80 Employee Spotlight Questions to Drive Engagement

Employee spotlight questions should be both personal and professional in order to get a better understanding of the employee and their work within the organization. They can be used to spark interesting conversations, build relationships, and help create a more inclusive workplace.

Did you know that employee spotlights are one of the best ways to get your team to know and appreciate each other better? Employee spotlights can help foster a sense of community, improve team collaboration and strengthen the bond between colleagues.

The key to a successful employee spotlight is asking engaging questions that will help your employees to open up and share more about themselves. Doing this will help you get a better understanding of each employee and their individual skills, values, and perspectives. You can also use this information to build better teams, increase collaboration and create a more inclusive environment that is focused on employee growth and development.

In this article, we’ll explain what employee spotlight questions are and provide 70 examples of questions you can use to gather effective employee feedback.

What Is an Employee Spotlight?

An employee spotlight is a way for an organization to get to know its employees better. It involves asking a set of questions that allow the team to learn more about their team members on a personal level.

Fun employee spotlight questions are a great way to build rapport and foster an atmosphere of trust and understanding within the organization. Staff spotlight questions can also be used to introduce new hires and celebrate promotions, anniversaries, or other bits of employee appreciation.

Creating a spotlight questionnaire is an essential part of planning for an employee spotlight. It’s important to ask questions that are relevant and interesting to the audience, while also highlighting the individual’s achievements, experience, and personality.

Where to Share Your Employee Spotlights

Once you have your employee spotlight questions prepared, it’s important to consider where you will share them. Depending on the size of your organization, you can host a live Q&A session with each employee or record video interviews and post them on your organization’s website.

You can also use social media platforms, such as Twitter and Instagram, to share your staff spotlight questions. Some other employee spotlight ideas include newsletter features, embedded pulse surveys, internal SMS questionnaires, and interactive town hall question rounds.

No matter where you choose to post your staff spotlight questions, it’s important to remember that these are opportunities for employees to be seen, heard, and appreciated. Taking the time to set aside each team member’s individual accomplishments will help create a strong company culture within your organization.

By implementing a regular system of employee spotlights, you can create an open and supportive workplace where employees feel valued and respected. It’s also a great way to build connections among team members and foster collaboration within the organization. Having these essential parts of company culture can also be drivers of employee engagement.

If you only need to send your employee spotlights to select group of your employees, try using ContactMonkey’s List Management feature to create custom email lists. With ContactMonkey, you can create custom email lists—without needing IT—that integrate with your Human Resource Information System (HRIS) like Workday and ADP, as well as Azure Active Directory, so they’ll update automatically.

What Are Employee Spotlight Questions?

Employee spotlight questions are personal yet professional inquiries used to introduce an employee to their colleagues. 

These types of questions can help boost morale, increase team bonding, and build relationships between employees. Fun employee spotlight questions are a great way to learn more about your coworkers and get to know them on a deeper level. Think of it like an interview, but one where you get to share the results of your employee motivation survey.

Creating a list of employee spotlight questions is an excellent way to get to know your team on a personal level, create an environment of trust and understanding, and adhere to your employee engagement model. By asking thought-provoking, open-ended questions and encouraging creative responses, you can foster a culture of respect for each individual in the organization. 

Additionally, by sharing your employee spotlights in a variety of ways, you can make sure that each team member is seen and appreciated.

Need to quickly think of fun questions to ask for employee spotlights? Try ContactMonkey’s ChatGPT integration to generate survey questions straight from your internal email composer. Simply describe what you’d like your survey to accomplish and edit the generated questions according to your audience. It’s that easy.

Best Practices for Employee Spotlight Questions

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when creating employee spotlight questions:

• Aim to create employee spotlight questions that elicit professional and personal answers.
• Focus on getting to know each individual’s personal history, passions, and interests.
• Encourage employees to think outside of the box by asking creative or unexpected questions.
• Put an emphasis on learning how each team member adds value to the organization.
• Ask thought-provoking, open-ended questions that invite the team to share their experiences and perspectives.
• Be sure to keep things light by including fun employee survey questions, and “get-to-know-you” type questions as well.
• Make the process simple for the employee by sending questions in a way that is easy for them to interact with. You can even embed surveys in Outlook emails to make things easier.

