If you want to measure your workplace and find out the underlying issues plaguing your workers, you turn to employee surveys, right? 81% of organizations do, according to a report by HRZone. But before you jump the gun, you need to be deliberate with your question choices. The wrong word choice or a confrontational tone can be off-putting for employees and even push them away from answering the question.
To make things easier, here are 50 questions you need to ask in your employee feedback survey:
How Employees Generally Feel
There’s no telling when an issue will arise in the workplace. And when they’re not addressed right away, even a small concern can plague an employee’s engagement level. So use these questions to nip the problem right in the bud before you’re faced with attrition nightmares.
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What do you like most about working here? People, nature of work, fun perks — this question highlights the great aspects of your organization that you should emphasize.
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Do you feel connected to your coworkers? Colleagues are a vital support system at the workplace, so make sure each employee is feeling like they are a part of that.
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In the past two months, have you interviewed for another job? Are employees happy at their current role or do they already have one foot out the door?
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What was the number one reason you joined our organization? Find out what’s drawing people to your organization and continue to highlight that during the recruitment process.
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how happy are you at work? Probe into whether employees are on cloud nine or down in the dumps at the workplace.
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What do you wish to get accomplished in life? Dig into what your employees are trying to achieve in life, and find ways to complement their list.
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What did you like best about your previous employer? If there was a process that worked efficiently at another company, who’s to say that it won’t work at your organization?
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Do you feel like your role here has a purpose? People, especially millennials, want to feel like they have a sense of purpose within the company and they’re doing work that makes a positive impact on the world.
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Have you accomplished your goals in the last six months? Find out whether your employee is going the extra mile and not receiving any recognition for their actions.
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How likely would you leave this organization if another company offered you a 5% raise? Although not a huge amount, if an employee is unhappy at their job or they feel unfairly compensated, they’ll be more than happy to leave their job for a small raise.
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What kind of training would you like to receive to help you accomplish your career goals? Employees want to stay at a company that nurtures their growth, so find out what kind of training your workers want.
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Do you feel like coworkers respect each other here? There’s nothing that will make an employee feel more devalued than being disrespected by their colleagues.
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Do you feel challenged at work on a daily basis? People get bored with redundant routines, so make sure you’re offering your employees sufficient variety in their workload.
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What's your most recent accomplishment at work? If an employee has nothing good to say about this, you ought to be worried because they’re most likely not the happiest camper at work.
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If you were to leave this organization tomorrow, what would the reason be? Answers can range from “changing careers” to “I hate my boss.” Find out why your employee would leave your organization.
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your work-life balance? Work-life balance has a huge impact on retention — employees who feel burnout will not stick around for very long.
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What motivates you to go above and beyond at work? Find out what really drives your employee to put in 110% of their effort so you can find out how to keep them motivated.
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Do you believe we give authentic recognition in the workplace? Many organizations have recognition programs, but most of them feel fake and forced to employees.
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Do you feel like you're progressing professionally at this organization? Employees want to work on tasks that will help them progress in their career; make sure you’re not forcing people to go down a path they don’t want to go down.
How Employees Feel About the Company
Want to find out how your organizational culture is doing? Measure it. Use the following questions to gauge how your employees feel about the culture and find out if they can offer any innovative ideas for the company.
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Do you have fun working here? A dull work environment can make the time really drag, but a fun environment (i.e. having great and supportive colleagues) can really motivate people to go the extra mile.
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What do you think is our company's biggest strength that we should be focusing on? Is your organization doing something really well? Find out what it is and put more focus on it.
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Do you believe our organization have a higher purpose than money? Employees, especially millennials, want a company that makes a positive impact on the world.
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How transparent are we when it comes to the company's performance? Transparency plays a vital role in keeping employees happy, so find out how you’re doing in that aspect.
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What do you think is one process that we can improve here? Onboarding, performance reviews, management — probe into what’s not working around the company.
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Do you think our organization supports you in your professional development? Developmental opportunities can make or break an employee’s decision to stay at an organization.
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What is one word that describes our culture? Good words, bad words … you’ll be surprised at what your employees have to say about the culture.
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What are some ways that we can improve communication at our organization? If communication is lacking, find out how you can help improve and streamline the process.
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What drives you crazy here? As a leader, you may not be aware of the big or small obstacles that are hindering an employee’s productivity.
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With eyes closed, can you recite our organizational values? Organizational values are a company’s road map, and employees need to live by them in order to keep the culture aligned.
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What's one thing you'd like to see us continue doing here? Is there something working great in the company? Find out how to replicate that.
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If you had to describe your company as an animal, what animal would it be and why? Domineering lion or sly fox? Animals have certain characteristics that can either be predatory or nurturing.
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How effective are our team-building activities? Most team-building activities are on the cheesy side, so find out if they’re actually working for your employees.
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Would you refer someone to work here? If your employee is happy with their job and the culture, they would say yes. If not, then you know the answer.
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What do you see in our organization's future? Discover if your employees see only success or failure in your organization’s future.
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Was your onboarding experience effective? Onboarding helps set up new hires for success, so if you’re not laying down the right foundation during the first few days, you’ll find out with this question.
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Are we a better organization now than we were 6 months ago? If your organization went through a lot of change, this question will help you find out if those changes went well or flopped.
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Are you proud to work for our organization? Employees shouldn’t be ashamed to work for your organization, so if they are, figure out why.
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What potential hazards do you think can put us out of business? Find out if there certain factors that are driving your organization towards failure.
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If your organization had a theme song, what would it be and why? People relate music to certain emotions, so this question can elicit happy, frustrating, or sad melodies.
How Employees Feel About the Leadership Team
The relationship between employees and leaders has always been one full of tension. However, it shouldn’t be that way. Discover ways you can improve the relations so you can create an engaging environment.
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Has a manager given you any recognition in the past month? People want to appreciated at work, and two weeks without recognition enough to make an employee feel unvalued.
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On a scale of 1 to 10, how good is your direct supervisor at recognizing your contributions at work? Find out if a leader isn’t pulling their weight with recognition.
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Does your management team set clear goals? Goals provide direction for your company and organization, so without them, people aren’t really serving a purpose with their work.
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How well does your supervisor support your developmental goals? Again, professional growth is a retention strategy.
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Do you feel comfortable providing upward feedback to your supervisor? Make sure the leaders in your organization are approachable and receptive to feedback.
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Do you believe the management team is all on the same page? There will always be disagreements, but the management team needs to be cohesive for the company to succeed.
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If they were making a movie about your organization, which actor or actress should play your CEO and why? Find out if your employees think the CEO would be played by loony Jeff Goldblum or peace-loving Angelina Jolie.
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Do you feel respected by your direct supervisor? Nothing will push an employee out the door quicker than a manager that is condescending to their people.
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Have you seen any positive change since we started collecting employee feedback? Doing nothing about feedback is as good as not asking for it at all.
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How transparent is the management team? Find out if your leaders are doing a good job of letting their employees know what’s going on in the company.
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If your direct supervisor was an animal, what would he or she be? Discover if they’d be a fierce killer whale, gentle rabbit, or charismatic labrador.
If you really want to find out how your employees are feeling, you’ll need to toss out the traditional true/false questions. Use any — if not all — of the questions listed above to measure employee engagement, culture, and management’s performance.
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