15 Employee Engagement Survey Questions for Assessing Engagement Levels

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‍Highly engaged employees are good for business. In fact, an engaged workforce can improve your business profitability by up to 23%, according to a Gallup survey. Highly engaged workers are less likely to call in sick, and their productivity can be nearly 15% higher than workers with low or average engagement levels.

A disengaged workforce can be a recipe for disaster. One study by The Engagement Institute found that disengaged workers cost U.S. companies over $550 billion annually.

While causes for worker dissatisfaction vary, one thing is for sure: Employers need to pay attention to the signs of employee disengagement and resolve them before they spread to other employees.

One technique that employers can use to evaluate their workers' engagement levels is an employee engagement survey.

What Is an Employee Engagement Survey? 📝

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An employee engagement survey measures how employees feel about their workplace and their position, where each employee answers a series of employee engagement questions. Using the data collected, an employer can analyze employee satisfaction and engagement among team members, departments, and the entire organization. 

There are multiple types of employee engagement surveys, including annual engagement questionnaires, pulse surveys, and exit surveys. Each type of employee engagement survey has different objectives.

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For example, an annual employee engagement survey helps identify long-term trends in engagement. Pulse surveys can address specific business situations, like a change in senior leadership or an acquisition. Exit survey questions help employers understand why a staff member is leaving and how they might improve the work environment for future employees.

Based on employee feedback collected from engagement surveys, HR professionals and executives can strategize ways to promote organizational values, company culture, and other aspects of the work environment.

Why should you create a questionnaire to measure employee engagement? 🤔

The benefits of an engaged workforce are quite clear. High employee engagement levels result in lower absenteeism, increased job satisfaction, and stronger employee retention. However, you may be unable to tell whether you have a problem with employee engagement unless you actively measure it.

Creating an employee engagement survey and administering it is a simple and effective way to evaluate engagement in your organization. The results can help you identify early warning signs of employee dissatisfaction before they become a severe issue. 

Employee engagement surveys can also help you determine whether you have engagement issues in specific departments or among certain staff members. Pinpointing your engagement problems helps you decide whether you need to make radical changes in your workplace policies or whether minor corrections are appropriate.

Employee engagement surveys won't always yield adverse results; sometimes, senior leaders may find their team members are quite happy in their roles and satisfied with their work environment. If that's the case for your organization, you should feel very proud of your company's success.

Tips for creating employee engagement surveys ☝️

To make the most of your employee engagement survey, you'll need to plan it effectively. Good employee engagement survey questions will allow you to collect genuine and actionable feedback.

Follow these steps when developing your employee engagement survey questions:

• Establish your objectives for the survey
• Determine the length of your questionnaire
• Decide whether certain employees should receive the survey or whether it will apply to the entire organization
• Determine whether you'll seek open-ended feedback or use yes/no questions
• Narrow down a list of questions to include in your survey

Most survey administrators find that deciding which questions to ask is the most challenging step. Your inquiries should relate directly to the purpose of the survey. If you stray too far from your objectives, you'll degrade the quality of your results.

What makes a good engagement survey question? 👀

Effective engagement survey questions align directly with the objective of your questionnaire. They are straightforward and provide a simple way to measure employee engagement outcomes.

There are five basic types of employee engagement survey questions.

1. Open-ended employee survey questions 👐

Open-ended employee engagement survey questions allow your team members to use their own words in their responses. These questions are helpful when you want to know how employees feel about a specific workplace topic.

For example, you might ask for employees' opinions on your vacation policy or let them explain whether they agree with opening a new branch of your organization.

Asking open-ended questions can provide you with a clear understanding of any issues in the workplace. They encourage people to divulge more information about their feelings than a simple yes/no question does.

2. Employee growth survey questions 💼

Employee growth survey questions examine whether employees believe they have career development opportunities within your organization.

They ask about your staff members' career aspirations and how they feel the company is addressing their needs for professional growth. For example, you might ask whether employees feel they have support for career growth or future promotions.

Employee growth survey questions help organizations determine whether employees feel they have a valid career path. Based on the responses you receive, you can decide whether your organization needs to focus more on career development opportunities.

3. Workplace connection survey questions 💗

Workplace connection survey questions focus on organizational culture, employee well-being, and coworker relationships.

For instance, you might ask how employees feel about collaboration with other team members or whether the survey takers support the organization's values.

Asking workplace connection survey questions can help you determine the level of trust and mutual respect among team members. They're beneficial for measuring the overall employee experience and can expose problems within specific departments.

4. Free-text and open-response questions 💬

Free-text and open-response questions require employees to answer in their own words. Rather than providing staff with a choice of answers, you allow them to share exactly how they feel about a topic.

You might use free-text or open-response questions in a pulse or exit survey. Since everyone's answers will differ, measuring results in a trend analysis can be more challenging.

These questions are beneficial when you want to learn something specific about an employee, such as why they're leaving your organization.

5. Questions about Leadership, Enablement, Alignment, and Development (LEAD) 🤝

Questions about leadership, enablement, alignment, and development are typically used to evaluate relationships between staff members and the management team. The answers help you learn whether employees feel appreciated or are fairly rewarded for their efforts.

Asking questions about management and development allows you to determine whether everyone is working toward the organization's vision. They can lead to constructive conversations that help improve psychological safety among employees in the workplace.

A comprehensive list of employee engagement survey questions: 

1. Does your immediate manager regularly coach you on your job performance?
2. Would you recommend this organization as a great place to work?
3. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your job?
4. Do you feel your immediate manager cares about your development?
5. Do you enjoy working with your team?
6. When the organization makes changes, do you understand why?
7. Are goals and accountabilities clear to everyone on your team?
8. When you contribute to the organization's success, do you feel recognized?
9. Do you have opportunities for advancement or promotion at this organization?
10. Is leadership invested in and contributing to your culture initiatives?
11. Do you trust our senior leaders to lead the organization to future success?
12. Has anyone at the company asked about and expressed support for your career goals?
13. How can we help improve your engagement at work?
14. Are you satisfied with the company's benefits and compensation packages?
15. Do you feel comfortable expressing your ideas and opinions in the workplace? 

All of these questions help you evaluate specific aspects of the company's culture. Keep in mind that asking too many questions can result in survey fatigue, so limit your survey to the most relevant questions for the best results.

What do you do with employee engagement survey results? 🧑‍🔬

Once employees complete their surveys, you'll need to measure engagement results. You can use both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate your data. 

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Quantitative methods involve using numerical data to assess responses. You'll apply these methods to yes/no questions, multiple-choice questions, and responses provided on a numerical scale. Quantitative data is great for setting benchmarks and evaluating trends over time. 

Qualitative methods are useful for evaluating answers to free-text and open-ended questions. Since answers will vary from employee to employee, you can use the results to start one-on-one conversations or discussions among small groups of employees.

If you find changes in the workplace are needed, you'll use these results as a starting point. For instance, suppose that more than half of employees perceive that their work-life balance is poor. You can implement strategies to improve it, like allowing remote work or giving more vacation days.

Companies that annually review employee engagement should establish benchmarks for their data. These benchmarks should reveal trends in employee engagement over time. If you notice that employee engagement falls in some areas, you'll want to take action before these problems become significant.

Improve employee engagement with Confetti 🎉

Improving employee engagement is easy with Confetti! We offer a variety of hands-on engagement experiences and team building activities that can improve interpersonal relationships and increase productivity in your workforce. To learn more about our employee engagement solutions, check out our website.

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For more tips and ideas on employee engagement, check out our Ultimate Employee Engagement Guide.