Employee engagement is the cornerstone of any successful company. Engaged employees are more productive, innovative, and present than their disengaged counterparts. However, employee engagement is disturbingly low, reaching just 23% globally.
This lack of engagement remains despite various initiatives promised to increase morale: programs such as leadership retreats, team-building activities, pizza lunches, and happy hours. This leaves leadership dumbfounded, wondering “Why aren’t my current efforts working?”
In order to improve engagement, organizations must first accurately measure employee morale. Organization leaders can only improve if they know where they currently stand and where the challenges are. Initiatives must be data-driven and strategic. There are many ways to measure engagement, but the widely used employee survey is worth digging into.
Many companies already conduct annual employee engagement surveys. In fact, according to the New York Times, nearly 80% of companies conduct job engagement surveys. The problem is, most companies aren’t doing it right. The bulk of engagement surveys aren’t anonymous, aren’t trusted to be anonymous, or aren’t asking the right questions. Or, even worse, the survey is good but nothing is done with the data. What you do with the survey results is equally as important as collecting the information in the first place.
Employee Engagement Survey Questions
Many employee surveys are built with the intention of finding out if employees are engaged, but not how or why. They ask vague questions about belonging and commitment without digging into what aspects of the workplace culture make folks feel that way. For instance, we commonly see questions such as “I would recommend [company name] as a great place to work” or “I feel motivated to do my best work at [company name].” While these can measure general sentiment, they don’t get at why people feel that way. If people do recommend the company, is it because of the culture, the pay structure, healthcare benefits, or the type of work that’s being done? If people are unmotivated, is it due to poor leadership, a lack of clear priorities, or a disruptive office environment?
To reveal a clearer picture of employee sentiment, we recommend moving away from vague questions to more specific statements that measure six key aspects of employee engagement – effective communication; career navigation; physical and psychological safety; inclusive leadership; diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); and relationship-building.
Sample Employee Engagement Survey
Questions to measure effective communication
- My supervisor shares updates with me that affect me and my team.
- My job expectations are clearly communicated.
- I understand how I help the organization achieve its goals.
- My input is heard and valued.
Questions to measure career navigation
- I know what my career path is and how to advance at [organization].
- In performance reviews, my supervisor is fair and tries to reduce their bias.
Questions to measure psychological safety
- I can voice a different opinion without fear.
- Taking risks and learning from mistakes are seen as growth opportunities.
Questions to measure inclusive leadership
- My supervisor provides a space where everyone is encouraged to speak up and be heard.
- Supervisors help employees reach their full potential.
Questions to measure DEIA
- I rarely feel like I am the “only one.”
- I feel like I belong at [organization].
Questions to measure relationship-building
- My supervisor cares about me as a person.
- Coworkers take the initiative to help members of their team when the need arises.
The above questions represent just a fraction of the total questions you should include in your employee engagement survey. The survey should be holistic and include space for open-ended responses. For agreement-based statements like those above, we recommend using a five-point likert scale: strongly agree, agree, neither agree nor disagree, disagree, strongly disagree.
Analyzing Survey Results
Once your survey data is collected, it’s time to look at trends. Specifically, which aspect of employee engagement is the weakest? Did you receive any suggestions on how to improve it? Does engagement vary by certain demographic groups, departments, or tenures? If so, what’s causing these discrepancies? For instance, if new hires seem less engaged than folks who have been at the organization for at least one year, maybe it’s time to reevaluate your onboarding program. Or, if women employees rate career navigation poorly, you should investigate if bias is seeping into the promotion process.
Sufficiently analyzing results is important, but following through is key. Employees want to know that their input matters and that their feedback is not only heard, but acted upon. This action builds trust between employees and leadership as employees understand their feedback is valued and not a waste of time.
It’s critical to share key results with the organization as well as what you’re going to do in response. For instance, don’t just report that cross-departmental communication is inadequate, but explain that moving forward, there will be quarterly town hall meetings where liaisons from each department will share any pertinent updates. Showing action in response to surveys is one of the best ways to keep employees engaged.
And don’t just survey folks once a year. Make sure to conduct pulse surveys throughout the year to capture ongoing sentiment and any changes that occur in response to new programs or policies. Pulse surveys should be shorter than annual surveys, but still measure across the six aspects of employee engagement.
Analyzing the data to identify trends and discrepancies allows companies to implement meaningful changes. Transparent communication about survey results and the steps being taken in response demonstrates to employees that their feedback matters. Conducting regular pulse surveys helps maintain engagement by continuously monitoring employee sentiment and adapting to new challenges. By accurately measuring employee morale and acting on survey data, organizations can cultivate a more engaged, productive, and innovative workforce.
Looking for personalized help developing and deploying an employee engagement survey for your organization? We can help.
Kaela Sosa is co-founder and Manager, Curriculum and Programming at The Diversity Movement. Her expertise includes psychology, gender identity and sexual orientation and racial identities. Kaela has written and spoken about a range of topics: active allyship, the inclusive talent lifecycle, disability etiquette, LGBTQ+ inclusion and inclusive language. At The Diversity Movement, she leads the development and execution of learning programs, including digital learning, online courses, certificate programs and certification opportunities. Connect with or follow Kaela on Linkedin to learn more.
