People teams ask the whole company for input more than anyone else, which makes them the
first to burn out a channel with surveys. The fix is a small, predictable calendar: a few
polls with a clear job each, sent at the same rhythm, with results that go somewhere.
Below are the polls that earn a place on that calendar, how to word them, and how often to
send them. Everything runs inside Slack with /poll, so nobody has to open a form.
For
HR and People teams
Templates
5 below
Example polls
Paste any of these into the message box in Slack.
Choice poll. Quarterly eNPS on the standard 0 to 10 scale, one answer each, open for a week.
/poll "How likely are you to recommend working here to a friend?" "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" anonymous limit 1 close after 7 days
Premium: more than 5 options, vote limits, closing automatically
AnonymousLimit votes: 1 per personClose automatically: after 7 days
Survey (4 questions). The day-30 check-in for a new-hire cohort, as one anonymous survey.
/poll "Your first month" "Five questions, anonymous. Helps us fix onboarding for the next person." anonymous close after 7 days --- "How clear is what is expected of you?" scale --- "Did you have the access and equipment you needed in week one?" "Yes" "Mostly" "No" limit 1 --- "Who or what helped you most?" short text optional --- "What should we fix before the next start date?" short text
Ranked poll. Benefits input as a ranked vote, so you get an order of preference, not just a winner.
/poll "Which benefit should we add next year?" "Learning budget" "Home office stipend" "Extra wellbeing days" "Commuter support" ranked anonymous close after 3 days
Premium: closing automatically
AnonymousClose automatically: after 3 days
The four polls on a People team calendar
eNPS, once a quarter. One question, 0 to 10, anonymous. Quarterly is often enough
to see a trend and rare enough that people still answer. See the
eNPS template.
Day-30 onboarding check-in, per new hire. Send it to each start class a month in,
while they still remember what was confusing. The
onboarding feedback template has the questions.
A deeper engagement survey, once or twice a year. If you want a fuller picture, the
Q12-style survey covers the ground in twelve statements.
Quick input polls, as needed. Benefits, policy drafts, event dates. These are the ones
people enjoy answering, because they can see their vote change something.
Between the big surveys, a short weekly pulse on one
theme catches problems before they show up in the quarterly score.
Anonymous means anonymous, so say it
Add anonymous to anything about how people feel about their job, their manager or the
company. With it on, nobody sees who answered what, the person who created the poll
included. Put that in the poll description too ("Anonymous: nobody, including People Ops,
can see who answered"). People answer differently when they believe it, and small teams
will assume they can be identified unless you tell them otherwise.
Two cautions. In a team of four, anonymity is thin no matter what the tool does, so roll
small teams up into a bigger group before you report. And never ask for a role, location
and tenure in the same anonymous survey: together they identify people.
Close the loop or stop asking
The fastest way to kill your response rate is to collect answers and say nothing. After
each survey closes, post a short reply in the same channel: what you heard, the one or two
things you will do, and when. If you can only act on one thing, say which and why.
For the formal surveys, use close after (Premium) so the window is fixed and the result
stops moving before you report it. Results can be exported (Premium) if you need them in a
spreadsheet or a board deck.
Benefits and policy input without a committee
When you are choosing between options people care about, such as a new benefit or which
days the office is open, a ranked
poll gives you an order of preference, not just a winner. Keep the list to options you can
actually deliver. Asking people to rank a benefit you already know is out of budget costs
you more trust than not asking.
When you want one comparable number for how likely people are to recommend working here, tracked quarter to quarter.
/poll "eNPS" "Anonymous. Two questions." anonymous show results to creator close after 7 days remind 1 day before closing --- "How likely are you to recommend working here to a friend?" "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" limit 1 --- "What is the main reason for your score?" short text optional
Premium: surveys (several questions), more than 5 options, closing automatically, reminders, results for the creator only
At the end of a new hire's first week and again around day 30, while they still remember what was confusing and before they've stopped noticing it.
/poll "Your first week" "Five quick questions to help us fix onboarding for the next person." close after 3 days --- "I had the access and tools I needed from day one" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "I know who to ask when I am stuck" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "What was the most confusing part of this week?" short text --- "What should we add or cut for the next new hire?" short text optional
When you want a structured engagement check covering the basics of a good job, without sending people to a separate survey tool.
/poll "Engagement survey" "Twelve statements, about three minutes. Anonymous." anonymous close after 7 days remind 1 day before closing --- "I am clear on what my job asks of me" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "I have the tools and resources to do my job properly" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Most days I get to use my strongest skills" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "When I do good work, it gets noticed" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Someone here looks out for me as a person" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Someone here is invested in my growth" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "My input is taken seriously" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Our mission makes my work feel important" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "My teammates hold a high bar for quality" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "I have a close friend at work" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Someone has talked with me about my progress in the last six months" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "This year I have had chances to learn and grow" "Strongly disagree" "Disagree" "Neutral" "Agree" "Strongly agree" scale --- "Anything these questions missed?" short text optional
When an annual engagement survey is too slow to catch problems and you want a light, regular read on how the team is doing.
/poll "Weekly pulse" "Anonymous. Under a minute." anonymous close after 2 days remind 1 day before closing --- "How was your week overall?" scale --- "How manageable was your workload?" scale --- "How clear are your priorities right now?" scale --- "Anything we should know?" short text optional
When you are organising an end-of-year party and want the date, format and details settled by the people who will be there.
/poll "Which dates could you make for the holiday party?" "Thursday, second week of December" "Friday, second week of December" "Thursday, third week of December" "None of these" close after 3 days remind 1 day before closing
Premium: closing automatically, reminders
Questions
How often should HR survey employees in Slack?
A workable default is eNPS quarterly, a deeper engagement survey once or twice a year,
onboarding check-ins per cohort and short input polls when there is a real decision.
If response rates drop, cut frequency before you cut questions.
Can People Ops see who answered an anonymous poll?
No. With anonymous on, nobody sees who answered what, including the poll creator. Turn
it on before posting: the setting is part of the poll, so decide up front.
Can I run the same pulse every month without recreating it?
Employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) asks employees how likely they are to recommend their company as a place to work, on a scale from 0 to 10. The score is the percentage of promoters (9 or 10) minus the percentage of detractors (0 to 6), so it runs from -100 to +100.
An anonymous poll in Simple Poll hides who voted for what from everyone, including the person who created it. The poll still counts every vote and shows the totals. It's free on every plan.
A team lead's job is mostly two things: deciding, and finding out what you do not know. Both get easier with a handful of well-timed polls. The point is not to vote on everything. It is to stop spending a meeting on questions a poll answers in an hour, and to hear the things your team would not say to your face.
