Employee Engagement Surveys (EES) are one of the best ways to understand your employees motivation and engagement in the workplace. Gauging wellbeing and happiness in their environment means they are more likely to perform their best and achieve desired results. They also give you the data to respond to issues that the business may not be aware of. 

Regular surveys give an ‘over time’ insight into the effectiveness of key metrics put in place to resolve any problem areas. Not only are all these crucial points covered by an EES, but it also sends the message to employees that their wellbeing is of high importance. 

So, what are the right questions to ask to get to the bottom of any pain points? And how do you action the feedback? We have collated some tips below:

1. 1. The objective of the questions put to employees, is to understand if they are energised and engaged to put their best into their work. Questions can be split into individual satisfaction, alignment and future view themes. Example questions below:

• 1. • Satisfaction questions: Do you believe the organisation has your best interests in mind when making business decisions?
     • Do you feel excited about coming in to work?
     • Do you enjoy working with your team?
     • Would you recommend working for [business] to your friends?
     • Alignment questions: Do the businesses visions and values inspire you?
     • Do you believe you receive regular adequate communication with all employees?
     • Do you feel your manager / leadership team are invested in your success?
     • Does you receive appropriate recognition for your work?
     • Does the company culture offer a comfortable and supportive work environment?
     • Future view: Do you see a path for career progression?
     • Do you feel supported by your manager in your career aspirations?
     • Do you know how you fit into the organisations future plans?
  2.  Open ended questions also make up an important part of an EES. Being direct about possible pain points and asking for open feedback allows the business to ensure that they are aware of any key focus areas:
     •  What do we do well?
     • What could we improve on?
     • What do you enjoy most / least about your role?
     • Is there anything preventing you from doing your job well?
     • What changes have you seen since the last survey? (if applicable)
  3.  Work-Life balance is an important consideration in our fast paced world, featuring some questions on this will show employees that you consider this as an important factor in their wellbeing:
     • Do you get enough time to do your job well?
     • Do you find yourself working at evenings or weekends?
     • Are you often stressed with deadlines or workload?
  4.  Collating and actioning the feedback is possibly the most important part of the EES. Employees will only feel connected to the feedback process if they are going to see action or acknowledgement of their views. Some of the best ways of taking action are:
     • Create a transparancy report – showing the findings of the survey for the company to review will show that the feedback has been extensively reviewed and is being taken seriously
     • Employee led reviews – Ask all managers to review their anonymous feedback with their teams and hold a company wide meeting or call to cover off any key themes
     • Maintain communication – Regular comms on changes that have been actioned
     • Collaboration methods and continuous improvement – ensure leadership teams are promoting continuous workplace improvement and excellence with employee feedback in mind. Or look at creating employee led learning programmes. Encouraging collaboration and inspiration can be a great step to actioning feedback. 

The process of Employee Engagement is a continuous one that should evolve and grow with the company. Taking it seriously could have a great impact on employee performance, retention and ultimately results for your business. 

We hope you found this short guide useful. To learn more about our HR membership and how we can guide HR professionals with a safe and consistent network to learn and share these kinds of insights, please email [email protected].