Feeling uncertain about the questions to ask for your upcoming employee survey? Worried about engaging your team and getting the insights necessary to drive meaningful change? If so, you’re not alone.
This blog is probably your perfect read right now because we’re diving into the world of employee surveys and highlighting the top 40 questions asked by our customers in 2023. We’ve taken these questions and organised them into question categories, making it easier for HR leaders to find the ones most relevant to their organisation’s needs.
What makes these questions useful is that they come directly from our customer data. That means they’re not just hypotheticals – they’re the real questions HR leaders are using to drive meaningful change within their organisations. We’ve also gone a step further and made them downloadable, so you can have them handy for your next survey. We’re ticking all the boxes on this one.
So whether you’re looking to boost engagement, improve communication, or enhance leadership effectiveness, you’ll find the questions to get the insights you need, right here.
Before you get started
One more thing before we jump right into the questions. For these survey questions, we recommend a 0-10 scale as it’s more sensitive to movement in scores, making it easier to measure the impact of actions being made off the back of feedback. Make sure you always have a neutral option—in this case, 5 out of 10—otherwise, results may become skewed as positive or negative.
Also make sure that, whatever scale you use, you stick with it; standardising this makes it easier for people to respond as they don’t have to keep thinking about what the descriptors on the scale represent.
Here’s Hive’s top 40…
Start making data-driven decisions about the future of your organisation
What makes work meaningful for your people?
In this section, we’re delving into the core elements that make work fulfilling and purposeful for employees. Because who wants a job without purpose?
These questions shine a light on various aspects of meaningful work, from understanding an employee’s role and expectations to feeling challenged and valued in the workplace.
In asking these questions, you’ll uncover insights that can help your organisation create an environment where employees feel a sense of purpose, fulfilment, and engagement in their work:
1. I know how my specific role contributes to the success of this organisations
2. I have a clear understanding of what is expected of me in my role
3. I believe I have everything I need to do my job to the best of my ability
4. Other departments collaborate well with us to get things done
5. We see mistakes here as an opportunity for learning
6. I have the level of freedom and autonomy that I would expect my role
7. I am able to apply my strengths and skills in the work I do
Having a clear understanding enables organisations to make informed decisions and implement strategies that enhance employee experience and satisfaction. Ultimately, creating an environment where employees feel a sense of purpose and fulfilment can lead to higher levels of engagement, productivity, and retention. All of which are crucial for the overall success and sustainability of the organisation.
Insights that help shape motivating managers
Ready for the next lot of questions? This question set focuses on motivating managers, providing a view of the dynamic between managers and employees. With the insights taken from these questions, HR leaders can fuel engagement and performance.
They offer a glimpse into the everyday interactions that make a manager more than just a boss—they’re mentors, advocates, and motivators.
8. My manager keeps me informed about what is happening across the business
9. My manager gives me useful feedback on how I am performing in my role
10. My manager is regularly checking-in with me to see how I’m doing
11. My manager encourages open, honest, two-way communication
12. My manager gives me positive feedback/praise when I perform well in my job
13. I am given tasks and responsibilities which challenge and stretch me
14. I feel comfortable voicing my opinions, even if they are different from my manager’s
15. I have good conversations with my manager regarding my performance and development
By exploring these aspects of the manager-employee relationship, HR leaders can identify areas where improvements are needed and implement strategies to strengthen engagement and performance across the organisation. It could be that managers require training in certain areas of their role so they can better support their team. I’m sure many of us have managers we can reflect back on for less positive reasons. And the impact of this can have an impact throughout a person’s career.
Gaining this insight can help with improving experience for employees and help them reach their potential – something any good manager should be supporting with.
Creating an irresistible Workplace
These next questions really get to the heart of creating an irresistible workplace for your people. They help HR leaders uncover what makes employees feel valued, appreciated, and eager to be a part of their workplace community.
They focus on the interpersonal dynamics, recognition, belongingness, and creative freedom within the organisation. After all, who doesn’t want to be a part of a workplace where they feel truly welcomed, and recognised for their contributions?
16. I have a good relationship with other people in my team
17. People are well recognised for their contributions here
18. I feel comfortable being myself when I’m at work
19. I feel like I truly belong here
20. I receive praise and recognition when I do a good job
21. I feel encouraged to think creatively and contribute new ideas here
22. I believe I am fairly rewarded for the work I do here
Exploring the insights that these questions will deliver, HR leaders can cultivate an environment where employees are not just satisfied, but truly inspired to do their best work. Include these in your next survey to begin creating a workplace that employees can’t resist being a part of.
Realising the potential of your people
Time to unlock the full potential of your people. And to do that, you’ll need to know the right questions to ask to empower them to thrive and unleash their capabilities within your organisation.
