40 Employee Engagement Survey Questions You Should Ask

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Morgane Lança
December 11 2024

Employee engagement evolves over time, and it’s not always easy to measure it consistently if you are not using the right strategies. This is where engagement surveys come into play: they’re a reliable way to regularly assess how satisfied your team really is.

However, a good engagement survey shouldn’t just be a measurement tool – it should create a direct conversation with your team to encourage high response rates. If your survey method and questions aren’t effective, employees won’t respond honestly (or worse, they won’t respond at all!).

In this article, we’ll show you how to turn your engagement surveys into motivational tools and share essential survey questions that truly hit the mark.

4 Steps to Effectively Prepare Your Engagement Survey

1. Set Clear Objectives From the Start

Before diving into creating and distributing the survey, ask yourself the following question: what strategic goals do you hope to achieve? Are you looking to:

  • Assess overall satisfaction within your organization?
  • Identify sources of stress and workload risks?
  • Understand how employees perceive and appreciate your company culture?
  • Uncover ways to improve your employee development programs?
  • Detect and prevent voluntary turnover risks?

Defining clear objectives at the beginning of the surveying process is crucial. These goals will guide your efforts (and prevent you from creating an overly lengthy survey that discourages participation!).

2. Be Precise and Concise in Your Questionnaire

Show your employees you respect their time by sharing a survey that’s simple and quick to complete. In order to be effective, your questionnaire should focus on specific areas for improvement and be easy for everyone to understand and fill out.

To maximize response rates, consider limiting your survey to 15 questions and let your team know that completing it is considered part of their work hours.

3. Use Neutral and Unbiased Questions

If you want to get honest answers, your questions need to be neutral and free from judgment or bias. Avoid leading questions, like “How satisfied are you with the excellent training initiatives offered by the company?”. Opt for neutral wording instead, such as “How would you rate the effectiveness of the company’s training initiatives?”.

Don’t forget to use a mix of open-ended questions and linear scale questions to gather clear responses as well as detailed feedback on key areas of your HR strategy.

4. Choose a Method That Fits Your Reality and Budget

There are several ways to create and distribute engagement surveys across your organization or within specific departments:

  • Paper surveys: they are easy to set up, but prone to lost information and tedious for remote teams. Data collection and analysis can also be complex.
  • Email surveys: better suited for remote employees, but they can be time-consuming as they often require individual reminders. Ensuring anonymity can also be challenging with this method.
  • Engagement survey platforms: If you want to send surveys regularly and have the necessary budget to implement such solutions, an engagement survey platform simplifies data collection and analysis while offering automated reminders. However, it’s a long-term investment, so it might not be ideal if you’re unsure about maintaining survey efforts in the future.

5. Prioritize Anonymity for Honest Feedback

Anonymity is key to collecting honest responses. No one wants to feel judged for their feedback or be side-eyed by their manager after completing a survey!

Make sure your employees know that their responses will remain confidential so they feel safe sharing their true feelings. If they have questions about the surveying process, explain the methods used to ensure participant anonymity.

Finally, if you discover a breach of confidentiality during the survey process, avoid reviewing the responses and start over.

You can learn more about the best practices for employee engagement surveys here. 

40 Essential Questions for an Effective Engagement Survey

Here are the questions you’ve been waiting for! These survey question examples are categorized to address key aspects of a positive employee experience. Pick the most relevant questions to meet your strategic goals and help tackle pressing issues within your teams:

Work Environment and Company Culture

1) How would you describe the overall atmosphere at your workplace?

2) Do you feel well-integrated into your team?

3) Do you think the company values diversity and inclusion?

4) Do you feel respected and heard by your supervisors?

5) Do you trust leadership to make the right decisions to support the company’s success?

6) How would you rate internal communication within the organization?

7) Do you feel comfortable sharing ideas or concerns with your manager?

8) Do you think the company takes employee feedback seriously?

9) To what extent does the organization promote a culture of collaboration?

10) How would you rate your loyalty and engagement to the company?

Training and Professional Development Opportunities

11) Does your current role allow you to develop your skills and potential?

12) Do you have access to training programs that align with your needs and ambitions?

13) Do you feel the company supports your long-term career goals?

14) Are you encouraged to expand your professional skills?

15) How would you rate your access to resources and tools for self-improvement?

16) Do you regularly discuss your professional development with your supervisor?

17) Do you feel that promotion and development opportunities are fair within the company?

18) Do your daily projects and tasks contribute to your professional growth?

19) How would you rate the clarity of expectations related to your role?

20) Do you feel prepared to take on new challenges at work?

Recognition, Compensation and Benefits

21) Do you feel adequately recognized for your contributions?

22) Do you think your individual efforts are acknowledged and rewarded?

23) Do you feel your salary is competitive with the work market?

24) Do you clearly understand the structure of your total compensation?

25) Are you satisfied with the benefits offered by the company (insurance, time off, etc.)?

26) How often do you receive constructive feedback on your work?

27) Do you feel valued when you meet or exceed your goals?

28) Is the company’s bonus and reward system fair and motivating?

29) How would you rate the frequency of salary increases or promotions you’re offered?

30) Do you feel your work contributes to the company’s overall success?

Work-Life Balance and Flexibility

31) Do you feel your workload is reasonable?

32) Do you have enough flexibility in your schedule to meet personal needs?

33) Do you feel supported by the company in maintaining a healthy work-life balance?

34) How often do you feel the need to work outside normal business hours?

35) How would you rate the company’s well-being initiatives?

36) Do you feel you have enough vacation time to rest and recharge?

37) Does the company value your personal time and work-life balance?

38) Do you have access to remote work or flexible scheduling options?

39) Are you able to completely disconnect during your vacation and weekends?

40) To what extent does the company promote an environment that prevents burnout and stress?

Once your engagement survey is carefully prepared and sent out with effective questions, it’s time to analyze the responses and implement the relevant action plans to address employee concerns and enhance their overall experience.

With good listening skills and a sharp strategic mindset, you’ll be able to improve your talent retention, company culture and employer brand, and offer employee development and wellness programs that truly make a difference in your workforce’s happiness and productivity.

Need an interactive employee satisfaction survey template? Find it here👇

Need an interactive employee engagement survey?

Use our survey template and simplify your surveying process!

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