survey takes only 5 to 10 minutes, and you can complete it on your computer, tablet or phone. No matter the method, please be as honest as possible. This is a great opportunity to tell us how you feel and share your thoughts.
Confidentiality: We are committed to keeping your responses completely confidential. All survey responses will be reported to our leadership team only in an aggregate format. No one in our organization or Leading Edge will be able to see individual survey responses.
The survey will be sent to your email on [CHOSEN DATE] and will remain open for two weeks. Please be ready for an email from [SURVEY LIAISON] with a link to take the survey.
I invite everyone to join us in this learning process. We will share our survey results with you as soon as possible and will engage with you to help us develop an action plan.
Thank you for adding your voice to help our organization better serve you. If you have any questions about this survey, please reach out to [SURVEY LIAISON].
Sincerely,
EXECUTIVE SIGNATURE
