Polls, pulse surveys and the kudos wall
Updated 2026-11-07
What it is
Surveys in PunchMe are short questionnaires your employees answer in the app. There are two kinds:
- Poll: one question with 2 to 10 options, for quick decisions like "Where should the offsite be?".
- Pulse survey: up to 10 questions, rated 1–5 or answered in text, for checking how people feel. It can repeat every week or month.
They sit on the Engagement page together with the Kudos wall, where employees thank each other and PunchMe posts birthday and work anniversary wishes.
Who uses it
| Task | Permission needed |
|---|---|
| Create, close and read results of polls and surveys | engagement.manage |
| See the kudos wall in the dashboard and hide or unhide posts | engagement.manage |
Only the HR system role includes engagement.manage by default. Office Manager and Office HR do not. See Roles and permissions.
Every active employee can answer and give kudos in the app. No permission is needed.
Where to find it
- Dashboard: Engagement, with tabs Polls & surveys and Kudos wall.
- Employee app: Profile, Engage. Employees answer surveys and tap Give kudos here.
Creating a poll or survey
Click New poll or survey and pick Poll or Pulse survey.
Poll
- The title is the question.
- Options: 2 to 10.
- Allow picking more than one: lets people pick several options.
- Anonymous: off by default.
Pulse survey
- Questions: 1 to 10. Each answer type is 1–5 or Text.
- Repeat: Once, Weekly or Monthly.
- Anonymous: on by default.
For both, you can set Closes on (optional). Click Publish. Every active employee with the app gets a push: "New poll" or "New pulse survey".
Turning it on or off
There is no company-wide switch. Surveys only exist when someone with engagement.manage publishes one.
The one setting that matters is Anonymous — results never show who answered, and need at least 3 responses, chosen when you create the survey. It cannot be changed afterwards.
What happens when anonymous is on / when it's off
Anonymous on:
- PunchMe does not store who gave which answer. It only records that the person answered, so they cannot answer twice.
- Results show counts, averages and text answers with no names.
- With fewer than 3 responses, results show only the count. This stops you guessing who answered in a small team.
Anonymous off:
- Results show each person's name with their answer.
- For polls, employees see the live results in the app after they vote.
For anonymous polls, voters see results only once 3 or more people have answered. Employees never see pulse survey results.
Reading results
Click a survey on the Polls & surveys tab. You see:
- Responses for the current round.
- For rating questions: the Average and how many people picked each score from 1 to 5.
- For options: how many picked each option.
- For text questions: the answers.
For a repeating pulse survey, pick a Round to see earlier rounds.
Repeating pulse surveys
A weekly survey starts a new round every 7 days. A monthly one starts a new round every 30 days. The check runs once a day after 10:00 company time. Each new round:
- Opens the survey again for everyone, including people who answered last round.
- Sends a "New pulse survey" push.
- Starts a fresh results view. Old rounds stay available.
Changing it midway
- Close stops answers at once. "Employees can't answer after this." A closed survey cannot be reopened, and a repeating survey stops making new rounds.
- After the Closes on date, the survey closes on its own.
- You cannot edit questions, options, anonymity or the repeat setting after publishing. Close it and create a new one instead.
- Each employee can answer once per round, and cannot change their answer.
Kudos wall
Employees tap Give kudos in the app, pick a colleague, a badge and a short message (up to 280 characters). Badges are Thank you, Team player, Above and beyond, Problem solver, Customer hero and Leader.
- Everyone in the company sees the post on the wall.
- The colleague gets a push: "{name} sent you kudos".
- People cannot send kudos to themselves.
Every day after 10:00 company time, PunchMe also posts birthday and work anniversary wishes for active employees. These use the date of birth and joining date on the employee record.
In the dashboard, open Kudos wall to see all posts, including hidden ones. Hide a post to remove it from the app. You can unhide it later. Nobody can edit or delete a post.
Limits and edge cases
- Polls: 2 to 10 options. Pulse surveys: 1 to 10 questions.
- Text answers: up to 2,000 characters.
- Surveys go to the whole company. You cannot target one office or department.
- Only active employees can answer. Inactive and archived employees do not get pushes.
- Employees who have never signed in to the app do not get the push, but can answer once they sign in while the survey is open.
Related
Common questions
Can HR see who answered an anonymous survey?
No. PunchMe does not store who gave which answer, so nobody can see it. Results with fewer than 3 responses show only the count.
Can I send a survey to one office only?
No. Polls and surveys go to everyone in the company. Use a notice for office-only messages.
How do I stop a weekly pulse survey?
Open it on the Engagement page and click Close. No more rounds will start.
Can an employee change their answer?
No. Each person answers once per round. For a repeating pulse survey, they can answer again in the next round.
Where do birthday wishes on the kudos wall come from?
PunchMe posts them each morning from the Date of birth and Joining date on the employee record. Anniversaries start from the first full year.