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An employee engagement survey is one of the most effective ways to measure and improve your team’s performance, motivation, and overall productivity. Engaged employees are your top performers, yet disengaged or dissatisfied employees are costing the global economy $8.9 trillion in lost productivity. According to Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workforce report, only 23% of employees reported being “engaged,” while 62% were “not engaged,” and 15% were “actively disengaged.”
It’s clear that many organizations need to act on these insights. Employee engagement surveys can help leaders gather important feedback from their team to help identify what’s working and what isn’t.
Discover why employee engagement surveys are important, questions that can help you gather the best insights, and the steps you can take to conduct your own survey.
Why use surveys to measure employee engagement?
Employee engagement surveys serve several key purposes. Employees can send feedback anonymously, allowing frustrated or uninspired team members to express their real opinions. By serving as a channel for honest communication, surveys provide a true measure of your team’s engagement.
Here are a few reasons why you should use surveys to measure employee engagement:
- Spot issues early: Employee engagement surveys give you valuable feedback that uncovers potential problems — whether they’re specific to teams, roles, or widespread across the organization — helping you address them before they escalate.
- Track progress: By comparing responses over time, you can track changes in key metrics and see the impact of your efforts, whether through quick surveys or more detailed ones.
- Show you care: Simply asking for feedback signals to employees that you value their well-being, which can lead to better engagement and more positive behaviors.
What can you measure with employee engagement surveys?
Engagement surveys help open a window into the factors that reflect your workforce’s overall well-being, morale, and job satisfaction.
Some of the key metrics to keep in mind are:
- Employee commitment: Measures an employee’s dedication to the organization and their role.
- Motivation: Gauges the employee’s drive and enthusiasm to contribute positively to the organization.
- Job satisfaction: Evaluates the contentment that the employee has with their work, compensation, and work environment.
- Connection to the company mission: Gauges how aligned the employee is with your organization’s goals, strategy, and vision.
- Career development opportunities: Reveals the employee’s feeling of growth potential within your organization, and the likelihood of retention.
- Cultural fit: Identifies how comfortable the employee feels within the organizational culture, and whether their efforts are consistently recognized.
Keeping these metrics in mind will help HR leaders develop effective engagement and retention strategies.
23 employee engagement survey question examples
Asking the right questions in an employee engagement survey is key. A survey should touch on important components of engagement like employee satisfaction, alignment, and future goals.
To put together a questionnaire that fits your organization’s needs, it’s important to include questions in each of these areas and understand how to put them in your surveys.
Employee satisfaction survey questions
What does employee satisfaction look like in your organization, and how can you measure it? We all know when someone’s genuinely happy at work — they show up excited, go above and beyond, and look for ways to contribute beyond their role. But spotting dissatisfaction can be trickier.
Here’s how you can get a clear sense of how your employees feel about their work and whether they’re satisfied with where they stand in the organization:
1. How do you feel about work today?
This question gets right to the heart of how each employee feels right now. It’s a great way to open a bigger conversation and show your employees that the company cares about their well-being. It’s also helpful for spotting patterns — if employees in a certain group or role aren’t happy, it could signal a bigger issue that needs attention.
To make it easier, consider using a graphic with a scale of happy to sad faces, letting employees pick the one that best matches their mood. This can make them feel more comfortable sharing their feelings, especially if they’re hesitant to put it into words. You can still include an optional comments section for anyone who wants to go into more detail.
2. Would you recommend us to your friends as an employer?
As the saying goes, a happy customer will tell a friend, but an unhappy one will tell 10 friends. That doubles for employees.
People who work for your organization are the single best source of word of mouth for recruiting. Whether a current employee would recruit their friends or warn them to stay away is a key measure of how your organization is doing overall and the employee’s feelings about the company. This is a good question to include regularly, so you can measure results against those from past surveys.
3. Do you feel excited about coming to work?
This question is designed to elicit strong responses as well as nonresponses. Employees who are excited about their jobs spread that excitement. For disengaged employees, a neutral answer offers the opportunity to go deeper and ask what would make them excited about coming to work.
4. Are you proud of working for the company?
This question centers on employee accomplishments and their role in the organization. Proud employees talk about their achievements. They represent your brand, both to customers and to the people they know. For employees who aren’t especially proud, they offer an optional comments field so they can tell you why.
5. Are you satisfied with your current compensation and benefits?
Compensation is only one measure of employee satisfaction. However, employees who believe they’re underpaid are more likely to express dissatisfaction. Additionally, asking about benefits will help you learn which benefits are meaningful to your employees and which benefits they would consider valuable if offered.
