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Leveraging Employee Engagement Surveys
November 28, 2023

Leveraging Employee Engagement Surveys

Employee engagement—how enthusiastic and dedicated employees feel about their jobs—is an important metric for organizations. Highly engaged employees are emotionally committed to their work and motivated to succeed. These employees act as positive role models for others and can help drive business growth. Several research bodies have found a positive link between employee engagement and organizational productivity.

However, judging engagement levels can be challenging. It’s easy for employers to assume there are no issues within their workforce if none are brought directly to them. Fortunately, employee engagement surveys help gain insight into employees’ thoughts and opinions.

This article explores leveraging employee engagement surveys, including reasons employers should conduct them and questions to include.

Reasons to Conduct Employee Engagement Surveys

An employee engagement survey is a questionnaire that helps employers gain tangible data to drive workplace change. Here are a few ways organizations may benefit from conducting employee engagement surveys:

  • They help measure employee engagement. Conducting employee engagement surveys can help organizations assess the current employee experience across several metrics, including career development, leadership, work environment and inclusion. This can help employers identify trends and concerns upon which to base workplace improvements.
  • They help measure performance over time. Employee engagement surveys allow organizations to collect data over time (e.g., monthly pulse surveys) and draw comparisons between data sets. For instance, if employee engagement has recently decreased, organizations can scrutinize why this may have occurred.
  • They provide an opportunity for employees to voice their viewpoints. Employee engagement surveys allow space for employees to provide feedback, which helps them feel valued and heard. Employees who feel like they have a voice are more likely to remain engaged.
  • They encourage meaningful change. Making positive changes is easier when an organization knows where to focus its efforts. Employee engagement surveys can provide the needed scope for an organization to become more satisfied and successful.
  • They shape culture. Employee engagement surveys can convey what the culture at an organization is like and what aspects could use improvement. Listening to employee feedback also helps create a culture of listening and trust.

Overall, by sampling levels of engagement through surveys, organizations can leverage valuable data from which to make workforce improvements and help employees feel a sense of purpose and belonging. Additionally, any associated improvements in employee experience may help organizations in their attraction and retention endeavours.

Questions to Include

Organizations must include various questions specific to both business and employee needs to get the most out of employee engagement surveys. Such surveys should examine all aspects of workers’ jobs, the environment and their involvement with the organization, including their opinions on:

  • Management
  • Direct supervisors
  • Co-workers
  • Employer-employee communication
  • Opportunity for advancement
  • Job characteristics
  • HR policies

The following are sample questions to help you get started in crafting an engagement survey:

  • Do you know what is expected of you at work?
  • At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
  • How do you feel about coming to work?
  • Do you find your work meaningful?
  • Do you receive recognition or praise?
  • Do you have a positive relationship with your immediate supervisor?
  • Do you trust your immediate supervisor?
  • Do you trust the upper management of your company?
  • Do you receive consistent feedback?
  • Are you held accountable for your progress and performance?
  • At work, do your opinions seem to count?
  • Do you understand how your job relates to the company’s mission/goals?
  • Are your fellow employees committed to doing quality work?
  • Do you have a close friend at work?
  • Are there professional learning and development opportunities within your organization?

It’s important to note that each organization may need to propose different questions in their employee engagement survey to receive the most beneficial feedback.

Conducting employee engagement surveys can help organizations identify problematic areas and take remedial action to improve overall workforce engagement; this increases productivity, profitability and resiliency.

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