Diagnostic
Company Pulse Check
A recurring anonymous survey — eNPS, two tenure-intent questions and a short question bank — that tells you how people actually feel about working here while there is still time to act on it.
Run this once the company is too big to read by walking the room — usually somewhere past twenty people. The Happiness Check covers the people you talk to every week; the pulse check covers everyone else, and it's anonymous, so it catches what nobody says to a founder's face. By the time the same signal reaches you another way, it's usually a resignation letter.
The three anchor questions
eNPS
"How likely are you to recommend us as a great place to work?" on a 0–10 scale. Score it the standard way: % promoters (9–10) minus % detractors (0–6). The absolute number matters less than the trend quarter over quarter.
Two years
"How likely is it you'll still be working here in 2 years?" on a 1–5 scale. This is your practical retention signal — the people quietly interviewing elsewhere answer this one honestly when it's anonymous.
Five years
Same question at five years. Nobody owes you five years — a low score isn't a resignation notice. What it measures is whether people can see a future here at all, and whether the company's story extends past the current roadmap in their heads.
The question bank
Statements scored 1–5, strongly disagree to strongly agree, organised by level so the results tell you where to look: is this an organisation problem, a leadership problem, a manager problem or a role problem?
| Level | Statement |
|---|---|
| Organisation | Our vision, mission and strategy are clearly defined and communicated. |
| Organisation | The organisation structure is clear to me. |
| Organisation | We have an open and transparent culture. |
| Organisation | With eyes closed, I could recite our values. |
| Organisation | We genuinely live by our values. |
| Leadership | The C-level contributes to a positive work culture. |
| Leadership | Leadership is transparent in what they do and tell us. |
| Leadership | I am confident in our management team. |
| Leadership | Leadership demonstrates that people are important to the company's success. |
| My manager | My 1:1s are used effectively for feedback on my work. |
| My manager | I feel supported by my manager in my work. |
| My manager | My manager is invested in my career growth. |
| My manager | I feel valued by my manager. |
| My manager | I regularly give feedback to my manager. |
| My team | I feel valued by my peers. |
| My team | We regularly exchange feedback within the team. |
| My role | I understand the responsibilities and expectations that come with my role. |
| My role | I can see clear career progression in my role. |
| My role | I'm able to reach my full potential here. |
| My role | My workload and pace are sustainable. |
Close with two open questions, always the same two: "What challenges do you see, and how do you believe we can solve them together?" and "What do you like most about working here?" The first phrasing matters — asking for the solution alongside the complaint keeps the free-text field constructive, and the answers seed your focus groups.
How to run it
- Quarterly, anonymous, same questions every time. The value is the trend line — changing questions resets it to zero.
- Share the results with the whole company within two weeks, including the ugly ones. An unshared survey teaches people that answering honestly is pointless.
- Pick the two worst-scoring items and run focus groups on those — the survey finds the where, the conversation finds the why.
- Track eNPS and the two tenure-intent scores as the headline numbers; the question bank exists to explain their movement.
- Don't run it if you won't act on it. One ignored survey costs more trust than never asking.
Anonymity is load-bearing. Under about twenty people, skip segmentation questions like tenure or department — if a founder can work out who wrote it, you'll get the polite version, and the polite version is worthless.
Source / credit
Fred Reichheld / Bain & Company · Net Promoter Score (eNPS adaptation) · Adapted for Outstride OS
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