6. Do you enjoy working with your team?
Team engagement is contagious. Happy team members feel valued and communicate that feeling of belonging to colleagues. This is another question where you might offer a text field to allow employees to explain their answers, possibly identifying team members who deserve recognition. You may also receive complaints about other workers or managers. This is a good opportunity to direct employees to other channels if they need to resolve an issue or want help with a specific complaint.
Organizational alignment employee engagement survey questions
Questions about alignment in an employee engagement survey take the personal feelings from the first section and apply them to the overall environment in your organization. Do employees feel like what they do matters and that they’re appreciated by management? Motivated employees with high engagement experience strong alignment — which means their personal goals mesh with their role in the company overall.
7. Do you find your work for [organization] meaningful?
Employees who consider their work meaningful work harder and are happier. They’re more likely to weather bumps in the road and stay committed to your organization over the long term. Engaged employees can see the impact of their work and the organization’s.
8. Does the company’s vision and values inspire you?
The purpose of this question is to find out how employees relate to your mission and goals. Do they see themselves as active participants, embodying organizational values to customers and other employees? The reality is that culture and value fit are one of the most important reasons employees decide to stay at their current jobs.
If some employees aren’t clear on your organization’s vision and values, it could be a sign that more communication is needed. Consider including the values on the survey page or adding an option like “I’m not familiar with our organization’s vision and values” to gauge awareness.
9. Do others provide you with recognition for your accomplishments at work?
Recognition is the leading driver of employee engagement. Most people crave recognition and appreciation, especially from managers and other leaders, even if they don’t express it. And employees who don’t feel appreciated are likely to seek that recognition elsewhere. Recognizing employees frequently is key to improving employee appreciation and engagement.
10. Does our workplace culture foster a comfortable, supportive work environment?
Managers play a crucial role in shaping team engagement and influencing your overall organizational culture. Showing genuine interest in each employee’s work and career goals is an important step in creating a culture that prioritizes and supports engagement.
11. Is leadership invested in and contributing to your culture initiatives?
Your organizational culture starts with a shared mission and how your leaders communicate that sense of purpose to members of your team and to customers. It’s important to communicate openly about company culture, including what employees feel is working, what isn’t, and what changes should be made as you move forward together.
Future-oriented employee engagement survey questions
Learning whether your employees plan to stay with your organization in the long term is a critical part of any employee engagement survey. These questions help uncover areas where your organization may need to focus more on engaging talented employees who might be feeling frustrated or overlooked.
12. Do you see yourself working here in a year?
Approximately 46% of professionals said they were considering quitting their job in 2024. So how do you as the employer gauge if your employees share the same feelings? Consider including a text field with this question so that employees who feel comfortable sharing why they’re considering leaving can do so.
13. Does your work challenge you and aid your development?
In 2024, less than 50% of employees surveyed said they had been asked about their own professional development goals. This shows the importance of addressing career growth, as a lack of recognition and advancement opportunities can lead to disengagement. However, be careful not to make work unnecessarily difficult. Employees facing challenges beyond their control may feel frustrated or unsupported.
14. Do you see a path for career advancement?
Employees who see their current position as a dead end are unlikely to stay long-term. This question can show whether employees perceive your organization as rewarding skilled workers with promotions and new opportunities.
15. Do you have the tools needed to maximize your potential here?
This question allows the employee to think about what is holding them back and offers a chance to find ways to improve. Consider asking what resources would better support them in their work and provide an added section for comments.
16. Have you recently thought about leaving?
Reassure employees that the survey is anonymous or includes options like “Not sure” to make it easier for them to respond honestly. Getting truthful feedback helps you name and address systemic issues before they affect productivity and morale.
17. Has anyone at the company asked about and expressed support for your career goals?
This question shows whether your company’s leadership is actively reaching out to employees about career development. You might include a recommendation to make an appointment with HR or a manager to discuss career goals.
Open-ended employee engagement survey questions
Open-ended questions give an opportunity for employees to express what’s really on their mind, in their own words. Always include a few open-ended questions in each survey, tailored to your organization. Here’s some suggestions:
18. What practices do we need to change?
This question encourages employees to share their recommendations. Engagement tends to improve when employees feel like active contributors in an organization that listens and responds to their feedback.
19. Are there any problems with our culture?
Encourage employees to share any discomfort or ways your corporate culture might not feel like a good fit. Use their feedback as a chance to improve and strengthen your workplace culture.
20. How can we help improve your engagement at work?
Ask employees for direct input on how to engage them. They’ll appreciate the fact that you’re listening, and they’ll be thrilled to see their recommendations put into action.
Professional growth and learning opportunities
Questions about personal growth and learning ensure you’re gauging how well the organization supports individual development.
