Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What are employee experience surveys e.g. engagement or pulse surveys?

Employee engagement surveys are an effective and confidential way to check on how employees are feeling about working at ANU at a particular point in time. Committed, consistent employee engagement surveying is an opportunity to gain ongoing and measurable insights into what’s working well, and what can be improved. It's one of the best ways that the ANU can consistently listen to its employees, to understand where to focus planning and action to improve employee experience. 

An engagement survey is a longer survey, between 50-60 questions, that takes about 10 minutes to complete. This type of survey helps the University understand the baseline sentiment and engagement of employees. Following a full engagement survey leaders incorporate survey feedback to inform specific action planning for improving employee experience. 

A pulse survey is a short survey, between 20-30 questions, that takes about 4 minutes to complete. This type of survey helps the University take a ‘pulse’, a snapshot of employee sentiment and engagement, and can include focused questions in areas that were highlighted for improvement in the preceding engagement survey. Following a pulse survey leaders incorporate survey feedback into their ongoing, holistic planning and action to improve employee experience.

These surveys measure employee engagement by asking participants to rate their experience against a series of questions in categories such as leadership, management, teamwork, wellbeing and learning and development.

How often will there be staff engagement surveys?

Generally, the University aims to hold a survey every 6 months, one engagement survey and one pulse survey over the course of 12 months. 

Who administers staff engagement surveys?

ANU staff engagement surveys are administered by the People and Culture team. Surveys from 2023 onwards are administered using an external online platform: Culture Amp. 

Who can complete ANYOU staff surveys?

ANU employees in continuing, fixed-term and continuing contingent-funded positions are invited to complete staff engagement surveys. 

Are ANYOU staff surveys confidential?

Responses to staff engagement surveys are confidential. No one at ANU will be able to identify individual responses.

No employees at ANU will be able to view results for sample sizes of less than 10 people. Appropriate steps have been taken to ensure that individual respondents cannot be identified in reporting (e.g. qualitative responses will be de-identified where necessary, no quantitative reporting will be available for sample sizes of less than 10 people).

The purpose of ANU employee engagement surveys is to identify aggregate patterns and themes, and not to act upon individual responses. If you would like to make a disclosure or seek support, you can do so via any of these resources available to employees:

• The Staff Respect Consultant via staffrespect@anu.edu.au
• The Employee Assistance Program
• Harmful Behaviours Disclosure Response and Support

How do I access the survey?

You log in to complete the survey via a link which will be emailed to all continuing, fixed-term and continuing contingent-funded staff, or the link that will feature on the ANYOU web page during a survey period. 

How long will I have to complete the ANYOU pulse survey?

Staff surveys are usually open for two weeks. The 2026 full engagement survey will be open from the afternoon of 28th April 2026, and close midday 12th May 2026 (AEST).  

How do ANYOU staff surveys take?

Full engagement surveys (50-60 questions) take around 8 minutes to complete. 

Shorter pulse surveys (20-30 questions) take around 4 minutes to complete.

How do I answer the questions?

For the majority of questions, you will be asked to rate your level of agreement with a statement. You also have the option to provide comments to expand upon the rating given.

Can I skip questions?

Yes you can skip questions, however we would ask that you try to answer all questions to make the feedback more meaningful.

I recently moved teams/departments, should I answer based on my previous or current team? What if I have more than one role at ANU?

Answer the questions based on your current team. If you wish to give specific feedback about your previous team, this can be done using the open comments.

If you have more than one role at the ANU, answer for the role that is the most FTE i.e. the role in which you spend most of your working time.  

Why should I complete the survey?

This survey is your opportunity to have your say and contribute to your future ANU. The more staff who complete the survey, the more representative the feedback, and the better we will understand where ANU is now and where we can take action to improve. 

Is this survey mandatory?

Although the survey is not mandatory, it is strongly encouraged to ensure that we have a clear understanding of where ANU is now and where we can take action to improve.

Do I have to complete the survey in one go or can I save progress and return later?

You can save progress and return to complete the survey later. However, completing it in one go is encouraged.

How is ANU data used in the platform?

Employee data (including name, UID number and ANU email address) is used to provide individual access to the Culture Amp platform for the duration of its use by the University. This data is uploaded by staff in the People and Culture Division.

What data security measures are in place?

ANU data is securely stored by Culture Amp, hosted in Amazon’s AWS cloud platform.

As part of the procurement process, the Culture Amp platform was assessed by the ANU Information Security Office and recommendations adopted to comply with ANU security requirements, including the use of Single Sign On and Multi-Factor Authentication to access the survey.

What privacy measures are in place?

The contract between ANU and Culture Amp specifies that Culture Amp must comply with the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

The Culture Amp platform requires that users consent to the collection of personal information before receiving access to complete each survey. Users who do not consent do not complete the survey.

Individuals can request that their data be deleted at any time by emailing the request to privacy@cultureamp.com or HRD.development@anu.edu.au.

Who will have access to the data?

Staff engagement survey project team members from the People and Culture team.

No staff at ANU will be able to view results for sample sizes of less than 10 people. 

Culture Amp staff and sub-processors will have access to information on a privileged access basis determined by role and function.

Specialist staff from Culture Amp may assist ANU with the analysis and interpretation of results.The contract between ANU and Culture Amp specifies that Culture Amp must comply with the Privacy ACT 1988 (Cth).

Who is the survey provider?

The survey provider is Culture Amp, a web-based analytics platform. More information is available on the Culture Amp website.  

Where do the questions come from?

Staff engagement surveys use research-based questions developed by Culture Amp. Some amendments for ANYOU staff surveys are made for consistency with the ANU environment. Using the Culture Amp survey questions allows the University to benchmark ANU results against our own and other industries.

More information about the development of the survey questions is available in this article from Culture Amp: The science behind our Engagement surveys.

Where can I get more information?

For further information visit the ANYOU survey website.