The questions below revolve around providing employees with:
- The necessary resources
- Trust
- Empowerment
- Career Pathways
Because when employees feel equipped, trusted and encouraged to grow, they can achieve remarkable results that drive your organisation forward.
23. I believe I have everything I need to do my job to the best of my ability
24. I feel trusted and empowered to achieve great things working here
25. I believe there are opportunities for me to develop my career here
26. The organisation is good at celebrating its successes
27. I feel encouraged to think creatively and contribute new ideas here
28. I am confident the business is heading in the right direction
By including these questions in your next survey, you can get the knowledge you need, straight from your employees that allows you to foster a culture of continuous learning, innovation and growth. With these questions, HR leaders can kick start their journey of realising the boundless potential of your people, and see the success this leads to for your organisation.
Questions for nurturing leadership and inspiring excellence
The next destination in our top 40 survey questions, lands us in the leadership and inspiration category. Here you’ll find the questions that shape the leadership landscape within your organisation and inspire employees to excel in their roles.
Asking these questions will provide an understanding of:
- Trust in senior leadership
- Transparency
- Alignment with the organisation’s mission
- Effective communication
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
Why is this important? Well, when leadership fosters trust, communicates openly, and champions diversity and inclusion, it sets the stage for a motivated and engaged workforce.
29. I trust our senior leaders to do what is right for the organisation
30. There is a sense of openness and transparency here
31. I’m inspired by the mission and purpose of this organisation
32. Our organisation does a good job of communicating the goals and strategies set by senior leadership
33. People of all cultures and backgrounds are respected and valued here
Giving these questions a place in your next survey will highlight what areas need to be improved upon to cultivate a culture of trust, transparency and inspiration.
Enhancing leadership effectiveness and fostering an environment where everyone feels respected, valued, and inspired to contribute their best will do wonders for your organisational performance.
For further reading about the impact of employee feedback on organisational success, have a read of these real life examples of impactful listening.
Understanding employee health and wellbeing
As we reach the end of our top 40 questions asked, the last section of survey questions look to address critical aspects of roles such as:
- Work-life balance
- Mental wellbeing
- Inclusivity
- Open communication about health
- Job security
- Inclusivity
When employees feel supported in these areas, they can thrive personally and professionally, and using these questions can help HR leaders achieve just that.
34. I am able to maintain a health work-life balance working here
35. I feel mentally well at the moment
36. I feel comfortable talking to people about my health and wellbeing
37. I feel I have good job security here
38. Our organisation treats everybody with dignity and respect, regardless of gender, race, sex
39. I feel comfortable raising concerns over my health and safety
40. I know I can count on my colleagues to help out when needed
These wellbeing related survey questions can uncover insights to help organisations create environments where employees feel valued, respected, and empowered to prioritise their health and wellbeing. These insights pave the way for the implementation of targeted initiatives and policies aimed at promoting employee wellbeing and fostering a supportive workplace culture that prioritises the health and happiness of its workforce.
Looking for more questions to further understand employee wellbeing? Grab your copy of our 10 wellbeing questions to support a healthy workforce.
Engagement Index questions
Yes, we know. We did say top 40. But we couldn’t help ourselves with providing some questions on how you can understand how the changes you make using these insights can impact employee engagement and happiness.
What is the Engagement Index? Glad you asked!
Hive’s Engagement Index is made up of the responses to 3 core questions measuring Pride, Advocacy and Loyalty across an organisation (measured on a scale of 0 to 10 with a result of 7 and above indicating a positive score). You can see these 3 questions below.
How likely are you to recommend our organisation as a good place to work?
I feel proud to work for this organisation
I rarely think about looking for a job with another company
The results of these questions provide a snapshot of how your employees are feeling. And if you want to go a step further, you can use Hive’s Quarterly Employee Engagement Benchmarking reports to see how your organisation stacks up against others in your industry, when it comes to employee engagement.
All set for your next survey
So to conclude, these top 40 survey questions offer a comprehensive toolkit for HR leaders seeking to enhance employee engagement, satisfaction, and overall wellbeing within their organisations.
By including these to your surveys, HR professionals can gain valuable insights into various aspects of the workplace, from meaningful work and motivating managers to leadership effectiveness and employee health.
Armed with these insights, organisations can implement targeted strategies to address areas for improvement, foster a positive work culture, and ultimately drive organisational success.
Whether you’re looking to boost employee engagement, improve communication, or enhance leadership effectiveness, these top 40 survey questions are your roadmap to success. Why not try adding them to your next employee survey? If you’d like to keep these handy, we have a downloadable version right here.
