Surveys App Overview
Capture the voice of your workforce with the Surveys App—a full-featured platform for employee engagement surveys, quick pulse checks, anonymous feedback, AI-powered analysis, and cross-dimensional heatmaps that turn raw responses into actionable insights.
What is the Surveys App?
The Surveys App gives HR teams the tools to measure employee sentiment, identify organizational trends, and act on feedback—all within a single, integrated experience. From five-minute pulse checks to comprehensive engagement surveys, every workflow is supported out of the box.
Core Value Proposition:
- 📊 Measure Engagement — Run recurring surveys to track satisfaction, morale, and culture over time
- 🔒 Protect Anonymity — Anonymous by default so employees share honest, unfiltered feedback
- 🤖 AI-Powered Insights — Sentiment analysis, theme extraction, and focus-area recommendations generated automatically
- 🎯 Targeted Audiences — Send surveys to all employees, specific departments, locations, or custom groups
- 📱 Mobile Ready — Employees can take surveys and submit anonymous feedback from any device
How It Works
Survey Lifecycle
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ SURVEY LIFECYCLE │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ CREATE │───▶│ DRAFT │───▶│ ACTIVE │───▶│ CLOSED │ │
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │
│ │ Template │ │ Configure │ │ Collect │ │ Analyze │ │
│ │ or Blank │ │ & Preview │ │ Responses │ │ Results │ │
│ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ └─────┬─────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────┘ │
│ │ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ RESULTS & ANALYSIS │ │
│ ├─────────────┬─────────────┬──────────────┬──────────────────┤ │
│ │ Response │ Heatmap │ AI Themes │ Focus Areas │ │
│ │ Summaries │ by Dept/ │ & Sentiment │ & Executive │ │
│ │ & Charts │ Location │ Distribution│ Summary │ │
│ └─────────────┴─────────────┴──────────────┴──────────────────┘ │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
Distribution & Access
┌──────────────┐
│ SURVEY │
│ CREATED │
└──────┬───────┘
│
┌──────────────────┼──────────────────┐
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐
│ EMAIL │ │ IN-APP │ │ PUBLIC LINK │
│ INVITATION │ │ DASHBOARD │ │ (Shareable) │
└──────┬─────┘ └──────┬─────┘ └───────┬────────┘
│ │ │
│ ┌───────────┘ │
│ │ │
▼ ▼ ▼
┌────────────────┐ ┌────────────────┐
│ AUTHENTICATED │ │ PUBLIC OR │
│ EMPLOYEE │ │ ANONYMOUS │
│ SUBMISSION │ │ SUBMISSION │
└────────────────┘ └────────────────┘
│ │
└──────────────┬──────────────────────┘
▼
┌────────────────┐
│ AGGREGATED │
│ RESULTS │
└────────────────┘
Key Features
📋 Survey Creation & Templates
Build surveys quickly with pre-built templates or start from scratch.
System Templates (Ready to Use):
| Template | Questions | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Employee Engagement Survey | 14 | Comprehensive coverage of satisfaction, growth, work-life balance, and culture |
| Quick Pulse Check | 5 | Short weekly check-in on mood, workload, support, and blockers |
| Manager Effectiveness Survey | 11 | Evaluate direction, feedback, trust, fairness, and empowerment |
| New Hire Feedback Survey | 10 | Onboarding experience, training, resources, and manager support |
| Exit Interview Survey | 9 | Departure reasons, satisfaction, recommendations, and retention insights |
Creation Options:
| Method | Description |
|---|---|
| From Template | Choose a system template and customize questions |
| From Scratch | Start with a blank survey and build using the Forms Builder |
| Duplicate Existing | Copy a previous survey’s questions, settings, and audience targeting |
📝 Survey Types
Categorize surveys by purpose for filtering and reporting.
