Frequently Asked Questions - Pulse Survey

Mark your calendars! On 3 March 2025, the Vice-Chancellor will launch the survey via email. A link to participate will be included in this email.

The Pulse Survey is designed to measure various aspects of your work experience. It includes a set of thoughtfully crafted questions that delve into key areas, such as job satisfaction, communication, leadership, and culture.

Here are some of the reasons to participate in the Pulse Survey:

1. Share your experiences and ideas: This survey is your chance to share your experience as a staff member at UQ.
2. Shape your workplace experience: By participating, you directly contribute to the data driven approach we take to implementing UQ initiatives addressing Pulse survey feedback.
3. Efficiency and convenience: The survey is quick and easy, taking just a few minutes of your time.

The survey will open on 3 March 2025. You should complete the survey at your earliest convenience, before it closes on 21 March 2025.

The survey is designed to be quick, taking approximately 5-10 minutes of your time.

Yes, the survey can be completed on desktop computers, laptops and mobile devices.

UQ’s Pulse survey takes a short ‘temperature check’ of the employment experience and culture across all levels of the organisation.

It is important to help ensure your voice is heard to help us continue to improve your experience at UQ.

The aim of the Pulse engagement survey is multifaceted in nature:

1. To provide the University with data that can help provide information on the employment experience over time.
2. To provide local leaders with a tool to provide insights on the employee experience and changing areas of need with year-on-year analysis.
3. Provide data on employees’ perceptions, attitudes and wellbeing to be able to evaluate the impact of interventions and identify potential areas of investment.

Your honest feedback is essential for us to improve, and we want you to feel at ease sharing your views.  The survey is completely anonymous.

The survey tool that Pulse uses to collect the views of staff does not record any identifying information (for example, IP addresses or location data are never collected).

To ensure your responses remain confidential, we use the platform's enhanced anonymity measures. Specifically, if fewer than 10 responses are collected for any team or demographic group, the data will be combined with the next smallest group. This ensures that your responses cannot be linked to you as an individual. 

For details on how we ensure confidentiaility in Pulse please, refer to the Pulse Ethics Charter.

The survey link will be emailed out from the Vice-Chancellor on 3 March 2025.

If you misplace your survey link, please reach out to AskHR.

When completing the survey, you will encounter questions related to your Organisational Unit. Here’s what you need to know:

1. Definition: An Organisational Unit represents a specific work unit, team or function within UQ. Correctly selecting this information ensures your survey responses are linked to your work unit. Please refer to the Pulse Survey Information Pack for a representation of the Organisational Units across UQ for 2025.
2. Selecting your Organisational Unit
   • As you progress through the survey, you’ll be prompted to choose your Organisational Unit by answering a series of questions.
   • Start by selecting the broader portfolio that best describes your work area. For instance,
     • If you work in The UQ Business School, select "Faculty of Business, Economics and Law".
     • If you work in the Corporate Finance team, you’ll first select “Office of the Chief Operating Officer.”
   • Next, you’ll narrow down to the specific school or business unit within the portfolio. For instance
     • If you work in The UQ Business School, select "The UQ Business School".
     • If you work in the Finance and Business Services division, select "Finance and Business Services Division"
   • Depending on your selection you may be asked to drill down a third time
     • If you work in the Corporate Finance Team, select "Corporate Finance"
3. "Other" option
   • If you don’t find your exact Organisational Unit name listed or the Organisational Unit that your team/unit is nested in, select the “other” option.
   • If you are an Organisational Unit Leaders please see Point 4 below.
   • Unsure about your Organisational Unit? Reach out to your manager, supervisor, or HR Client Partnering representative for guidance.
4. Organisational Unit Leaders
   • If you are the leader of an Organisational Unit, choose the 'Other' option
   • Examples
     • Corporate Finance Team Leader: Select “Office of the Chief Operating Officer" -> "Finance and Business Services" -> "Other.”
     • Head of School for the UQ Business School: Select “Faculty of Business, Economics and Law" -> "Other.”
     • Executive Dean: Opt for “Office of the Provost" -> "Other.”
5. Anonymity and Pulse Results
   • To ensure anonymity as per our Pulse Ethics Charter, only organisational units with over 10 responses can access Pulse results.

During the Pulse Survey you will be asked to select your Organisational Unit. Please see the question above, 'The Pulse Survey asks for my Organisational Unit, I don’t know what that is?' for more information.

Staff are encouraged to carefully select their relevant Organisational Unit, noting that once selected it's not possible to amend the response within the survey.

If you accidentally choose the incorrect organisational unit and cannot go back to update it, follow these steps:

1. Stop completing the survey.
2. Reopen the survey link in another browser or an incognito window.
3. Restart the survey from the beginning.

Remember, your participation matters, and accurate selection of your Organisational Unit ensures meaningful survey results.

We recommend selecting the organisational unit that corresponds to your primary role.

When a staff member has multiple roles at UQ, a ‘primary’ role will be identified in Workday. Ordinarily, this will be the role which holds the higher fraction (e.g., 60% in role A [primary role], 40% in role B [secondary role]).

Try opening the survey link in an incognito window or an alternative browser. If the issue persists please contact AskHR.

No. Your participation in the survey is entirely voluntary and anonymous, and there will be no repercussions if you choose not to participate. Your decision to complete and return the survey will be taken as confirmation of your consent to participate.

The Pulse Survey serves as a valuable tool for capturing employee sentiment across UQ. By aggregating the insights of our entire workforce, we gain a comprehensive understanding of experiences across UQ. As has been the case for past Pulse surveys, the data collected will be used to develop action plans that builds on the things we do well and will help close the gap on areas identified for improvement. 

The Pulse Survey aims to be conducted annually. By tracking changes over time and identifying trends and respond to employee needs. 

Following the completion of the Pulse Survey, leaders will communicate the results to their teams. This generally occurs in May each year. For more information about when your results will be shared, please contact your local leader.