What questions to ask in an employee engagement survey
It’s very important for employers to really think about what questions to ask in an employee engagement survey.
Each question you choose can provide valuable and pinpoint-specific feedback about your staff and business. Without questions, your survey is just one, big suggestion box.
But how do you choose the best employee engagement survey questions? Let’s take a look at which ones are the most suitable for your feedback needs.
Satisfactory questions
One of the main criteria of your surveys relates to satisfaction. We can usually tell when an employee is happy at work.
But dealing with people who are unsatisfied can be a little tricky. Here are a few examples of employee engagement satisfaction survey questions.
1. ‘How do you feel about work today?’
This question isn’t as generic as it sounds. We would say it’s up there with other key questions for an employee engagement survey. These questions help you learn whether employees feel engaged, or if they’re facing ongoing issues. Use ‘happy or sad’ faces to indicate emotions; or leave comment boxes so they can describe their moods.
2. ‘Would you recommend working here to other people?’
It’s not enough to offer incentives or rewards for every new person an employee refers to in your business. This question helps you understand why they would (or wouldn’t) engage in referrals. Remember, word of mouth is a classic form of free recruitment.
3. 'Do you enjoy being part of the business?’
This question helps you identify employees who are genuinely happy with their job; as well as those who may need a little encouragement. Even a neutral answer allows you to dive deeper into the reasons behind their engagement at work (or lack of it).
4. ‘Are you proud of your job?’
Engagement questions like these help present an employee’s own achievements. Having pride in their work is also beneficial to the business. If an employee isn’t particularly proud of their job, figuring out why is the way to go.
5. ‘Are you satisfied with your current work benefits?’
Aside from wages, employees will usually accept a job based on what work benefits they’re entitled to. Employee engagement pulse survey questions like these help to understand which benefits are a must and which act as an additional bonus.
6. ‘Do you enjoy working as part of a team?’
A team that priorities engagement often is the most cohesive and successful within a business. These satisfaction questions help employees talk about whether your team dynamics work well – for individuals, as well as their departments.
Alignment questions
Alignment questions are all about creating a connection between an employee’s personal feelings and their workplace.
Effective employee engagement survey questions like these can help you align their personal goals with those of the business. Let’s take a look at a few examples of alignment questions:
1. ‘Do you feel like your work is valued or meaningful?’
From cleaning staff to departmental managers – every employee should believe their role is vital for the functionality of your business. Engagement questions like these pinpoint individuals who feel like their work isn’t valued or meaningful – but also how to amend this.
2. ‘Are your achievements recognised by others?’
Don’t we all love being appreciated for our hard work and efforts? It’s like being given another prize on top of the main one. Recognition is a key driver for employee engagement questions. When managers don’t give it out enough, employees may choose to seek it elsewhere.
3. ‘Is your manager invested in your progression and success?’
This question highlights workplace relations and dynamics that you may not be privy to. Feedback from such questions really shines a light on engagement within individual teams and departments. And helps you see whether you’ve invested in people worthy of leadership.
4. ‘Do you work in a comfortable and safe environment?’
This engagement question assesses whether your workplace presents a safe and comfortable atmosphere for your employees. Be wary, you might come across some home-truths. But it’s better to address them than to continue in sheer ignorance.
5. ‘Do the business goals and visions inspire you?’
These questions might look like you’re testing employees on who can name the most business goals. It’s actually about seeing whether they’re willing to engage in striving towards your overall business success.
6. ‘Do your managers invest in cultural initiatives?’
Your managers are like an extension of you and your business. These questions help you see how invested they are in your cultural initiatives at work. From here, employees will feel comfortable with opening up about your workplace and how to make it better.
Future-orientation questions
It’s fairly normal for employees to leave from time to time. But that doesn’t mean you avoid investing in their career development.
Future-orientation is a good example for employee engagement survey questions. Let’s take a look at a few of them:
1. ‘Do you see yourself working here in a year’s time?’
This is a classic future-orientated engagement question. It allows you to put estimates on retention and turnover statistics. But make sure these questions come with comment boxes. That way, you’ll be able to understand their reasons for potentially staying or going.
2. ‘Do you find your work aids your career development?’
This question relates to advancement – either within an employee’s own team or overall department. It’s always best to find ways of developing their work skills and experiences. But not so much that their job becomes over-challenging or frustrating.
3. ‘Is there a higher role you would like to progress into?’
When employees aren’t able to see progression, they’re likely going to look for it elsewhere. These employee engagement questions for surveys help you assign promotional opportunities, especially for those deserved of them.
4. Do you have the right support to progress here?’
Feedback from these engagement questions help you map out an employee’s progression-path within your business. You’ll be able to see what areas support their career development; and, equally, what could be obstructing their progression.
5. ‘Have you recently thought about leaving your job role?’
If an employee has thought about leaving their job due to a serious work issue, you can’t afford to ignore this engagement question. Encourage them to share their side; and reassure them that their feedback will be kept private and confidential.
6. ‘Has anyone at the business been able to support your career progression?’
This engagement question directly points to your management and supporting staff (like HR). Whilst it might seem like an employee-based question; it actually opens up the truth about how your business values career progression and development.
Open-ended questions
Open-ended questions for employee engagement surveys allow employees to share honest opinions about their workplace. It’s always best to add a few open-ended questions at the end of your survey.
But whilst these count as validated employee engagement survey questions, too many can leave you with endless amounts of feedback to sift through. Let’s take a look at a few examples:
1. ‘What business practices or procedures should we change?’
This question asks an employee to evaluate their overall workplace and share feedback (constructive or otherwise). Engaging their opinions this way makes them feel like active members in creating a positive change for the business.
2. ‘Is there anything wrong with our workplace culture?’
Remember, the most effective employee engagement survey questions are always kept anonymous. This allows employees to provide honest feedback about personal or organisational issues – without being worried about consequences to their comments.
3. ‘How can we help improve employee engagement at work?’
This question directly asks employees for advice or direction on improving their engagement. It’s a kind of ‘help me to help you’ sort of question. Keep a list of significant points they’ve shared, as well as ones that may need to be scheduled for a future date.
4. ‘What workplace changes have you seen since the last survey?’
This engagement question highlights what feedback has been implemented (or neglected) since the previous survey. Their feedback shouldn’t be taken lightly, or else it defeats the purpose of your employee engagement survey questions.
5. ‘Is there anything you’d like to share about your experience working here?’
This stands as a conclusive engagement question usually found at the end of surveys. It presents an open window for employees to express anything they’d like. Don’t neglect reading this feedback; you might find a ‘diamond in the rough’ kind of comment.
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