Lifecycle surveys are an essential tool for gathering continuous feedback from employees throughout their tenure with your organisation. Unlike Fixed Period Surveys, Lifecycle surveys are ongoing and allow you to track trends and insights over time. This guide will walk you through the process of setting up and managing a Lifecycle survey.
Step 1: Starting the Survey Creation Process
Access the Survey Wizard:
Navigate to the New Survey Wizard.
Click Continue to begin.
Complete Survey Details:
Fill in the necessary survey details, but leave the End Date blank to ensure the survey remains ongoing.
If you accidentally set an end date, don't worry — you can update it later.
Select a Lifecycle Template:
On the next screen, choose one of our Lifecycle templates, such as Joiners.
Click Continue.
Review and Create Survey:
Review the details you’ve entered.
Click Create Survey to proceed.
You are now in the survey setup screens, where you'll configure your Lifecycle survey.
Step 2: Setting up the Lifecycle Survey
Lifecycle surveys differ from Fixed Period Surveys primarily in the Overview screen. Follow these steps:
Survey Type Selection:
In the Overview screen, set the Survey Type to "Open-ended". This choice will automatically hide the End Date field.
Configure the rest of the survey settings as you would for any other survey, with one potential exception—the Panel data setup, which we'll address shortly.
Automatic Dashboard Setup:
Selecting the "Open-ended" Survey Type will automatically enable the Trend Report in the dashboard and create an "Open-ended" survey type dashboard. No further action is needed here; it occurs automatically.
Step 3: Adding Respondents to the Survey
You have a two options for adding respondents to your Lifecycle survey:
Adding Respondents
You've two options here:
Panel File
You can upload a Panel file
Directory:
or, if your HRIS data is synchronised, you select respondents from the Directory.
Automated Addition Based on Join or Leave Dates:
For a more sophisticated approach, you can automate respondent addition based on their Join or Leave Date. This method is efficient and ensures timely responses with minimal effort.
To set this up, first synchronise your HRIS with our system, and then contact our Support team. We'll discuss the rules you'd like to implement, such as:
Adding new joiners to an Onboarding survey 5 days after they join.
Sending a survey on their first anniversary.
Issuing a survey 10 days before an employee's departure.
We will configure these rules for you in our Organisation Directory (sync.peopleinsight.co.uk). This process is quick, and we'll ensure everything is set up correctly for optimal results.
Note: In the future, you may be able to manage these auto-addition rules yourself.
Step 4: Understanding the Open-Ended Survey Dashboard
The Open-ended survey type dashboard differs slightly from the standard dashboard:
Homepage Configuration:
The homepage allows you to select a time period for analysis. By default, this is set to the last month, but you can choose from options such as Month to Date, Quarter to Date, Year to Date, Last Month, Last Quarter, or a custom range.
You can compare the selected period to a Previous Period, Previous Year, Year to Date, or another Custom Range, helping you clearly identify trends and changes.
Reports and Trend Analysis:
To view the full set of results, click on Reports and select Trend.
The default view includes two trend charts: the survey's Focal Point over time and its Responses.
For more detailed analysis, click the + Trend Chart button to add a New Trend Chart. You can select up to three questions to track their performance over time.
Zoom into specific periods by clicking and dragging within the plot area, or use the dropdown on the right of the chart to change the time period.
To remove any chart, click on the three dots in the top right corner of the chart and delete it.
Filters on this data work the same as in the standard dashboard.
Lastly, the charts can be re-order using a "drag'n'drop" functionality, by clicking on the top of the chart (see below) and reordering them. Your choices will kept for you for next step.
By following these steps, you can effectively set up and manage a Lifecycle survey, providing you with ongoing insights into employee engagement, satisfaction, and other key metrics over the entire employee lifecycle.