Questions to ask in Employee Surveys

The reason we receive so many surveys is that our feedback is highly valuable. Organisations recognise the importance of listening to their customers. Those that also listen to their employees by asking the right questions in employee surveys can go one step further in creating a positive, engaged business culture.

Every month, when we’re collating stories for our HR News Roundup, there’s a plethora of new research studies revealing the latest interesting news from UK workplaces. We spend time choosing the most relevant, reliable and valuable headlines to share with our readers. Surveys like these are only of value when you know what questions to ask, how often you should send them, and how to use the feedback and data you collect - and that’s what we’re going to cover in this blog.

The value of employee surveys

Great Place to Work runs an annual survey to find the UK’s Best Workplaces. They recognise companies that create exceptional employee experiences, and winning this accolade can help attract and retain talent within the organisation. Who doesn’t want to work for a company where people are happy, motivated and engaged?

Collecting employee feedback is clearly powerful. In the words of Great Place to Work, “Employee surveys can play a huge role in shaping a positive company culture, attracting and retaining talent, and driving better business outcomes”.

Here are a few more reasons why feedback gathered from employee surveys is so valuable:

• Growing engagement: employees feel heard and understood.

• Increased productivity: people have a stronger connection to the company and are more motivated to contribute to its success.

• Greater satisfaction at work: people want to achieve purpose and meaning from their work, satisfaction is not always financially motivated.

• Higher recommendation: employees recommend your business as an employer.

• Strengthened trust: in colleagues, managers and leadership.

• External accolades: survey results may lead to awards and accreditations.

Key questions to ask your employees

Choosing the right questions to ask in an employee survey is vital. Measuring the wrong things or asking vague questions where answers are of little or no value is a waste of everyone’s time, money and effort. An intelligent approach would be to identify topics on your people agenda and ask specific questions about them. What are your current people priorities and when did you last ask your people what they think about them?

A simple sliding numerical or agree/disagree scale should be enough to gauge sentiment around a particular topic. Between three and five questions is usually sufficient to shine a light on how people are feeling. Limit the number of open questions asking for ideas or explanations - those can follow later when you take action around common themes.

Let’s look at three popular employee survey themes and examples for each.

Wellbeing employee survey questions

• On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your wellbeing at work?

• On a scale of 1-5, how would you rate your happiness at work?

• Right now, my mental/physical/financial health is good.

• I feel connected to my team.

• How do you think we could improve wellbeing at work?

DEI employee survey questions

• I feel able to bring my whole self to work every day.

• I feel comfortable discussing diversity and inclusion with my team and manager.

• My colleagues are open to different perspectives.

• Senior leaders are committed to workplace equity.

• The people I work with treat each other with respect.

Engagement employee survey questions

• I know what’s expected of me at work.

• I have the tools and equipment I need to do my job.

• I feel excited about coming to work every day.

• My manager always recognises my contribution.

• Would you recommend us to your friends and family as an employer?

Other popular question themes include employee benefits (an indicator of what benefits are valuable to your people) and identifying improvements (what could we do better?).

How often should you send an employee survey?

Best practice suggests surveying your people at least once a year, with some medium and large organisations choosing to send shorter pulse surveys up to three or four times a year. Survey fatigue is a genuine concern and there’s no blueprint for success. What’s important is to ensure you have a valid reason for surveying colleagues and the capacity to analyse and take action on the responses. Frequency of surveys may change depending on circumstances, e.g. if you are experiencing organisational change and want to track perceptions as different stages complete.

How are you going to use the feedback you collect?

Using data and feedback gathered via employee surveys is the most important part of the whole process. This is your opportunity to show colleagues the ‘you said, we did’.  What are your people telling you, how can you change things, and what action will you take to show that you have listened?

One of the biggest reasons why employee surveys do not work is that feedback is not acted upon. Part of HR’s role is to analyse feedback and highlight areas where the managers of each team/department should focus to improve engagement. Allow time for managers to digest the feedback (it may not all be positive), and discuss the results with their teams. The simple act of sharing the results can increase employee buy-in. Asking for ideas of how you can improve or why certain measures are low will increase this further. Data should drive the conversation. Qualitative colleague feedback should fuel future changes made as a result.

Use employee feedback to create the culture you desire

Employee surveys are a valuable way to identify issues, measure progress and track engagement in the workplace. The data and feedback collected should be used to implement changes that enhance engagement, support recruitment and retention, and build a healthy, productive business culture.

If you are looking to deploy an employee survey in your business and don’t know where to start, get in touch with us today on 0161 941 2426. We’re here to help.