Emplify utilizes quarterly surveys because it strikes the right balance between frequency and action. When someone expresses a concern about our quarterly pace, it’s typically because actions are too large, there aren't enough action owners (i.e. managers), and/or communication about actions is lacking. Let’s unpack all the advantages of the quarterly cadence:

Speed of feedback creates competitive advantage. The more frequently an organization receives feedback, the faster it can evaluate what’s working and what’s not, and then course-correct before it’s too late. Besides, employees who take a survey tend to draw from memories about the past couple weeks or months, not something that happened a year ago.

Maintaining a cultural measurement cadence gives the results weight with executive teams who are already planning and executing on everything else in quarterly cycles. Would a leader stop measuring her own KPIs just because she feels something is "fixed?" Certainly not. In that way, the Emplify Score is a diagnostic. Employees need to be brought along on the "why" here.

Most importantly, employees are happy to give feedback if they see that leadership or manager is listening and acting on it. When a person feels that their feedback matters, they willingly offer it. Many executives are surprised when employees write detailed and lengthy responses to Emplify SmartPulse questions, or when response rates actually go up in the 2nd or 5th survey even though there's only three months between surveys. Emplify Strategists help prioritize org action areas, but it is the job of the C-suite or HR leader to push results and action accountability down to managers. When 20 people each do one thing close to their own circle of engagement, actions and culture growth move really fast!

Here is an example of a great CEO note to all employees teeing up a 2nd survey. Here is our view of how to enable managers.

That said, unique situations and circumstances can arise where it make sense not to run a a quarterly survey. That’s why you have the ability to skip an Emplify survey. Here are some legitimate reasons we have seen to press pause for a quarter: