39 Must-Ask Employee Engagement Survey Questions to Boost Productivity

A lot of companies find it tough to really understand what their employees are feeling and thinking. 

Sure, you can send out a survey. But if you don’t ask the right questions, you won’t get the answers you need. 

Your team might start feeling like no one’s listening, and as a boss or HR pro, you’re left guessing how to make things better. 

That’s frustrating, right?

But the good news: Asking better questions will yield much more insightful results.

This post is all about the magic of asking the right questions. We’re going to show you the top questions that really open up the conversation. 

By the end of this post, you’ll know exactly how to get the feedback that lights the way to a happier, more buzzing workplace. 

The Power of the Right Questions

Why is it so important to check in with your team? 

According to a Forbes article, “Asking the right questions can unlock opportunities you didn’t even realize existed and take your career to new heights.“

You need to know how your team is doing to make sure nothing slips through the cracks. Because if you miss something, you could pay for it later.

So, checking in and asking the right questions help you catch any small issues before they turn into big storms.

While asking those questions, you’ll also find some valuable feedback that could further level up your company.

Maybe it’s an idea that boosts team spirit or a suggestion that saves time and money. Good feedback opens doors to making your company even better.

It’s all about connecting, understanding, and acting on what we learn.

39 Must-Ask Employee Engagement Survey Questions

Getting to the heart of how your team feels can change the game. 

We’ve put together some top-notch questions to help you do just that. They’re designed to dig deep and bring out the kind of feedback that can lead to real change.

Teamwork and Collaboration 

1. “How well do you think our team collaborates on projects?”
2. “Can you describe a recent situation where team collaboration led to great results?”
3. “Do you feel like your ideas are valued by the team?”
4. “What’s one thing we could do to improve communication within the team?”
5. “How comfortable do you feel giving feedback to your teammates?”
6. “What’s the best part about working with your team?”
7. “How can we enhance our team meetings to make them more effective?”
8. “Have you ever encountered a teamwork challenge here, and how was it resolved?”

Growth and Development 

1. “Do you see a clear path for your growth in our company?”
2. “How frequently would you like to receive feedback on your performance?”
3. “What’s one skill you’re eager to develop, and how can we assist?”
4. “Are there any training sessions or workshops you wish to attend?”
5. “How can your manager better support your career goals?”
6. “Do you feel challenged by your work in a way that helps you grow?”
7. “What’s one change we could make to better support your professional development?”
8. “How well do you think your talents are utilized in your current role?”

Daily Tasks and Work-Life 

1. “Do your daily responsibilities align with what was outlined in your job description?”
2. “What aspect of your job are you most passionate about?”
3. “Is there a task that you feel doesn’t fit well with your skills or interests?”
4. “How would you rate your work-life balance?”
5. “What’s one thing you’d change about your daily work routine to increase efficiency?”
6. “Do you have the resources and tools needed to perform your job effectively?”
7. “What’s one process in your daily work that you believe could be more efficient?”
8. “How often do you end your workday feeling accomplished?”

Culture and Environment 

1. “How would you describe our company culture to a friend?”
2. “What’s one word that sums up our work environment, and why?”
3. “Do you feel our company values align with your personal values?”
4. “How can we make our workplace more inspiring and motivating?”
5. “What’s one thing we could do to make our company a better place to work?”
6. “Do you feel comfortable expressing your opinions and ideas here?”
7. “How well do you think our company handles diversity and inclusion?”
8. “What’s one tradition or event at our company that you love?”

Perks and Benefits Satisfaction 

1. How satisfied are you with the current employee perks and benefits?
2. “Which perk or benefit do you value the most, and why?”
3. “Is there a perk or benefit you’ve seen elsewhere that you’d like us to consider?”
4. “How important are work-from-home options for you?”
5. “Do our health and wellness benefits meet your needs?”
6. “How can we improve our current perks to better support you?”
7. “What’s one perk that would make your work life significantly better?”

With these 39 questions, you’re sparking conversations that matter. Remember, it’s the quality of the feedback, not just the quantity, that can transform your workplace. 