| Type | Purpose | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Engagement | Measure overall employee satisfaction and culture | Annual engagement survey |
| Pulse | Quick, frequent check-ins on team morale | Weekly pulse check |
| Custom | General-purpose surveys for any topic | Benefits satisfaction, office environment |
| Manager Feedback | Evaluate management quality | 360-degree manager reviews |
🎯 Audience Targeting
Control exactly who receives each survey.
| Target Type | How It Works |
|---|---|
| All Employees | Every active employee in the business |
| By Department | Select one or more organizational departments |
| By Location | Target employees at specific office locations |
| By Group | Use notification recipient groups for custom audiences |
Additional Access Settings:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
| Allow Any Employee | Override targeting to let anyone take the survey |
| Show Results to Employees | Let respondents see aggregated results |
| Allow Late Submissions | Accept responses after the closing date |
🔒 Anonymity & Privacy
Surveys are anonymous by default to encourage honest feedback.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Anonymous Responses | Submission metadata (IP, user agent) stripped automatically |
| Minimum Response Threshold | Results hidden until enough responses collected (configurable, minimum 3) |
| Insufficient Data Protection | Heatmap cells and question summaries show “insufficient data” below threshold |
| No Respondent Tracking | Anonymous surveys never reveal who submitted which response |
🔗 Sharing & Public Access
Share surveys inside and outside your organization.
| Access Mode | Authentication | Who Can Respond |
|---|---|---|
| Authenticated Link | Login required | Any employee in the business |
| Public Link | No login needed | Anyone with the link |
| Internal (In-App) | Login required | Targeted audience only |
Sharing Features:
- Shareable URL with unique access token
- Regenerate link to invalidate previous URLs
- QR code generation for active surveys
- Configurable options: multiple submissions, save progress, show results
- Draft preview mode for testing before publishing
📱 Mobile Experience
Employees can participate in surveys from any device through dedicated mobile views.
| Mobile Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Survey Dashboard | View available and completed surveys at a glance |
| Take Survey | Complete surveys with a mobile-optimized form interface |
| Draft Saving | Save progress and return to finish later |
| Anonymous Feedback | Submit anonymous feedback on the go |
📬 Email Notifications
Keep employees informed through targeted email communications.
| Email Type | Recipients | Trigger |
|---|---|---|
| Survey Invitation | Target audience | Manual send by HR |
| Reminder | Non-respondents only | Manual send by HR |
| Survey Closed | HR administrators | When a survey closes |
Invitation emails include the survey name, description, deadline, and a direct link. Reminders are sent only to employees who haven’t completed the survey and include a countdown of days remaining.
💬 Anonymous Feedback
A separate channel for employees to submit confidential feedback at any time—not tied to a specific survey.
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Topic Categories | Workload, Safety, Leadership, Culture, Compensation, Communication, Other |
| No Identity Tracking | Submissions are fully anonymous—no user association |
| HR Inbox | Centralized inbox for reviewing and managing feedback |
| Status Workflow | New → In Progress → Closed (with reopen capability) |
| Action Notes | HR can add internal notes and resolution details |
| Bulk Actions | Close or mark multiple feedback items at once |
| Date & Topic Filters | Filter inbox by topic, status, and date range |
Feedback Inbox Stats:
- Total feedback count
- New (unreviewed) items
- In progress items
- Closed items
📊 Results & Analytics
Analyze survey responses with powerful filtering and visualization tools.
Question Summary Types:
| Question Type | Analysis |
|---|---|
| Rating / Scale / Slider | Average score, min/max, distribution chart |
| Select / Radio / Checkbox | Response counts, percentage breakdown per option |
| Text / Textarea | Response count, full comment browser |
Result Filters:
| Filter | Description |
|---|---|
| Department | View responses from a specific department |
| Location | Filter by office location |
| Manager | See responses from a specific manager’s direct reports |
| Tenure Bracket | New Hire (<1yr), 1-3 Years, 3-5 Years, 5-10 Years, 10+ Years |
| Employee Type | Full-time, Part-time, Contractor, etc. |
| Performance Tier | High Performer, Meets Expectations, Needs Improvement (requires EPMS) |
| Date Range | Filter by submission date |
Comment Browser:
- View all text responses across questions
- Filter by specific question
- Highlight important comments for future reference
- View highlighted comments separately
🗺️ Heatmap Analysis
Visualize survey scores across organizational dimensions with a color-coded heatmap.
