Broken HR advice #5: 'Run an annual engagement survey'

60-Second Summary

Annual surveys describe a moment 11 months in the past by the time results land. Useless for retention.
The combination that works: quarterly 5-question pulse + always-on eNPS + monthly manager 1:1 questions imported as data.
Action rate (% of survey findings that produce a visible change) matters more than response rate.

If your engagement survey takes longer to analyze than the half-life of the problems it surfaces, it is decorative.

Why annual fails

Latency: Q1 results inform Q4 actions. The team that wrote the comments has already half-turned over.
Survey fatigue is overstated; survey-without-action fatigue is real. Action rate (visible follow-through) drives response rate, not the other way around.
Annual scoring rewards regression to the mean — every team looks 'average' when aggregated to the org.

Cadence	Instrument	Owner	Action SLA
Weekly	1 question in 1:1 (manager-led)	Manager	Same week
Monthly	eNPS + 1 driver question	People team	Within 30 days
Quarterly	5-question pulse	People team + exec	Quarterly action plan
Annual	Optional deep dive	Exec sponsor	Strategic input only

The only metric that matters

Action rate. If less than 60% of surfaced themes produced a visible change inside two quarters, the survey is doing harm, not good.