Culture Survey Questions You Should Be Asking [and 50+ Examples to Swipe]

As a business manager, you know that culture is key to your success. But what do you do when it’s time to assess your company’s culture? One tool you can use is a culture survey.

This type of survey can help you identify the areas of your company’s culture that need improvement and give you ideas for how to make those improvements. But before creating a culture survey, you need to know which questions to ask. In this post, I’ll discuss the types of questions you should ask in your culture survey. I’ll also provide examples of each kind of question so that you can get started creating your own survey today. Let’s get started!

The definition and importance of organisational culture

Organisational or company culture is the set of shared values, beliefs, and norms that influence how all members of an organisation behave. Since it’s people what make up an organisation, this is the same as saying that organisational culture is what determines how the organisation behaves as a whole, from the perspective of its members.

From this definition, it’s clear to see why organisational culture is so important. It’s the glue that holds an organisation together and influences everything from how employees interact to how they make decisions and, in general, do their work to provide value to their customers and other stakeholders.

Organisational culture is essential because:

• It helps new employees learn the ropes and become productive members of the team.
• Facilitates (or inhibits) communication and collaboration among collaborators.
• Defines what is and is not acceptable behaviour within the organisation.
• Shapes employees’ attitudes and perceptions about their work, colleagues, and company.
• And Influences how employees make decisions, solve problems and handle conflict.

This can all be summarised in a single sentence: Organisational culture can either support or hinder an organisation’s ability to achieve its goals.

The need to create a positive organisational culture

A strong culture can be a major source of competitive advantage, while a weak or negative culture can lead to problems like high turnover, low productivity, and poor customer service. In other words, culture really matters.

This is why creating a positive organisational culture is so important. A positive culture will help you attract and retain the best employees, inspire them to do their best work, and make it more likely that they’ll stick around for the long haul.

But this brings up an important question:

What does it mean to have a strong and positive company culture?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer to this question, as culture will be different from one organisation to the next. However, there are some general characteristics of a positive organisational culture that are worth mentioning, including:

• A focus on the mission and values of the company.
• A commitment to excellence in everything that the company does.
• A focus on employee development and growth.
• A collaborative and supportive environment.
• An emphasis on customer service and satisfaction, among others.

What is a work culture survey, and what is it for?

Good or bad, all organisations have their unique culture. What matters from a management perspective is that we work to improve it. A positive organisational culture is not something that you can create overnight. It takes time, effort, and a lot of hard work to build, and you need to be able to assess the state of this improvement over time.

This is where work culture surveys come in. A work culture survey is a tool that you can use to assess the state of an organisation’s culture and track changes in this culture over time.

These surveys usually take the form of questionnaires that you distribute to employees at all levels of your organisation. You can see survey results as a snapshot of your organisation’s culture at a particular moment in time. A well-crafted survey can reveal important information about employees’ feelings regarding their work, colleagues, and company.

You can use this information to make informed decisions about improving your organisation’s culture. When done right, work culture surveys can be a powerful tool for creating a positive and productive workplace.

Types of questions to ask in a work culture survey

Culture surveys ask questions and gather employee feedback about various aspects of company culture, which leads to different types of questions. Some of these types of questions include:

• General questions about how employees perceive the organisation.
• Questions related to the company’s mission, vision, and core values.
• Questions about how employees perceive management and leadership within the company.
• Questions about how decision-making is managed within the company.
• Questions about company policies.
• Questions about employee development and growth.
• Questions about how employees feel about their work and their colleagues.

In terms of how to write each question, it depends on what its intentions are. If you want to know if something, in particular, is working or not, you can just ask simple yes or no questions. If you want a little more insight, you can ask employees to rate different aspects of company culture on a scale from 1 to 5 or from 1 to 10.

In other cases, you can get a much deeper insight by asking open-ended questions, asking for the employee’s opinion, and even asking for suggestions on improving company culture.

In the following sections, I’ll go deeper into each type of question, why it’s important, and provide some examples of questions you can ask in each category.

General questions about how employees perceive the organisation

These questions seek to understand how employees feel about the organisation as a whole. This type of question is essential because it can reveal deeper issues that may be affecting company culture.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your overall satisfaction with the company?
• Based on company culture, how likely are you to suggest this company to your friends and coworkers on a scale of 1-10?
• Are you happy with your company’s culture? If that’s the case, why?
• What do you think could be changed to make the company a better place to work?
• Do you feel this company is a good fit for you?

Questions related to the company’s mission, vision, and core values

These questions assess how well employees understand and identify with the company’s mission, vision, and values. It’s important to ask these types of questions because a strong sense of purpose is critical for positive company culture.