┌─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ HEATMAP VIEW │
├──────────────┬──────────┬──────────┬──────────┬─────────────────┤
│ │ Overall │ Manager │ Growth │ Work-Life │
│ Segment │ Satis. │ Support │ Opport. │ Balance │
├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Engineering │ 🟢 82 │ 🟢 85 │ 🟡 58 │ 🟠 35 │
│ Sales │ 🟢 78 │ 🟡 62 │ 🟢 71 │ 🟡 55 │
│ Marketing │ 🟢 88 │ 🟢 90 │ 🟢 80 │ 🟢 75 │
│ Support │ 🟡 55 │ 🟡 48 │ 🔴 25 │ 🟡 42 │
├──────────────┼──────────┼──────────┼──────────┼─────────────────┤
│ Overall │ 🟢 76 │ 🟢 71 │ 🟡 59 │ 🟡 52 │
└──────────────┴──────────┴──────────┴──────────┴─────────────────┘
Score Colors: 🟢 80+ Excellent 🟢 60-79 Good 🟡 40-59 Neutral
🟠 20-39 Concerning 🔴 <20 Critical
Heatmap Dimensions:
| Dimension | Segments By |
|---|---|
| Department | Organizational departments with respondents |
| Location | Office locations with respondents |
| Manager | Individual managers (by their direct reports’ responses) |
| Tenure | Tenure brackets (New Hire, 1-3yr, 3-5yr, 5-10yr, 10+yr) |
| Employee Type | Full-time, Part-time, Contractor, etc. |
Segments with fewer responses than the minimum threshold display “insufficient data” to protect anonymity.
🤖 AI-Powered Analysis
Let AI process open-ended comments and surface actionable insights.
┌──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐
│ AI ANALYSIS PIPELINE │
├──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┤
│ │
│ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────────────────────────────┐ │
│ │ Text │───▶│ AI Analysis Service (GPT-4o-mini) │ │
│ │ Responses │ └─────────────┬──────────────────────┘ │
│ └────────────┘ │ │
│ ┌─────────────┼─────────────┐ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ ▼ ▼ ▼ │
│ ┌────────────┐ ┌───────────┐ ┌───────────┐ │
│ │ SENTIMENT │ │ THEMES │ │ FOCUS │ │
│ │ Overall, │ │ 3-7 key │ │ AREAS │ │
│ │ Score, │ │ themes │ │ Top 3 │ │
│ │ Distrib. │ │ with freq │ │ priorities│ │
│ └────────────┘ └───────────┘ └───────────┘ │
│ │ │ │ │
│ └─────────────┼─────────────┘ │
│ ▼ │
│ ┌────────────────┐ │
│ │ EXECUTIVE │ │
│ │ SUMMARY │ │
│ │ (2-3 sentences)│ │
│ └────────────────┘ │
│ │
└──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘
| Analysis Type | Output |
|---|---|
| Sentiment Analysis | Overall sentiment (positive/neutral/negative/mixed), score (0-1), distribution counts |
| Theme Extraction | 3-7 named themes with summaries, sentiment, and frequency estimates |
| Focus Areas | Top 3 actionable improvement areas with priority and impact descriptions |
| Executive Summary | 2-3 sentence overview of key findings |
| Fallback Analysis | Keyword-based sentiment scoring when AI is unavailable |
Analysis runs as a background job and caches results for one hour. HR can re-run analysis at any time to capture new responses.