How to Craft Effective Employee Survey Questions: A Step-by-Step Guide

Now that you have the list of questions you can use, how can you make sure you get the maximum benefit of the survey?

Here’s how to ensure your survey hits the mark:

1. Choosing the Right Survey Platform

The platform you choose can greatly influence the survey experience for your employees. 

A user-friendly platform encourages participation and can handle the complexity of your questions with ease.

Look for a platform that offers flexibility in question types (e.g., multiple choice, open-ended), anonymity options, and robust data analysis tools. You can also consider platforms that allow customization to match your company’s branding for a more personal touch.

Here are some examples of survey platforms you can use:

• SurveyMonkey: This platform is easy to use and offers many question types, including multiple-choice and open-ended. It comes with strong tools for analyzing your survey data and keeps your answers private. It suits businesses that want a dependable and full-featured platform.
• Google Forms: This free tool works well with other Google products. It’s easy to set up and use. Small businesses or teams on a budget will find it useful for simple feedback collection.
• Qualtrics: This advanced platform provides customization and detailed survey options. Its analytics can deeply analyze text from open responses, perfect for thorough feedback reviews. Larger organizations will benefit the most.
• Typeform: This platform stands out with its attractive design and one-question-at-a-time format. It’s great for making surveys that are fun and easy to take, helping more people finish them. Companies focused on a visually appealing and interactive survey experience will find it ideal.
• Slido: Slido is great for getting feedback in real-time and for Q&A sessions, along with regular surveys. It works well with Zoom, making it a good choice for remote teams or for adding surveys to live meetings and events.
• Microsoft Forms: Much like Google Forms, Microsoft Forms is straightforward and integrates with Microsoft Office. It offers basic data analysis and is available to anyone with an Office 365 subscription. Teams that use Microsoft Office a lot and want everything to work together smoothly will find it useful.

2. Use Simple Language

According to an article by Survey Monkey, each additional word in the question text harms completion rates.

So, clear and straightforward questions will prevent misunderstandings and ensure that you collect useful data.

Complex questions will confuse your employees and will lead to unreliable answers.

So, use everyday language and avoid industry jargon. Test your questions on different groups of employees beforehand to ensure they’re easy to understand. 

Each question should focus on one idea only, avoiding multi-part questions that can make it confusing.

3. Prioritize Questions

Survey length can impact completion rates. 

Prioritizing questions ensures you gather key insights even if your employees don’t complete the entire survey.

To start, identify the main objectives of your survey and prioritize questions that directly contribute to those goals. 

Consider grouping questions into sections so your employees can complete the sections most relevant to them if they’re short on time.

4. Balance Open-Ended and Closed-Ended Questions

A mix of yes/no and open-ended questions allows you to gather both quantitative data for easy analysis and qualitative insights for depth. 

Yes/no questions can quickly show trends, while open-ended questions provide context and personal perspectives.

You can start with yes/no questions to warm up respondents and gather baseline data. 

Then, follow up with open-ended questions that will let your employees expand on their earlier answers or share new thoughts to provide a better understanding of their experiences.

5. Make the Survey Engaging and Fun

The more engaging the survey, the higher the completion rate. 

Employees need to see the value in taking the time to provide feedback, understanding that their input is both valued and impactful.

So, communicate the purpose of the survey and how the results will be used to make improvements. 

The better it’s communicated, the higher the chance of getting valuable answers.

Keep the survey concise to respect your team’s time—aim for a completion time of 5-10 minutes. Use engaging question formats like sliders, ranking options, or even interactive elements if your survey platform supports them.

6. Ensure Anonymity

Trust and anonymity encourage honesty. 

Employees need to feel safe to share their true thoughts without fear of repercussions. This leads to more accurate and actionable feedback.

Make it clear that the survey will be anonymous in the introductions. Use a third-party tool if necessary to do this. 

After the survey, show your employees what you did based on the feedback to close the loop and build trust 

Crafting your survey with these steps will not only make it effective but also something your team is eager to complete. 