21. Do you feel encouraged to learn new skills and grow professionally?
This question helps determine whether employees feel supported in their career growth and whether your organization prioritizes upskilling.
22. Are there sufficient training programs or resources available to help you succeed in your role?
This question highlights whether employees have access to the tools and opportunities they need to excel, providing insight into areas where added training might be beneficial.
23. Do you have clear career development paths or mentorship opportunities within the organization?
This question helps assess whether employees feel they have a roadmap for growth and access to guidance, which can boost engagement and retention.
How to design your employee engagement survey questions
It’s important to design employee engagement survey questions in a way that genuinely captures how employees feel about their work experience, as well as the energy and effort they invest. A balanced approach combines both quantitative and qualitative questions to give a more complete picture of how your employees are feeling.
Quantitative employee engagement survey questions
Quantitative questions make it easier to compare data across the organization and track progress over time. They offer important metrics and KPIs to help identify trends and measure improvements, often using rating scales or multiple-choice options. Examples include:
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with your current role?
- How likely are you to recommend our organization as a great place to work?
- Very likely
- Somewhat likely
- Neutral
- Somewhat unlikely
- Very unlikely
- How often do you receive recognition for your work?
- Daily
- Weekly
- Monthly
- Rarely
- Never
Qualitative employee engagement survey questions
Qualitative questions give employees a chance to share more detailed thoughts and feelings, offering insights that numbers alone can’t capture. Examples include:
- What motivates you to do your best work here?
- Are there any challenges or frustrations in your role that affect your engagement? Please explain.
- What could we do better to support your career growth and development?
- Is there a specific way we could improve the way recognition is given in our organization?
- What’s one thing you would change to make our workplace culture more inclusive?
Ensure your survey questions are clear, straightforward, and unbiased to encourage honest responses. Testing the survey with a small group of employees can help fine-tune the questions, ensuring they effectively gather meaningful insights.
Employee engagement survey best practices
There’re a few simple best practices every organization should keep in mind when creating and running employee engagement surveys. Here’s how to get started:
1. Keep questions to the point
Keep your survey questions simple and aligned with your organization’s engagement goals. Think about what you want to measure — whether it’s employee satisfaction or areas of concern. Knowing which metrics matter most makes your survey results more valuable. Ideally, you’ll ask the same questions over time to track progress and measure the impact of specific initiatives.
2. Keep questions open ended
Be sure to include a few open-ended questions or an option for comments with multiple-choice answers. While not everyone will use it, it gives employees a chance to voice concerns or provide extra context where needed.
3. Conduct surveys regularly
Annual surveys are great, but they’re not enough to truly measure employee engagement. Employees change roles, and waiting months to spot problems can cost you. Regular surveys show employees you’re listening and help you stay on top of engagement before issues snowball.
4. Keep surveys anonymous
Ensure your engagement surveys are anonymous so employees can share honest feedback without fear of backlash. While anonymity is key, give employees the choice to name themselves if they want a follow-up to their concerns. Also, encourage them to reach out to HR or other confidential channels for any serious issues that need immediate attention. This helps maintain trust and ensures that important concerns don’t go unaddressed.
5. Give employees space to work on surveys
Make sure employees have a quiet, private location to submit their survey responses. They may not be willing to share in an open office surrounded by peers and supervisors, or if they’re expected to complete an engagement survey between regularly assigned tasks or after hours. Set expectations for how long the survey will take to complete.
6. Leverage the Likert Scale
The Likert Scale is a great tool for employee engagement surveys, helping you understand how strongly employees feel about different issues. It typically ranges from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” turning opinions into easy-to-analyze data. This makes it simpler to spot patterns and tackle problems. It also highlights areas where employees strongly agree or disagree.
7. Follow up on feedback
Collecting survey responses is just the beginning. It’s important to follow up on the feedback you receive because it shows your employees that their opinions matter. Share key insights and outline any changes or actions you plan to take. Regularly updating employees on how their feedback is being used not only improves trust but also increases engagement over time. Make sure to close the loop and involve your team in any positive changes that come from their input.
Leverage employee surveys with Achievers
Now that we’ve covered a range of employee engagement survey questions, you’re ready to create your next survey with the help of dynamic tools from Achievers’ employee feedback software — designed to make building and running surveys simple.
Learn how to create surveys, segment results, and quickly pinpoint areas for improvement or success. Plus, track your key metrics and adjust strategies based on real-time data, ensuring you’re always working towards your goals.
Achievers Listen makes it easy to turn employee feedback into actionable insights, that not only improve engagement but also help keep your best people on board.
Employee engagement survey FAQ