When employees know and buy into the company’s mission and vision, they are more likely to be engaged in their work and motivated to do their best. A workforce that is disconnected from the company’s mission or that doesn’t share its values is more likely to be unproductive.

For example, if you run a Blockchain-as-a-service company that operates a crypto exchange platform, you want to ensure that all employees are on the cryptocurrency bandwagon. You want people that use crypto, that believe in it and that can share that passion with the rest of the team.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• Do you know the company’s vision, mission, and core values?
• On a scale of 1 to 10, how well do the company’s vision, mission, and core values align with your own?
• Do you believe the organisation’s culture is a good fit for our mission and vision?
• Do you understand how your job helps the company reach its vision and long-term business goals?
• What is the purpose of this organisation to you? How does it define “success,” according to you?

Questions about how employees perceive management and leadership within the company

These questions aim to understand how employees feel about their managers and other leaders, formal or not, within the company. It’s important to ask these types of questions because strong leadership is critical for positive company culture, and if employees feel that leadership is weak, it’s because it is.

These questions are particularly effective in identifying weak spots in the chain of command, which you can easily correct either by changing managers and supervisors or, preferably, by providing them with training to improve their leadership skills.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate your relationship with your direct manager?
• Do you trust the company’s management?
• Please describe this company’s leadership in one sentence.
• Please describe this company’s management style in one sentence.
• Do you feel your manager/supervisor provides enough support to help you thrive and flourish in your work?

Questions about how decision-making is managed within the company

These questions focus on how employees participate in the decision-making process and whether or not their voice is heard. When employees feel that it is and that they have a say in decisions that affect them, they accept those decisions more readily, even if they’re not the ones making them.

Conversely, when employees feel that decisions are made without their input or that their input is not valued, they are more likely to be disengaged and resentful.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• Do you feel like your voice is heard when decisions that will affect you and your work are being made?
• Do you have a say in the decision-making process?
• Do you have a say in the organisation’s policies?
• Do you feel the company values your input on decisions affecting your work?
• Do you feel decisions are made without considering your opinion or best interests?

Questions about company policies

Company policies span a wide range of topics and situations. Some companies have policies about using their competitor’s products or services, like one credit card company having a policy forbidding their employees to use or even to hold a card from another issuer.

These and other types of policies have a strong effect on company culture. It’s important to ask employees about the policies that affect them most directly, as well as the company’s policy on change in general.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• Do you feel that the company has a zero-tolerance policy against all forms of discrimination?
• Do you feel like the company’s policies are fair?
• Is there a clear commitment to diversity and inclusiveness at this organisation?
• Do you feel like the company’s policies support our mission and values?
• Do you feel like the company is open to change?
• What areas do you think the company should change its policy on?

Questions about employee development and growth

These questions assess whether or not employees feel they have the opportunity to develop and grow within the company. Even if you crafted a clear development plan for every role in the company when you or your HR team wrote each job description, that doesn’t necessarily mean all employees are clear on that development plan or how it applies to them.

These questions can help reveal how well-informed each employee is regarding their chances to climb up the company ladder, or it may even reveal that the development plan is not adequately followed.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• Do you feel like this company offers opportunities for professional development?
• Do you feel like you have the opportunity to grow within the company?
• Do you feel like your skills are being utilised to their full potential?
• What areas would you like to develop more in?

Questions about how employees feel about their work and their colleagues

Employees who are engaged with their work and feel they have good relationships with their colleagues are more likely to stick around, be productive, and do their best work. This fosters collaboration and a sense of community within the company.

Examples of questions in this category include:

• Do you feel like your work is meaningful?
• Do you feel that your company respects you and your work? If that’s not the case, why?
• Do you feel the organisation has a good level of overall job security?
• Does the organisation foster teamwork and cooperation as a part of its culture?

In Summary

Culture surveys can be a valuable tool for assessing the current state of your company culture and identifying areas where you may need to make changes. The questions I’ve suggested provide a broad overview of how employees feel about their work, their colleagues, and the company as a whole.

However, you can adapt each question to your specific needs and craft custom-tailored surveys for particular areas of your company or organisation. What matters is that you conduct these surveys regularly to track how your managerial decisions impact company culture and how these changes in culture affect your bottom line.

 

About the Author

Jordan Bishop is a personal finance expert and travel hacker who holds a degree in finance and entrepreneurship from Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, Canada. He is the founder of Yore Oyster and How I Travel, two sites to help you optimise your finances while living an international life. He recently published his first book, Unperfect, an exploration of problem solving.