It leads to real changes and shows your team that their voice truly matters.

Analyzing Survey Results for Actionable Insights

Now, you’ve got clues everywhere, but you need to piece them together to see the full picture. 

Here’s how to sift through the data to uncover the golden nuggets of your survey.

Spotting Trends and Opportunities

• Trend Spotting: Look for patterns in the responses. Are there certain areas where satisfaction consistently scores high or low? These trends can point you toward what you’re doing well and what needs work.
• Strengths and Improvements: Highlight your areas of strength to understand what to maintain or even enhance. For areas needing improvement, dig deeper to understand the root causes. This might involve follow-up surveys or discussions for clarification.

Segmenting Data for Targeted Insights

Different groups within your company might have unique experiences and feedback. Segmenting data helps you tailor your action plans to fit each group’s specific needs.

Break down the data by department, role, tenure, or any other relevant category. 

This can reveal, for example, if new hires feel less informed about company policies or if a particular department feels underappreciated.

Prioritizing Actions for Maximum Impact

Not all feedback can or should be acted on immediately. 

Prioritize based on what will have the most significant impact on employee engagement and satisfaction.

Develop a clear action plan for the top priorities. Assign responsibilities and set timelines. For lower-priority items, consider longer-term strategies or incremental changes.

Making Data-Driven Decisions

• Quantitative Data: Use statistical analysis to understand the significance of your quantitative data. This can help confirm whether observed trends are reliable or if they might be due to chance.
• Qualitative Data: Analyze open-ended responses for recurring themes or suggestions. Qualitative analysis software can help, but a manual review often provides the deepest insights.

Communicating Findings and Next Steps

Share key findings and planned actions with your employees. You can do this through meetings, handouts, or a simple email.

This transparency shows that you value their input and are committed to making improvements.

Consider sharing how the feedback was used to make changes. This can encourage more participation in future surveys and build trust in the process.

By following these steps, you’ll be able to translate your survey data into meaningful improvements.

Leveraging Technology for Better Engagement Insights

In today’s digital age, technology can help us understand and connect with our teams on a deeper level. 

Here are relevant techs to maximize your employee engagement insights:

AI and Machine Learning

AI and machine learning can sift through mountains of open-ended survey responses quickly.

It can understand context and nuance, much like a human would, but at lightning speed.

For instance, natural language processing (NLP) algorithms can analyze open-ended responses to categorize feedback into themes like “workplace culture,” “management,” or “personal growth.” 

This helps you quickly spot patterns or issues that might require immediate attention. 

Tools like MonkeyLearn or IBM Watson offer robust NLP capabilities that can be integrated into your survey analysis process, turning qualitative data into actionable insights.

Real-time Feedback Tools

There are also real-time feedback tools. Real-time feedback tools allow employees to share thoughts and feelings about their work experience as they happen, not just at survey time.

Platforms like Workleap or Culture Amp offer features where employees can give feedback at any moment, not just in response to specific questions. 

This can include everything from highlighting a colleague’s helpful action to suggesting workflow improvements. 

By integrating these tools into your daily operations, you create a culture of openness and continuous improvement.

Pulse Surveys 

You can also take advantage of pulse surveys. These are short, frequent surveys that capture the immediate mood of your organization. 

They’re like quick health checks. They offer a continuous stream of data to help you stay aligned with your team’s evolving needs and concerns.

Tools like TINYpulse specialize in these kinds of surveys, offering customizable templates and real-time analytics. 

These platforms make it easy to send out quick surveys on a regular schedule (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.) and get instant visual feedback that can help you make informed decisions on the fly.

With this tech at your fingertips, you can quickly identify areas for praise or improvement, ensuring that your engagement strategies are as dynamic and responsive as your team.

Leveraging technology to analyze employee feedback equips you with solid data to back up your engagement strategies. 

Get Perks that Your Employees Want

Remember, the goal isn’t just to ask questions but to spark meaningful conversations, leading to a happier and more productive workplace.

But it doesn’t end here. To truly elevate employee engagement, we must also consider the perks and benefits that resonate most with our teams.