First published on Friday, January 6, 2023
Last updated on Wednesday, December 18, 2024
Engaged employees are more productive and provide value to your workforce. The more productive your workforce, the more successful your business will be.
An easy way to measure engagement in your business is through employee engagement surveys. They are used to determine if your employees are engaged in their work and give them a forum to express any concerns. It is important that you obtain feedback to better your workplace culture.
In this guide, we’ll explain what an employee engagement survey is, why it's important, and how to conduct surveys on employee engagement.
Understanding employee engagement
Employee engagement is a measure of how invested an employee is in your company’s organisational goals. It can be described by the following:
Employees absorbed in and enthusiastic about their work
Employees finding a great sense of meaning in what they are doing
Employees looking for opportunities to learn and grow
Employees looking forward to the success of the company
In sum, employee engagement can be best described as your employees bringing their best selves to work every day. This can help contribute to your company’s success. The best way to find out how engaged employees are is to conduct a survey on employee engagement.
What is an employee engagement survey?
An employee engagement survey is a questionnaire that can help you assess the engagement of your employees. It can be delivered either electronically or manually.
The objective of an employee engagement survey is to keep up to date on employee productivity, retention, workplace culture, and overall happiness.
The formats of employee engagement surveys can vary and may differ across departments within a single business.
For example, a survey for employees who exclusively work from home may cater towards mental health whereas a survey for employees who work in the office may cater towards office practice.
It's important that you assess the best strategy when deploying engagement surveys in your company. Doing so can help you obtain the most effective information.
Why are employee engagement surveys important?
Employee engagement surveys can have a large impact on your company’s success. A survey can help you:
Identify where your company needs improvement
Give employees a venue to voice concerns
Build rapport with employees
Receive feedback to initiate change
Understand where your company excels
Cultivate an engaged workforce
How to conduct an employee engagement survey in the workplace?
Designing an effective employee engagement survey requires research and careful thought.
You may wish to consider professional demographics (i.e. position level or tenure) and personal characteristics (i.e. gender or age). This can help you formulate a list of questions that reflects your workforce and doesn’t discriminate.
It is best to keep the survey simple. Employees will need to understand how to answer the questions and you, or your managers, need to understand how to read the report.
How often should employee engagement surveys be conducted?
Once your company has developed an employee engagement survey, it is best to conduct them one or twice annually to keep results up to date. You can also send out other types of surveys in between.
If you overdo employee engagement surveys, staff may feel fatigued and disinterested in the process.
What kind of questions are in an employee engagement survey?
For the most part, employee engagement surveys are yes or no questions. They may also contain questions that are scale-based, to measure your employee’s engagement more accurately.
You can also insert open ended questions to help create a discussion. Here you can ask about any grievances or issues that they may have with their employment or the workplace culture.
Employee engagement surveys should take no more than 20 minutes to complete. Any longer and employees may experience ‘survey fatigue’.
Common employee engagement survey questions
You can use the following employee engagement survey questions to help you gauge your employee’s engagement in your company.
For example:
Do you find your work meaningful to the company?
Do you feel that your accomplishments are recognized by your peers or managers?
Do you feel excited coming to work?
Are you proud of the organisation?
Do you recommend working for the company to friends or acquittances?
Do you enjoy working with a team?
Does the company culture foster a comfortable, supportive work environment?
Do you see a path for career growth at our company?
Do you have the tools to reach your potential here?
In addition to the above, you can also ask open-ended questions, which include:
What practices do we need to change?
Are there any issues with the workplace culture?
Is there anything that you feel is missing in our company?
What should you do with the results of the survey?
Once you have collected and analysed the data that you received from your surveys, it's time to present your findings to your workforce. You can easily communicate this through team meetings or by sending a detailed email about the results.
When presenting the employee engagement survey results, it's important that you highlight the areas of improvement and any actions you intend to take.
Get advice on employee engagement surveys with BrightHR
Utilizing employee engagement surveys is a great way to gauge your workforce’s engagement in your company. It is important that you proactively measure employee engagement to ensure workplace morale has not dipped.
Low employee engagement may lead to increased employee turnover and poor workplace culture.
If you need assistance with creating or implementing an employee engagement survey in your business, our 24/7 HR advice service allows you to receive quality advice on any employment issues you may have.
Contact us on 1 300 029 198 or book a demo today.