80 Employee Spotlight Question Examples To Use And Adapt

There are tons of questions to ask for employee spotlights. But to truly get to know your employees better, you’ll need to think of employee spotlight questions that are both fun and provide meaningful information.

Over the years, we’ve tried many staff spotlight questions to get to know our employees. A few have proven to be the most engaging and reliable. Below, we’ve listed 80 tried and true questions to ask for employee spotlights.

Here are 80 examples to get you started, divided into seven categories:

Professional background questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ professional experience and background. As a general introduction, they’re great for getting a conversation flowing. On a deeper level, they can be used to uncover potential collaboration opportunities and unique insights.

1. What are your career goals?
2. What do you love most about your job?
3. What inspired you to join the team here?
4. What do you think sets you apart in your field?
5. What challenges have you faced in your career?
6. Tell us about a professional success story that you’re proud of.
7. Tell us something about your professional development journey.
8. What is the biggest challenge that you’ve faced since joining the team?
9. What do you think is the most important skill that a successful professional needs to have?
10. What have been some of the most important lessons you’ve learned throughout your career?

Personal background questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues on a more personal level. They can be used to build relationships and create an environment of trust and support.

11. Tell us a bit about your family.
12. How did you meet your significant other?
13. What do you enjoy doing outside of work?
14. What would your perfect weekend look like?
15. Describe an interesting hobby or pastime that you have.
16. What has been the most difficult experience of your life?
17. What is a dream that you want to make come true one day?
18. What brought you to the city/town where our office is located?
19. What’s something surprising that not many people know about you?
20. When did you first know that you wanted to pursue a career in this field?

Interests & passions questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ interests, passions, and unique perspectives. They can be used to uncover potential collaborations and create a culture of innovation.

21. Do you follow any sports teams?
22. Who are some of your biggest influences?
23. What movie genres interest you the most?
24. What type of books/movies do you enjoy?
25. Do you have any creative outlets or interests?
26. What’s a cause that you are passionate about?
27. What are some of your favorite local spots to visit?
28. Why did you choose to pursue a career in your field?
29. What are some books or articles that you’ve read recently?
30. What’s something that you’ve always wanted to try or learn?

Team contributions questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ contributions to the team. They can be used to uncover potential areas for collaboration and create a culture of appreciation.

31. How have you impacted the team’s success?
32. How has your role evolved since you joined the team?
33. What do you think makes you unique as a team member?
34. What do you think is your biggest contribution to the team?
35. What value have you added to this team that no one else can?
36. Where do you think you can have the biggest impact in your role?
37. How do you think your role has helped to shape the team’s culture?
38. What are some of the challenges that you’ve faced since joining the team?
39. What do you think is the most important skill that you bring to the table?
40. What is the most important lesson that you’ve learned from working with the team?

Favourite memories questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ favorite memories, both at work and in their personal lives. They can be used to foster an environment of appreciation and gratitude.

41. When have you felt the proudest and why?
42. Tell us about a favorite memory from childhood.
43. What’s the best trip you’ve ever been on and why?
44. What is the best thing that has happened to you this year?
45. Do you have any funny or embarrassing stories to share?
46. What are some of your favorite travel/vacation memories?
47. What’s your favorite memory from working at the company?
48. Describe an experience that has had a lasting impact on you.
49. What has been your most meaningful accomplishment so far?
50. What special moments have you shared with loved ones recently?

Work habits & preferences questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ work habits and preferences. They can be used to discover each team member’s individual style and how they contribute to the team. It’s also a great way to learn how your team feels about the work environment through company culture questions.

