Start with an answer the team can use
The fictional Linden organization wants to understand why employees find priorities unclear after a reorganization. It plans a team pulse and a separate way to request individual follow-up. This is a teaching example, not an existing customer case.
Name the decision: clarify priorities, review a process or understand onboarding. A broad engagement index may be useful, but the team also needs evidence that helps it choose a practical response.
Choose the identity model deliberately
An anonymous pulse supports group learning without a continuing named response history. An identified channel can support personal follow-up where its purpose and handling are clear. Do not quietly join the two to create an individual profile.
Explain what is collected, who can see raw responses, what groups will be reported and how sensitive concerns should be raised. Do not describe a survey as anonymous if the configured collection or identifiable context contradicts that promise.
Onboarding, periodic pulses and exit feedback may need different arrangements. Private HR case files are not automatically appropriate inputs to a general listening dashboard. Collect only what the stated purpose needs.
Agree the shared core; keep local collection useful
When departments or locations collect information independently, imposing one questionnaire can remove the detail they need. Begin instead with the decisions you must make together. Agree the few shared fields those decisions require, then let each team collect useful local detail.
Separate identified administrative information from anonymous listening. Reuse profile data only where the purpose and privacy promise permit it. Keep reporting categories broad enough to protect employees, and retain dated category definitions rather than retrospectively assigning people to a new team.
Departments may need different questions about their work. A shared pulse question, reporting period and sufficiently broad department category can support an approved comparison. An anonymous pulse must not gain a person identifier to make linkage easier.
Write down the common field, its meaning, who supplies it and when it changes before launching collection. You will complete the comparison rules in the shared-definitions module. Governance starts here: collect only the fields needed for the stated purpose and decide who can view or correct them.
Plan the return before the invitation
Tell employees when they will hear what was learned and what action is possible. Invite feedback on a question the responsible team can address; avoid creating expectations that nobody owns.
Test the survey with fictional responses and different roles. Check whether optional identifiers, exports or small-group breakdowns undermine the promised handling. The people responsible for privacy and employee relations should resolve organization-specific requirements.
The connected workflow here is about preserving questions, dates, group context, analysis and actions. It does not require identifying every respondent. Useful continuity can exist at the group level.
Work through the Linden example
This is a fictional teaching example. Adapt the fields and rules to the question your own workflow needs to answer.
| Channel | Purpose | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| Anonymous pulse | Understand appropriately protected group patterns | No hidden individual matching |
| Identified follow-up | Respond to a person’s request | Defined access and purpose |
| Onboarding or exit | Understand a particular journey stage | Separate scope and timing |
| Sensitive concern | Use the appropriate restricted process | Not a general dashboard item |
Build this part of your plan in more detail
These lessons address the next practical questions in this module. Choose the detail your workflow needs, then return to complete the exercise.
- Prepare data governance before using AI
Before using identified or restricted evidence, agree ownership, permitted uses and a small test plan.
Add this part to your plan
On workbook page 2, define one listening question, its identity model, audience and promised return. Add a separate named follow-up channel if needed. Identify the few shared fields, the local fields and which profile details should be reused or updated.
Download workbook (fillable PDF)Compare with a suggested answer
Linden’s pulse remains anonymous under its configured promise. Named requests use a separate process. Employees know the purpose, reporting boundaries and when findings will be returned.
Self-check: Would an employee understand how their response will be used?
Questions you may have
Must every pulse connect to an employee ID?
No. Anonymous listening should not be converted into identified tracking to make analysis easier.
Can we combine exit and pulse responses?
Only for an appropriate purpose and comparison, with the collection promises and population differences respected.
Apply the method to your work
Use the five-part plan to assess the sources, analysis and permissions your team needs. The solution page shows where a connected platform can support that workflow.
Explore the employee experience solution →