A successful survey is one where the questions glean insights into the organization’s employee engagement levels. An employee engagement survey is an effective driver of organizational progress and growth. Therefore, employee survey questionnaires should be designed with a clear idea of drivers of employee engagement, i.e., what do we want to evaluate and understand through the survey.Typically, the pulse of the workforce can fall into the following categories:

Employee Engagement index 

You can ask several questions to get a read on employee engagement and their level of commitment to the company.

• Are you proud to be working at the organizations?
• Will you recommend it to others?
• Would you nominate the company as one of the best places to work?
• Do you feel empowered at work?

Leadership 

A strong working relationship between employees and their managers is critical to a healthy organization. Continued evaluation of leadership styles, management policies, managers’ conduct, etc., is a must. Relevant questions are:

• Do you understand the overall goals of the organization?
• Do you believe in the approach to meet the goals of the organization?
• Does the management contribute to a positive work culture?
• Do you feel aligned with the organizational goals?

Communication 

The best type of communication is a two-way one, and effective communication occurs when communication barriers are removed, and there is transparency. Questions that will elicit meaningful answers include:

• Are you able to contribute ideas and opinions at work?
• Do you feel comfortable asking for help?
• Do you trust your supervisor to listen?
• Do you feel free to give feedback to your supervisor?
• Do you feel respected?

Compensation and Benefits 

Employees look for compensation and benefits over and above the salary. A well-meaning organization would continually evaluate its compensation packages to keep them relevant to current industry standards.

• Are you satisfied with the benefits you receive from the company?
• Do you avail of the benefits?

Employee recognition 

Recognition plays a significant role in employee retention. Organizations should ensure well-defined rewards and recognition program is part of the employee wellness effort. Answers that will play into the design of this aspect will come from questions such as:

• Do you receive recognition?
• Are you recognized fairly for your value to a team effort?
• Do you get meaningful rewards in recognition?

Personal and professional growth 

Retaining high-performing employees will depend on their individual career growth within the organization. To ensure that the employees feel motivated and invested in working in the organization, we need to ask them these questions:

• Do you feel you are aligned with the organization’s goals?
• Do you see your role correlating to the organization’s growth?
• Is your supervisor interested in your career goals?
• Is your role challenging?

Work environment 

The work environment makes a big impact on the morale and satisfaction of the employee. These questions can help understand the current work environment.

• How prevalent is office politics in the workplace?
• Do you have the essential amenities to work comfortably?
• Do you receive the tools and training you need to do your job?
• Does your organization function in a socially responsible manner?
• Does your organization foster diversity and inclusion?

Work-life balance 

Now more than ever before, the workforce is keen on achieving a healthy work-life balance. To implement constructive policies to keep the workforce happy, we must ask these questions:

• Do you get the time you need to do your job?
• Do you enjoy yourself at work?
• Are deadlines or workloads stressful?
• Do you take work home?
• Do you work on weekends and holidays?
• Are you getting enough time with your friends and family?

Setting up quick employee engagement surveys 

Creating the employee engagement survey is the next step now that we know the questions to ask. Creating a survey such as this is to get honest responses from the employees to create a people-friendly workplace culture. Therefore, the quicker the survey is set up, the earlier the response, resulting in changes to the work environment where necessary. 

The ideal approach is to make employee engagement surveys a part of the continuous employee performance and engagement process. An HR team can create employee engagement surveys quickly and deploy them to employees. The user-friendly system needs no training or prior experience. You can prepare the survey forms and conduct your survey with employee notifications, get their responses and analyze the results in a streamlined process.

What are the Benefits of Employee Engagement Surveys? 

Improved work culture: Measuring employee performance and engagement makes for a better reading on their commitment to the organization. It also helps to understand where they stand in their careers and their roles’ suitability. Work culture has to be a growth culture for employees to feel they are part of a people-friendly workplace.

Anonymous feedback: Employee engagement surveys can also help protect the employee’s identity. It makes them feel at ease and honest about their true opinions and experiences.

Actionable intelligence: Gathering insightful data from the employees is the only way to improve the work environment. Making data-driven decisions ensures that the organization is on the right track to having a fair workplace that fosters and nurtures the workforce objectively.

Understanding the pulse of employees: A work environment that upholds diversity and is inclusive is at the top of the best places to work. Through employee engagement surveys, one can understand what works better in creating an inclusive work culture and what needs to change.

Final thoughts 

Knowing the benefits of an employee engagement survey, organizations must continuously invest time and effort into the process. A one-off survey will not impart enough data to conclude. Even more so, organizations will do well if they understand the importance of building trust through employee engagement surveys. Employees must be made aware of the significance of these surveys and respond promptly and honestly, and the leadership must place value in the answers and take decisive actions.