⚙️ App Settings
Administrators configure the Surveys app to match their organization’s needs.
| Setting | Description | Default |
|---|---|---|
| Agent Enabled | Enable the Surveys AI assistant integration | Off |
| Anonymous Feedback Enabled | Show the anonymous feedback channel | Off |
| AI Analysis Enabled | Allow AI-powered analysis of survey comments | Off |
| Minimum Response Threshold | Minimum responses before showing results | 5 |
| Allowed Roles | Control which roles can access specific features | All |
User Roles & Permissions
| Role | Capabilities |
|---|---|
| Employee | Take assigned surveys, save drafts, submit anonymous feedback, view dashboard |
| Manager | All employee capabilities + view team results for direct reports |
| HR Admin | Create/manage surveys, send invitations/reminders, view all results, heatmaps, AI analysis, manage feedback inbox, configure settings |
| System Admin | All HR capabilities + app-level configuration |
Navigation by Role:
| Tab | Employee | Manager | HR/Admin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dashboard | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Take Survey | ✅ | ✅ | ✅ |
| Team Results | — | ✅ | — |
| Manage Surveys | — | — | ✅ |
| Feedback Inbox | — | — | ✅ (when enabled) |
| Results | — | — | ✅ |
| Settings | — | — | ✅ |
Getting Started
For Employees
- Navigate to Apps → Surveys
- Check the Dashboard for pending surveys
- Click Take Survey to see all available surveys
- Complete surveys—your responses are anonymous by default
- Use Anonymous Feedback to share concerns anytime (if enabled)
For Managers
- Access the Dashboard to see team survey activity
- Click Team Results to view aggregated responses from your direct reports
- Use filters (department, tenure, employee type) to drill into specific segments
- Encourage your team to complete open surveys before deadlines
For HR Administrators
- Go to Manage Surveys to create a new survey
- Choose a template (Employee Engagement, Pulse Check, etc.) or start from scratch
- Configure target audience (all employees, specific departments, or locations)
- Set open/close dates and enable anonymity
- Activate the survey and send invitations via email
- Send reminders to non-respondents as the deadline approaches
- View Results with heatmaps, AI analysis, and comment highlighting
- Check the Feedback Inbox regularly for anonymous employee feedback
Best Practices
For Running Surveys
- ✅ Use Quick Pulse Checks weekly and Engagement Surveys quarterly
- ✅ Keep surveys short—5-minute pulse checks get higher completion rates
- ✅ Set clear deadlines and send reminders to non-respondents
- ✅ Keep surveys anonymous to encourage honest responses
- ✅ Share aggregated results with employees to build trust and transparency
For Analyzing Results
- ✅ Use the heatmap to spot departmental or location-based differences
- ✅ Run AI analysis to surface themes you might miss in manual review
- ✅ Highlight key comments for leadership presentations
- ✅ Filter results by tenure to understand sentiment across experience levels
- ✅ Compare results across multiple surveys to track trends over time
For Acting on Feedback
- ✅ Review the Feedback Inbox at least weekly
- ✅ Move feedback items through the status workflow (New → In Progress → Closed)
- ✅ Add action notes to document follow-up steps and resolutions
- ✅ Share focus areas from AI analysis with leadership for prioritization
- ✅ Close the loop—tell employees what changed based on their feedback
For Administrators
- ✅ Set the minimum response threshold high enough to protect anonymity (5+ recommended)
- ✅ Enable AI analysis for surveys with open-ended questions
- ✅ Use audience targeting to send relevant surveys to the right groups
- ✅ Duplicate successful surveys instead of recreating them each cycle
- ✅ Monitor completion rates and adjust survey length or timing as needed
Related Resources
- EPMS App Overview — Connect survey insights to performance reviews
- Recognition App Overview — Pair engagement surveys with recognition programs
- Forms App Overview — Advanced form building powers survey question design
The Surveys App gives your organization a direct line to employee sentiment. Listen, analyze, and act—because the best workplaces are built on honest feedback.
