Employee survey questions about benefits

Annual or hourly pay is a very important part of the “big picture” your company offers to attract talent and retain valued staff.

Pay + Benefits + Perks = Happy Employees

Many people in career searches consider pay—whether based on their current earnings, online research, or a “gut feeling” of what they should earn, to be the most important factor in deciding whether to accept a job offer or stay put in their current position. 

Yet savvy employees know that pay is just part of a company’s total benefits, compensation and perks package.

What do your employees find most valuable in these areas? To figure that out, consider doing a series of brief, focused pulse surveys over a few weeks. 

Paycheck

TINYpulse offers several research-based and highly effective survey questions on pay:

Boolean questions to evaluate employee benefits program:

• I feel I am being paid a fair amount for the work I do.
• I feel satisfied with my opportunity for wage increases.
• My performance on the job determines my pay more than any other factor.
• I have good opportunities for salary increases.
• My compensation is fair for my responsibilities.
• I am motivated by my compensation.
• My wage is enough for my regular expenses.
• My wage is appropriate when it is compared with other workers.
• I am satisfied with my salary increase.

Benefits and Perks

When someone considers your job offer or whether to stay with the company, benefits and little extras—perks that are important to subsets of employees and often don’t take much away from the bottom line—can be major factors. 

Health plan choices, flexible scheduling, employer-match retirement accounts and paid time off rank among the top benefits team members value. 

Many nonprofits, academic institutions, small companies and others may pay lower than the market. But these companies tend to offer excellent benefits. Gauge how your employees feel about benefits using a brief, anonymous TINYpulse survey that asks the following questions:

• The benefits I receive are as good as most other organizations offer.
• I am satisfied with the benefits I receive.
• My company offers the kind of benefits I want.

For the best results, try to time this pulse survey prior to open enrollment—or at least plenty of time before your enrollment deadline. That way, you can incorporate the results and let your staff know about anything you discover.

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Not All Benefits Come from HR

It’s not just good HR benefits that help recruit strong prospects and retain good talent.

Keep in touch with your employees’ lifestyles, preferences and needs. Work-from-home policies can mean the world to single parents and generous vacation time can seal the deal for world travelers—all without breaking the bank. 

For example, one large organization had an athletic center that sat empty most days. They converted it into a daycare center after learning that employees—many of whom are in prime child-rearing years—needed help with childcare.

The company now offers a gym stipend for employees who work out. Everyone wins!

Find out which perks are most important to employees—and which they could do without—by using a quick pulse survey. This approach offers continuous, high-quality feedback. 

You can ask staff to rank perks in order of importance. Also include an open-ended question about their favorite perks to ensure you’re not leaving something out and you’re collecting good data. 

Follow Up

Once you’ve gotten staff input, be sure to follow up with high-level results in a timely manner. 

Consider creating a communication strategy for how you’ll get the word out. List the audiences, goals, strategy, tactics and how you measure results. This will help keep you on track and tie back action to your pulse surveys.

Which of the following communication vehicles work best in your organization? Are there others that are missing?

• Town hall all-employee events (if you’re able, broadcast and record the meetings for those who can’t attend.)
• Intranet: if your company has an intranet, it should act as a hub for employee information. Post survey results in a prominent place or do a series of brief articles about staff who value your benefits, perks and compensation, including real-life examples with quotes from staff. 
• Email blasts listing concise results work best for many organizations.
• Ask HR to staff a table in the cafeteria or at large employee events with flyers detailing survey results. 
• Is your staff dispersed? If you have a texting service, text out results and offer a hotline where staff can leave anonymous feedback.
• Suggestion box: If you’ve got one, promote the suggestion box as a convenient, anonymous way for staff to follow up on pulse surveys.

Asking for direct feedback via pulse surveys—and following through with results—will demonstrate what’s driving engagement and turnover at your organization. 

To learn more about how easily your business can benefit from pulse surveys, check this out.

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