Sending a Survey to Employees

Surveys allow you to send out brief questionnaires to your employees on a regular basis to collect valuable data on their attitudes toward the workplace. They are sent to employees through the process of launching a survey cycle, where a template and group of recipients are defined. The data from these surveys can be reviewed in ClearCompany and compared alongside results from performance reviews to help build a better picture of employee engagement, attitudes, and performance. 

  Employee Engagement Surveys are a paid feature. Please reach out to ClearCompany for pricing details or to confirm whether your organization utilizes ClearCompany Surveys.

In this article:
How to Setup a Survey Cycle
Launching a Survey
Navigating the Launch Survey Editor
How a Survey is Completed
FAQs

How to Setup a Survey Cycle

To have access to set up surveys in ClearCompany, you must be assigned the Survey Admin user permission. Survey participants need, at minimum, the Employee user permission. Information on user permissions can be found here: Edit User Permissions.

Launch a Survey

To send a survey to employees, begin by creating your survey cycle.

1. Head to the Tools tab and select Performance from the drop-down menu.

   

2. Open the Performance Reviews drop-down and select Surveys & Engagement.

   

3. Click Launch A Survey.

   

4. On the Launch Survey page, you will choose which survey you want to send to employees. To preview the survey questions contained in each of ClearCompany’s stock survey templates, click the Preview Survey Questions button or review the definitions here. Click Get Started to select the survey template to use for this cycle.

   

5. Once you've selected the survey you wish to launch, you will see the Launch Survey editor. Continue reading the section below to learn how to set the details of your cycle using the survey editor.

Navigating the Launch Survey Editor

Once you've chosen which survey to launch, you will be taken to the Launch Survey editor. This is where you will decide on the title and schedule, confirm the content, and add participants. 

1. This is where you will add the title of your survey as well as any optional instructions for the participants. The instructions you provide will appear at the top of the survey in ClearCompany for the participants. 

2. The Schedule section of the editor is where you will configure the open and close dates.

     Surveys that are scheduled to launch on the same date will go out immediately once you click the Send Survey button. When scheduled for future dates, the survey will open at 12:00 am EST and close at 11:59 pm EST.

   

   Once you have configured the schedule, be sure to click the Confirm Changes button.

3. The Content section of the editor is where you confirm the contents and set the anonymity setting. 

   

   1. The survey type drop-down will be auto-selected for the template you chose in the first part of creating the cycle. If you've selected an incorrect type, you can use the Switch to Another Survey Type drop-down menu to quickly select a new template. 
   2. The Anonymity Setting allows you to decide how much data about the participants is gathered. There are currently 3 options:
      • Anonymous: This survey is anonymous. As the survey administrator, you will not know the name, email address, nor any other identifying information of the participants.
      • Non-anonymous: Non-anonymous surveys collect name, email, office, role, and department information about participants.
      • Semi-anonymous: Semi-anonymous surveys collect office, role, and department information about participants.
   3. Make sure you click Confirm Changes before moving on to the next section.

4. The People section of the editor is where you will be selecting the participants and deciding how you want to notify them. 

   1. Configure Notification: Users can customize the email and/or text message notifications. All emails and texts will include a link to the survey.

   2. The Text Message toggle provides the flexibility to send the survey link to participants via text in addition to sending it via email. This option is only available to clients that have ClearText enabled. Information on ClearText can be found here.

      • You also have the option to preview the email and text message sent to participants by selecting Preview.

5. Use the Search & Filter section to select the group of employees who will receive the survey. Alternatively, you can select the Include All Employees button if you wish to add all employees. 
   1. You can see the list of included and excluded employees here. This allows you to see which employees have been added as participants, as well as the role, department, and office each employee is assigned.
   2. If you wish to add each participant individually, the Individual Employee Selection search bar allows you to search for each employee. Don't forget to Confirm Changes after you've completed this section.
6. Once you have confirmed each section of the survey, you are ready to either Save as a Draft or Send Survey.

   • Saving as a Draft will allow you to revisit your saved material at a later date and can be found on the Draft tab of the Surveys & Engagement section of your Performance platform.

     

   • Send Survey will either send the survey out immediately or on a scheduled day and time, depending on what settings you have chosen.

How a Survey is Completed

Survey notifications can be sent to participants via email and SMS if SMS was selected when launching your survey. In order for participants to receive their survey notifications via SMS, their mobile number must be listed on their profile. To learn more about updating user profiles, check out this article: Edit Your Profile. 

The text or email notifications that are sent to participants when the survey opens include an access link. The survey can only be completed through this link. Participants are required to log in to ClearCompany prior to clicking the link in order to complete their survey. 

Survey Email Notification Example:

Text Message Notification Example:

FAQs

Can surveys be sent to non-ClearCompany users?

For security purposes, surveys cannot be sent to non-users as participants will need to log in to their ClearCompany account to complete the survey.

What if a user does not remember their username or password?

Users can reset their own login credentials or a User Admin can assist on their behalf. Review this article to learn more.

When can I view my survey results?

As participants complete their surveys, results will be available to you. Learn more about what you can accomplish with your survey results here.

Can I resend a survey notification?

Survey notifications cannot be resent to participants but the link to access the survey can be retrieved by a user with Survey Admin permission. Follow the steps below to retrieve the survey link.

Obtain Survey Link

1. Begin by navigating to the active survey on the Performance Dashboard.

   

2. Clicking the survey name will bring up the survey Overview page. Open the Survey Actions drop-down and select Get Link to Survey.

   

3. A window will open with a link to the survey that can be copied to your clipboard. Use this link to send reminders outside of ClearCompany via email, company newsletters, slack messages, post on bulletin boards, etc.

   Does adding an employee impact survey notifications for a survey in progress?

   Adding an employee to a survey does not affect the survey notifications already sent to prior participants. When a new employee is added, all previously notified participants are listed, and only the newly added employee will receive it.