Understanding employee opinions is a major opportunity for organizations to support overall success. Beyond the questions and data, lies a deeper purpose.
Employee opinion surveys are more than just questionnaires.
These tools create insight used to build a more connected, fulfilling, and productive workplace. The insights and recommendations used from employee research help spark transformations, redefine priorities, and shape workplace culture.
But to be truly impactful, organizations must ask the best employee opinion survey questions to drive real organizational change.
Keep reading to learn what our employee engagement survey company recommends asking.
What Is An Employee Opinion Survey?
An employee opinion survey is a tool used to gather feedback from employees of an organization. Typically, these surveys can range from 10 to 50 questions depending on the goals and objectives of the organization.
Oftentimes, employee opinion surveys are conducted on a routine basis such as once every 1 to 2 years. But, it all depends on the needs of the organization.
For instance, if there is a change in leadership or ownership, this may require an impromptu employee opinion survey to gather feedback on a more relevant topic.
Our Best Employee Opinion Survey Questions To Ask
Below is an overview of questions to consider including in an employee opinion survey.
Remember, employee opinion surveys can be uniquely customized based on the goals/objectives of the organization. In this regard, it can be extremely beneficial to use a third party for employee surveys.
A market research company like Drive Research can help uncover the questions that will best fit your organization.
Without further ado, here are the best employee opinion survey questions to ask your team.
1. How likely are you to recommend [Example Company] as a place to work? Select a rating.
Employee net promoter score (eNPS) is a useful question to ask in an employee survey because it 1) provides insight into employee satisfaction and engagement and 2) the results can be compared to industry benchmarks.
Learn more about employee net promoter scores in the brief video below.
2. Please explain why you rated [Example Company] as a [insert response] out of 10. Enter your response below.
After creating an eNPS, the next question is to identify what drives that score. Asking a follow-up question to request the reasoning for the rating is a great way to understand drivers to eNPS. The results can help users understand what is working and what is a priority area for improvement.
3. How has your job satisfaction with [Example Company] changed over the past 12 months? Select one.
Never asked an employee opinion survey before, or perhaps it has been a while since your last survey? This question provides insight into how employee satisfaction has changed over the past year which adds insight to the data.
The answer selections should look something like...
Working at [Example Company] now is…
- Much better
- Somewhat better
- The same
- Somewhat worse
- Much worse
- Not applicable
4. How does [Example Company] compare to employment at other organizations? Select one.
After understanding eNPS and how satisfaction has changed over the past year, consider how employees compare their satisfaction to other organizations they have worked for. Again, this will help identify potential attrition issues.
The answer selections should look something like...
Working at [Example Company] is…
- Much better
- Somewhat better
- The same
- Somewhat worse
- Much worse
- No experience with other organizations
5. When you think about working at [Example Company], what word comes to mind? Enter your responses below.
Asking top-of-mind words or phrases can be insightful in understanding the perception of the organization among employees. Responses could range from work, stress, fun, family, and challenges.
6. If you could change one thing about [Example Company] to improve your satisfaction as an employee, what would it be? Enter your response below.
This is another powerful question to consider including in an employee opinion survey. It can uncover key improvements among employees and help organizations prioritize the next steps.
7. Are you satisfied with the pay and benefits at [Example Company]?
Inquiring about pay and benefits is absolutely key to ask when measuring employee opinions. Both pay levels and benefits packages have direct links to the satisfaction levels of employees and their opinion of your business.
8. Do you find your specific tasks at work challenging?
Asking this provides insight on both ends of the spectrum. Employees can share if the work they're doing is too simplified for their role, or if their tasks are becoming too challenging for them.
From there, the proper adjustments can be made to their workloads.
9. Does leadership at [Example company] provide encouragement?
Checking in on how leadership interacts with team members can shed light on employee engagement feedback. Positive reinforcement from company leaders ensures staff feel motivated and inspired to put in hard work.
10. How would you describe your work environment?
No surprise why we'd ask this question when gauging employee opinion. A negative work environment has a direct effect on staff morale, just as a positive environment would (with two very different outcomes). Asking this question will help companies understand the overall feel of the workplace.
11. How would you rate your general knowledge of [Example company's] mission?
Understanding their company's overall mission and values plays an important role in how engaged an employee is. If they align with these values, staff are much more likely to put in hard work.
12. Do you ever find your work negatively affecting your personal life?
Employee well-being makes or breaks opinions about a company. When staff feel they can't devote enough time to personal duties because of workloads, something's way off.
13. How would you rate your work-life balance?
Of course, being able to handle work tasks effectively sets the stage for a healthy work-life balance. That said, poor ability to handle this balance can create a strain on an employee's mental health. It's important workplaces provide spaces where employees can discuss navigating their ideal workload.
14. Do you feel [Example company] fosters a positive workplace culture?
Improving workplace culture is key to driving high employee opinion of a workplace. Even businesses with the "best" culture can always benefit from making improvements. A positive culture creates an overall sense of openness among employees.
15. Do you think [Example company] gathers enough employee feedback?
At this point, you know how important it is to run employee surveys. Doing so gathers key information about how a workplace can improve and create a better environment for staff.
16. Do you feel [Example company] is moving in a positive direction?
It's important to see how staff view the success of their company. If they feel the company is stagnant and not growing, this can negatively affect their opinion of it. Feedback on this is helpful in understanding how a business can continue to move forward.
