11 must-ask questions for your next employee survey

You already know that a happy employee is a long-term employee. Workers are more likely to stay with your business longer if they experience job satisfaction. How do you know if your employees are happy, though? You can't ask each one privately if you manage a larger workforce. You can gauge satisfaction by having your workers complete employee surveys, however. Those team survey results will give you an overall picture of the employee feel. You can also use precise survey metrics to see which areas of employee job satisfaction you can improve. The first step in measuring employee happiness is building a list of meaningful questions that will result in honest feedback and actionable insights into how your team is feeling at work. ‍

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How satisfied are you with your pay?

You need to get employee feedback about wages because it's one of the top reasons good companies lose excellent team members. Workers need to feel secure that they will earn enough income to care for their bills, families, and the little extras that make them happy. Therefore, you must ask this question to understand how your workers feel about their current income and increase employee trust. If your team believes that you have their best interests in mind, they’ll be more likely to stick around longer. 

Which benefits are most important to you?

Asking this question about benefits may prompt you to improve employee benefit packages if the surveys show that they are not sufficient. You're likely to lose many workers with families if you don't offer affordable benefit packages with all the elements they need to care for their loved ones. Fortunately, you can change that if the data shows you an issue. 

What are your career goals with the company?

This question will give you an idea of how your workers view their time with your establishment. You'll get a feel for whether the majority seeks a promotion. Then you can start implementing development strategies for those who wish to move to the next level. 

Does the company provide you with adequate learning tools?

The survey results from this question will let you know if your training programs are adequate for your workers' continued growth. It will tell you whether your new hires feel confident in their ability to perform their jobs as well.  

Do you have a good work-life balance?

Poor work-life balance is another one of the highest reasons workers leave. Thus, you need to determine how your workforce feels about whether their jobs allow them much-needed time with their families and loved ones. You can then build a strategy to try to improve staffing, scheduling processes, or time-off allotments. 

What parts of the workplace culture would you change?

Company culture is a huge part of job satisfaction as well. Surveys are a great place for workers to air out any concerns about the culture or how their teammates and managers are portraying it. Employee experience such as this one should have a space for additional comments underneath the multiple-choice question. The writing space will allow them to fully explain any negative aspects of the company culture they see. 

How long do you intend to stay with the company?

This question will give you an overall picture of whether your workers see themselves with your company for the long term or not. A high percentage of time frames of five years or more would indicate that the workers are wholly satisfied with all aspects of their employment. On the other hand, you'll know that the problem exists if the majority of your workers don't see themselves staying for more than one year. It might mean that their roles feel more like jobs than careers. 

Does the company provide you with adequate mental and physical wellness tools?

Access to appropriate mental and physical health services is crucial during these unprecedented times. Many businesses offer their employees helpful resources to connect them to counselors, healthcare, finances, and the like. This question should be included in the survey so that you'll know if you're doing enough to keep your workers balanced and well on all levels. 

Do you feel that you can talk to your leaders?

Asking this question will gauge management effectiveness and ensure that leaders hold enough one-on-one performance meetings and offer open-door opportunities to workers who have something on their minds. If not, you can consider implementing some additional training for those leaders to develop stronger communication skills. 

How would you rate the working conditions?

A question about working conditions may inquire about safety compliance, cleanliness, the workplace environment, or the tasks thrust upon the workers. This one deserves space for writing additional commentary as well. It will allow your team to tell you more about their experiences. 

Are you proud to be a part of this company?

This question will tell you about the overall morale of the team members and whether they believe they work for a respectable company. The answer to this employee survey question should always be yes, or you will need to investigate the matter further. You can tailor your employee survey any way you like, but it will be wise to include the above-mentioned questions. Try to be as comprehensive as possible in your approach to gathering the survey data you need. Many businesses participate in annual surveys. You may want to send out your pulse surveys quarterly or even monthly to monitor whether your workers' conditions are improving or declining. 

How to improve engagement on employee surveys

Some workers enjoy completing employee survey questionnaires, while others might need incentives. You can boost the response rate of your engagement surveys by offering a small incentive, such as the opportunity to be in a raffle. Many workers will like the idea of possibly winning something. You'll improve your business decisions more accurately if you grab hold of a higher amount of survey data. 

Join Homebase for HR Tools

Homebase offers the smart tools you need to keep in touch with your team, manage payroll, and handle onboarding tasks. Additionally, our HR Pro service provides live access to certified advisors who can assist you with managing your employee surveys. Get started today to discover the many benefits of using Homebase.