51. How do you like to structure your day?
52. What do you enjoy most about working here?
53. How do you typically approach problem-solving?
54. What methods or tools do you use to stay organized?
55. What techniques help you stay organized and productive?
56. Do you have any strategies for dealing with stress at work?
57. What methods do you use to stay motivated and focused?
58. How do you prefer to collaborate with other team members?
59. What tips or advice would you give someone starting a new job?
60. Describe a time when you went above and beyond to help a colleague.

Thoughts on the future questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues’ thoughts on the future, both for the company and for themselves. They can be used to uncover potential paths for growth and development.

61. Where do you see yourself in five years?
62. How do you see yourself developing in your role?
63. What do you think our future looks like as a team?
64. What are you looking forward to in your current role?
65. How could our team work together to reach our goals?
66. What would you like to learn or improve upon in the future?
67. Have you set any personal or professional goals for yourself?
68. What do you think our biggest challenges and opportunities are?
69. What do you think our team could do differently to achieve success?
70. What industry changes or trends do you think will have the biggest impact?

Getting to know you questions for employee spotlight:

These questions are designed to get to know your colleagues in general. They can be used to create an environment of trust, laughter, and mutual respect.

71. What is your favorite food?
72. What would be your dream job? 
73. What is one thing you can’t live without?
74. What’s your favorite type of food or cuisine?
75. Describe a funny or unique experience that you’ve had.
76. What is something that you are proud of about yourself?
77. How would your best friend describe you in three words?
78. If you could visit any place in the world, where would it be?
79. If you could pick any superpower, what would it be and why?
80. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?

More Employee Spotlight Ideas

When it comes to employee spotlight questions, the medium can matter as much as the content itself. Here are some more creative employee spotlight ideas that you can try out when sharing your staff spotlight questions:

1. Interview Series: Once you come up with fun employee spotlight questions, conduct interviews with staff from different departments or roles. Ask them about their journey, challenges they’ve overcome, and their favorite parts about working at the company. Using an email list management tool like ContactMonkey, you can target specific departments, teams, and even office locations with your employee spotlight questions.
2. Featured Stories: Share stories or anecdotes about employees’ accomplishments like a successful project, a milestone, or an act of kindness within or outside the workplace.
3. Day-in-the-Life Features: Showcase a day in the life of an employee, illustrating their routine, responsibilities, and the impact of their work.
4. Recognition Wall: Create a digital wall displaying photos and short bios of spotlighted employees. Update it regularly to keep the recognition fresh.
5. Peer Nominations: Encourage peers to nominate colleagues for the spotlight, emphasizing teamwork, leadership, or innovative contributions.
6. Video Features: Use an email tool that allows for embedded video communications to produce and share short videos from and for your employees. You can create questions for employee spotlights and record staff sharing insights about their roles, projects they’re passionate about, or hobbies outside of work.
7. Q&A Sessions: Host live or virtual town hall Q&A sessions where employees can interact with the spotlighted individual, asking questions about their experiences and expertise.
8. Social Media Showcases: Utilize social platforms to feature employees’ achievements, milestones, and behind-the-scenes glimpses into their roles. Think of questions to ask for employee spotlights and use these to guide your social media features.
9. Employee Testimonials: Invite your staff to write testimonials or short notes praising the spotlighted individual’s contributions or qualities.
10. Employee Spotlight Events: Organize events or gatherings where the spotlighted employee is honored and celebrated by the team or the entire company.

Using Internal Newsletters for Employee Spotlights

Internal email newsletters are a great way to showcase employee spotlights. They can be used to highlight an individual’s accomplishments, introduce new team members, and more. Consider using the questions listed above in your internal newsletter to get to know employees better and foster a culture of appreciation and recognition. Additionally, this is an excellent way to show off the diversity of skills, backgrounds, and experiences among your employees.

With fun employee spotlight questions, you can use the email newsletter design and a responsive email template to help foster a positive work environment. Not only will this help build trust among team members, but it will also be an excellent way to track individual performance and show off the accomplishments of your team.

Want to get started with building your own internal newsletters? Try ContactMonkey for free today.