17. Do you feel your opinions are valued by relevant leadership/management teams?
If the employees answer "no" to this, then the company needs to spend time correcting this. Employees who have no voice are often frustrated with their company, not only leading to a poor opinion but to lower productivity rates as well.
18. How collaborative are teams within [Example company]?
Successful companies understand the importance of collaboration between teams. If employees are never connecting with one another and need to work on projects together, this poses a major issue. Good collaboration skills ensure all projects run smoothly across teams and promote good outcomes.
19. Do you feel [Company name] is transparent with employees about overall business functions?
Transparency is key for a business that values employees. Gaining employee trust is an essential step to a thriving brand. Staff notice and appreciate when their company spends time keeping them in the loop.
20. Do you have any final thoughts or comments? Enter your response below. Please note: You can skip this question.
Lastly, it’s important to include a space for employees to leave additional comments and feedback. Remember, the purpose of the survey is to learn what the organization could do to improve job satisfaction. So, providing a space for additional feedback is useful.
Why Are Employee Opinion Surveys Important?
Insight into Employee Satisfaction
First and foremost, surveys to measure employee opinion are essential because they provide insight into key functions that influence satisfaction. For example, these surveys measure many different attributes related to employee satisfaction. These include everything from management to company culture to workplace environment.
Identifying Issues
Surveys are ideal for allowing staff to share their true opinions due to their anonymous design. By ensuring anonymity, employees can be open about their opinions on workload sizes, communication breakdowns, or dissatisfaction with certain policies or procedures. It's key these are discovered early on, so the necessary changes can be made.
Employee Engagement
Employees who are engaged are simply more committed to their duties and overall business functions. Running surveys can measure the level of employee engagement and target issues that may be hindering it. With this data, businesses can create better strategies to encourage productivity.
Data-Driven Decision Making
Surveys can also offer plenty of quantitative data to businesses. This data highlights major trends within the company, ensuring leadership teams stay on top of current patterns. Doing this allows them to make clear decisions around policies, procedures, and related initiatives that boost employee satisfaction rates.
Benchmarking and Comparison
Running surveys is a great way to benchmark data, too. This means the company running the surveys can compare data against industry standards, giving them insight as to where they stand. What's more, this data will tell businesses where they can improve services.
Communication and Transparency
Employee surveys also show staff that businesses value their opinion--a key factor in improving their opinions about a company. It's also a good idea to share survey results with employees to ensure they know what's happening within the company.
How We Do Employee Opinion Surveys At Drive Research
Our approach to employee opinion surveys at Drive Research is to customize the survey and methodology to best fit the needs of your organization.
For example, this means customizing the survey questions as needed to best meet the objectives, how fieldwork is conducted (i.e., online, via kiosk, text, paper/form), and reporting deliverables.
While the Drive Research approach to employee opinion surveys is customized, our process for conducting research is consistent. It all starts with a kickoff meeting to align the teams before diving into survey drafting, fieldwork, analysis, and reporting.
Recommended Reading: Conducting a Workplace Survey in 8 Steps
Employee Opinion Survey Best Practices
By now, you understand why it's so important to gather insight around employee opinions.
This data has the ability to shed light on any lurking issues within a company that may be leading to frustrated, unhappy employees. It allows businesses to make informed decisions they can feel 100% about.
Common practices for this type of survey include:
- Keeping surveys short: Online surveys shouldn't go past 10 minutes--the sweet spot is around 5 to 7 minutes, especially for a staff survey. Employees don't have much extra time, so ensuring surveys are fairly short will result in higher response rates.
- Ensure anonymity: Employees are far more likely to respond truthfully when their answers can't be traced back to them, it's that simple. That way, companies can be sure they're receiving accurate data.
- Hire a third-party team: An outsourced team like Drive Research will ensure your employees receive a relevant, quality online survey. A solid research team will also ensure important security measures and actionable data.
Frequently Asked Questions About Employee Opinion Surveys
What are the benefits of employee opinion surveys?
While there are many benefits to employee opinion surveys, the top three include:
- It’s a cost-effective way to gather important employee feedback anonymously
- It gathers metrics for key performance indicators (KPIs) related to employee satisfaction so organizations can compare themselves to industry benchmarks and themselves over time
- It identifies priority areas for improvements to enhance employee satisfaction and reduce attrition.
Are employee opinion surveys anonymous?
Yes. Ensuring employee confidentiality is extremely important for employee opinion surveys. Safe to say, risking confidentiality puts the whole employee survey process into question. This would likely create bias when completing the survey and impact future response rates.
Contact Our Employee Opinion Survey Company
By listening to employees through opinion surveys, your organization will be able to continuously improve workplace culture, satisfaction, and retention. And we can help!
Drive Research is a national market research company specializing in Voice of Employee research. We have a combined 80+ years of experience creating and developing employee opinion surveys. We'll work with you each step of the way to ensure you receive quality, actionable data.
To learn more about our market research services, get in touch with us through any of the ways below.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Emily Taylor
As Director of Operations, Emily does more than wrangle data. Her work includes executing company OKRs, company-wide project management, training/onboarding, team culture initiatives, and more!
Learn more about Emily, here.
