Keeping employees engaged is critical for a company’s success. Successful engagement not only helps employees feel valued but also satisfied and productive in their roles. To this end, employee surveys are still one of the best ways to garner feedback and make sure your staff’s voice is heard.
Learning what an employee thinks about certain practices can help a company figure out what should change based on consensus within the office. However, the input a business gets depends heavily on investigating in the right areas. These 14 professionals from Forbes Human Resources Council look at the crucial questions that employers should be asking on their employee surveys and explain what insight those questions can offer to employers.
1. Will You Still Work Here In 12 Months?
One important question in an employee engagement survey is, "Do you intend to stay with the company 12 months from now?" This is a key indicator in whether an employee finds the organization a rewarding place to work or if they experience significant challenges that are driving them to look externally. The survey being anonymous is important so that the employer receives candid responses. - Amee Parekh, Uber Technologies.
2. Why Do You Continue To Stay At This Company?
This question gives a lot of insight into the organization culture, the leadership team, how employees are advancing and developing, as well as the employee's perspective. It's an easy statement that brings up lots of emotion which speaks to the engagement of your employees. It actually causes you to take pause to reflect, which is how you want engagement to be. Why do you stay? - Darlene Slaughter, March of Dimes
3. Would You Leave If You Got A Good Offer?
If you had an attractive offer to join a competitor, would you consider leaving the company? Asking this question would tell the employer how engaged the employee is and his/her retention risk. It also reveals whether employees are showing up to work for the company's mission or the paycheck. - Vineet Gambhir, Contemporary Leadership Advisors
4. Why Do You Like Or Dislike Your Job?
This answer will provide if the “why” of the candidate is in alignment with the organization's “why.” If this is aligned with the company's culture, mission and vision, the employee is the right fit for the company and will demonstrate if the employee is engaged or not. - Nish Parikh, Rangam Consultants Inc.
5. Do You Feel That Your Voice Is Heard?
It is important that employees have the opportunity to provide input on decisions that affect their working conditions. Ask them if they feel that their input in major decisions is solicited and taken seriously. Ask them why they feel the way they do and encourage ideas on how to create an environment where employees are an essential part of the strategic plan. - Karla Bylund, Soaring Bird Solutions LLC
6. Would You Recommend Your Friends Work Here?
Don't overcomplicate your surveys. I'm a believer that less can be more. If I had one question to ask to get to the core of an issue, it would be, "Would you recommend to your friends to work here?" This key Net Promoter Score question can tell you so much about whether your people strategy is working and you have a culture that is thriving or dying. - Tessa White, SHE Team, LLC
7. Do You Get What You Need To Get Your Job Done?
This question reveals whether the person feels they have the right tools to get their job done effectively and efficiently. Not having the right tools causes frustration and ultimately disengagement. Not to mention that valuable human capital is not optimized for optimal outcomes. - Srikant Chellappa, Engagedly | Mentoring Complete
8. Do You Feel Like You Can Trust Your Manager?
Trust between managers and employees is one of the most important factors with an organization's foundation. When there is trust between managers and employees there is higher productivity and discretionary effort, ability to execute change, higher retention and increased loyalty. - Sherry Martin, Colorado Department of Human Services (CDHS)
9. Who At Work Encourages Your Development?
Strong professional relationships at work improve employee engagement in multiple ways, while positively impacting organizational performance and output. Employees that feel supported, and who invest in their professional development create real value for the team by keeping current skill sets, improving work efficiency, engaging peers to maintain a flexible mindset, and creating a positive culture. - Erald Minga, Kellogg School of Management
10. How Would You Define Culture In A Single Word?
One great survey question is, "What's one word you use to describe company culture?" Responses give colorful insights into positive or negative sentiments about the organization. The question highlights ways that employee groups (by location, department or level) experience the organization. It also gives leaders an opportunity to assess the gap between the culture they desire and the one they have. - Karen Crone, Paycor, Inc.
11. What Would You Do As CEO For A Day?
One of my favorite survey questions to ask is, "If you were CEO for a day, what would be the one and only thing you would change in the company and why?" This question forces the respondent to prioritize what they're most passionate about on how the company runs operations, and their feedback provides insight into areas of the business that may otherwise be missed. From there, just rank and take action! - Dr. Timothy J. Giardino, BMC Software
12. Do You Identify With The Company Vision?
One of the crucial drivers of employee engagement is having meaningful and impactful work. If an employee does not identify with the company vision or does not see a link between their job and how it is contributing to the company's success, it can lead to frustration and unhappiness, and they may not feel motivated to put their maximum energy and effort to be successful and productive at work. - Jyoti Khadgawat, smule Inc
13. What Sparks Joy For You Here?
I like the open-ended nature of this question because it can deliver a holistic understanding of where some employee relations improvements may be needed. Answers including more personal insights may spark new employee perks concepts, and you're likely to collect a broader stroke of professional insights from other responses. - Bryan Passman, Hunter + Esquire
14. What Should We Keep Doing?
Employee surveys often look to get answers on what to change and how to improve but they miss off the important questions of what the business should keep doing! There is always room for growth but it's equally important to continue doing the things that make employees feel valued, engaged and connected. - Polina Wilson, Unruly ®.
