Making the most of employee engagement surveys

If you aren’t doing so already, you need to be conducting employee engagement surveys. Sure, you could use big data to measure and analyse employee engagement, but it just isn’t enough! That data can help inform you, but to get real answers, you need to go straight to the source. In this blog, we will explain what an employment engagement survey is, why you need to conduct one and how to avoid survey pitfalls.

What is an employee engagement survey?

An employee engagement survey is designed to measure how committed and motivated your employees are to perform at work. Employee engagement surveys are implemented company-wide and provide insight into employees and the workplace in a larger sense.

Why you should conduct an employee engagement survey

Like we said, there are many ways to measure employee engagement, but none more meaningful than a survey. Just the act of sending out an employee engagement survey sends a message to employees that the company cares about their input and values their opinion. Even though the aim of sending out a survey is to get responses, that’s a pretty cool benefit too!

Employee response to the surveys helps organisations gain insight into the issues that are affecting staff and particular departments that you may not have been aware of. Surveys help organisations understand employee perception of the workplace and the organisation. By actually listening to and understanding employee response to the survey, organisations may find employee morale improves, absenteeism lowers and productivity and customer service improves. With all these proven benefits, why not conduct an employee engagement survey?

Where employee engagement surveys go wrong

Maybe looking back at previous employment, you remember surveys being rolled out and nothing changing after responding to the surveys. That is one of the most common pitfalls with employee engagement surveys and that one leads back to the employer. If you’re going to send out the survey, you have to be committed to it! Remember to listen to what your employees are saying and be prepared to address some real issues. 

Alongside this, only conducting surveys upon employee exit is a big mistake. By waiting until an employee is leaving, you wait until it is too little too late. You need to be able to address issues when they arise and implement positive HR practices in a preventative way. Don’t wait for it to be too late!

What questions to include in an employment engagement survey

Actually choosing what to include in the employee engagement survey is the hardest part of the process. Questions you ask need to be meaningful and provide you with real answers rather than space fillers. Below are a couple of key questions you should consider including in your next employee engagement survey. These questions should be answered on a scale (e.g. 1-10), aside from the last 3 open ended questions.

1. I feel happy at work.
2. I would recommend [organisation] to others as a great place to work.
3. I feel supported by the organisation and management team.
4. I have the necessary resources/tools to complete my work to a high standard.
5. I feel safe at work.
6. I am valued by [organisation] and my manager.
7. I have the opportunity to advance my career at [organisation]
8. How can we assist you in performing your work?
9. What are the company’s greatest weaknesses?
10.  What are the company’s greatest strengths?

Of course, there are many things you can include in your employee engagement survey, but remember why you are conducting the survey and what you want to get from the survey. If you are going through a big merger, perhaps you will want to focus on how that affects your employees and whether attitudes have changed. Always remember to keep it direct and to the point, no one wants to fill in 100 lengthy questions!

Employee engagement surveys are an invaluable tool for your organisation to utilise. So what are you waiting for? If you need help creating and measuring employee engagement surveys, take a look at People Central and book a live demo today!