Employee Engagement Survey Best Practices to Become a Talent Magnet

People are your greatest asset. Did you know that the cost of a new hire can reach twice the annual salary of the replaced employee? And the time to full productivity is around 12 months.

How can you avoid wasting time and financial resources, not to mention the impaired productivity resulting from excessive employee turnover? The answer is employee engagement; it’s the best way to tackle this struggle, which has been further intensified by the Great Resignation. 

Employee engagement refers to all workplace factors contributing to encouraging outstanding employee performance and motivating them to be invested in the company’s success. Creating an engaged workforce requires purposeful and active measures on the part of the organization, like providing career development and upskilling opportunities, establishing a highly productive environment, and fostering an ownership attitude. 

How can you make sure that the efforts you’re making yield the expected results? This is where employee engagement surveys are particularly beneficial. If done correctly, they can empower you with valuable insights into how committed your employees are and what aspects of your workplace environment need improvement.

In this article, we'll look at employee engagement survey best practices. You’ll find ready-to-use examples of questions that can help you measure key areas of employee engagement. We’ll also share pro tips for conducting a successful and reliable survey that will tell you exactly how well your organization is performing.

Let’s dive deeper into the concept of employee engagement.

Elements of employee engagement

Engagement at the workplace has come to stand for increased productivity. In fact, it’s proven to drive customer engagement, enhanced retention, a reduced number of workplace accidents, improved employee health, and 21% higher profitability. 

Here are the elements that are critical to building employee engagement.

• Leadership is a factor of top priority for 77% of employees. In fact, trust in leaders results in 76% higher employee engagement
• Company culture is recognized as crucial for business success by 94% of leaders and 88% of employees, according to a Deloitte survey
• L&D is considered critical by 93% of millennials. With the right LMS, businesses can tap into this powerful modern trend and attract talent.
• The availability of opportunities for career growth is identified as key by 66% of workers
• Rewards and recognition are pointed out by 37% of survey respondents as highly motivational for improving their work. This approach can be blended with L&D to effect a shift to reward-based learning that offers great potential to keep your employees motivated and interested.

Now that you have a clearer idea of how important employee engagement is, it’s become obvious that measuring it through employee surveys is also vital.

Why is it important to conduct an employee engagement survey?

Employee engagement surveys help you understand what your employees think and feel about their workplace, which is particularly important when taking into account the challenges of managing a multi-generation workforce. What’s more,

• Employee engagement surveys will provide valuable insights into the efficiency of leadership, company policies, and culture. If tailored to a specific L&D program, an employee feedback survey can tell you if the training you’ve organized delivers on its promises. 
• Surveying your employees will help identify the areas that need improvement and how to improve them, i.e. by developing employee wellness programs. 
• Collecting effective feedback can help you achieve the goals you’ve set for your professional development and upskilling initiatives.  
• It builds a culture of feedback in your business, which is a way to increase employee engagement.

So, doing the employee engagement survey well is a win-win situation. It lets you know how committed your employees are while also contributing to improved engagement, as this is one of the most effective ways to tell your team that their opinion matters.

So, what questions do you have to ask to get the indicative and informative responses you need? Let’s take a look at the options suggested by the employee engagement survey best practices. 

Questions to include in your employee engagement survey

The questions in an employee engagement survey are designed to uncover whether or not employees feel connected to their work and whether they're happy with what they do. The results of this survey can be used to help you identify areas of improvement and make changes that will have a positive impact on your business. 

Here are some key questions you should consider including in an employee engagement survey.

Overall satisfaction

The following questions will help you find out how your employees feel about working in your company in general:

• Are you proud to work for {Company Name}?
• Were you excited about coming to work this morning?
• Would you recommend {Company Name} as a good company to work for?
• Are you satisfied with the payment and compensation policy of {Company Name}?
• Do you regularly check job openings in other organizations?
• Do you feel like what you do is meaningful and valuable?
• Do you see yourself still working for {Company Name} in three years’ time?

Provided the answers you collect are honest and open, you can measure the overall satisfaction with the company and its culture, which is an important parameter for all employees no matter what industry they work in.

Leadership

The following questions will help you gain a better understanding of the leadership style and practices within your organization and the way they are accepted by your employees.

• Does the management keep you and your teammates updated on company goals and achievements?
• Is your manager a role model for you and your teammates?
• Do you and your teammates take part in making organizational decisions?

Leaders have a significant impact on employee engagement, which is why it's important to include such questions when you design your survey.

L&D opportunities

Targeted survey questions for L&D opportunities include:

• Do you get regular training that helps you perform better at work?
• Do you apply what is included in your L&D programs in your day-to-day workplace activities? 
• Does the training in your company result in career development opportunities (pay rise/taking a higher position in the company/some other benefits)?
• Does everyone in {Company Name} have equal L&D opportunities?
• Do you feel more valued and confident after completing L&D programs at {Company Name}?
• Do you feel challenged at your work?
• Do you think you have career advancement opportunities at {Company Name}?

The answers gathered for this section of your survey will help you direct and adjust your future L&D efforts.

Rewards and recognition

• Do you get recognition for your achievements?
• Do you think {Company Name} offers effective incentives and rewards?

A good employee engagement survey should be short and easy to complete, but it should also address all of the important issues that affect an employee's job satisfaction. You may want to include additional questions about compensation, benefits, or other perks that employees receive from working for your company. Asking these questions in addition to those above will give you a more complete picture of how satisfied your employees really are.

Pro tips for a successful employee survey

The best employee surveys are short and sweet and easy to complete. Following employee engagement survey best practices will help you run it successfully and gain objective and true feedback. 

Here are some tested tips you can apply.

Make sure to get honest answers

Let your employees feel safe and free to answer the questions honestly. They may not want their boss or other colleagues to know they don't like something at work. Therefore, make sure to state clearly that all responses will remain anonymous unless your employees choose otherwise. 

Also, where possible, provide open-ended questions rather than multiple choice or yes/no questions because this will allow employees to express themselves more freely and give you more detailed information. In addition, make sure employees have enough time to take the survey. 

Collect feedback from different channels 

Use versatile channels for collecting feedback, such as email, instant messaging, and text messaging platforms. This approach will encourage your employees to participate in your surveys and polls, letting them send their replies using their preferred channel. You can now be sure you’ve done your best to give everyone in the company the opportunity to be heard.

A text messaging platform comes with dedicated SMS survey functionalities, survey templates, and analytic tools. You can easily set and send your surveys as bulk SMS or schedule them so they are automatically delivered to your employees. It enables you to check individual replies directly from the dashboard. 

Schedule regular employee engagement surveys

Introducing the practice of regular surveys is a great way to keep tabs on your employees and make them feel valued. You’ll be able to track the effectiveness of the measures you take to promote engagement and adjust them accordingly.

Make sure to incorporate the feedback your workers provide and let them know their opinion is important. This will make them more engaged and invested in your business achievements.

Get ready to make your business a talent magnet

Low employee engagement can lead to higher turnover rates, lower productivity, and less innovation in your company. And this is something you’d definitely want to avoid.

Start by gauging how happy and engaged your employees are at work. When done right, an employee engagement survey can help you understand your employees' feelings, needs, and motivations. It’s also great for measuring how well you're meeting your employees' expectations in every aspect and can be used as a benchmark for future improvement or as a reflection of what you've already accomplished.

All you need to do is follow the employee engagement survey best practices we discussed above and let your employees voice their opinion.