Have you ever wondered what your employees really think and feel? Whether you want to measure individual, departmental, location-specific, or organization-wide attitudes, an employee survey can help you gauge where you stand.
On an individualized basis or in the aggregate, employee surveys help businesses measure what they’re doing right, what they can improve on, and what to focus on next. No matter what you need to know, an employee survey can deliver insights that incite and inspire change.
In this post, we’ll explore a few of the many, many types of employee surveys available to organizations like yours.
3 Key takeaways for you to know:
- Surveys have the ability to address various aspects of employee experience, from satisfaction and understanding of roles to burnout prevention and readiness for change.
- Employee surveys serve as a powerful mechanism for generating insights that drive organizational growth.
- It’s important to customize surveys to meet specific organizational goals and challenges.
Things to Keep in Mind Before Starting Your Employee Surveys
Before launching an employee survey, there are a few key considerations to keep in mind. The goal is to ensure the survey is well-designed and provides valuable insights.
- Define Clear Objectives
- Establish Feedback Metrics
- Determine Survey Frequency
- Leverage Survey Tools
- Choose Effective Question Styles
- Types of Employee Surveys
Types of Employee Surveys
There are endless types of employee surveys. Great software, like Peoplelytics, can provide access to tens of pre-made company surveys on a wide range of topics, aimed at answering questions you need to understand to grow as an organization.
Perhaps the most important thing about the employee surveys you utilize, however, is how you use them. You can customize your employee survey settings to accomplish your organization’s unique goals. You can:
- Decide whether you want to send out a one-time survey, or re-issue the survey on a recurring basis in order to measure changing attitudes or perceptions over time, or following a change.
- Choose whether to collect survey responses anonymously or access respondent identities.
- Customize survey questions to appear to different departments, roles, locations, or levels within your organization.
If You Have a Question, Data has an Answer.
Employee surveys aim to answer questions you need to understand in order to grow and succeed as an organization. Sometimes, however, the breakdown and analysis of your organization’s unique data will answer questions you didn’t know you had.
The most common employee surveys are built to answer an organization’s most pressing human resources questions:
“Are our employees happy here?”
This question gets to the heart of what your HR team and leadership really want to know: how are our employee-facing choices affecting our team individually and as a whole? There’s a fine line between striving to improve your bottom line and ensuring your team is on board to help you achieve your goals for the long haul. These employee survey types can help you determine exactly where you stand:
- Employee satisfaction surveys
- Employee recognition surveys
- Belonging and inclusion surveys
- Employee morale surveys
- Employee retention and loyalty surveys
- Employee eNPS (net promoter score) survey
“Do our employees understand their role?”
You can pour endless time, money, and other limited resources into training, onboarding, and orientation processes, and still have the answer to this key question remain shrouded in mystery. A fundamental understanding of an employee’s responsibilities (and how their success in their role helps the organization achieve its broader goals) is key to your company’s success. See if your team is on the same page with the following employee survey types:
- Employee onboarding surveys
- Employee responsibility clarity surveys
- Employee training surveys
- Employee learning and development surveys
“What can we do better?”
Feedback is key to improving your internal and external processes, even if that feedback is negative or critical. Some of your most honest feedback may come from employees who departed your organization or from individuals who interviewed with you and chose, for whatever reason, not to join your team. Break down what you can do better in the future with these unique surveys:
- Employee exit surveys
- Applicant experience surveys
“Are our employees burned out?”
“Burnout” is classified in the 11th Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-11) as an “occupational phenomenon” that spawns from continually mismanaged (or totally unmanaged) workplace stressors. Managers understand that eliminating burnout at work is key to holding onto the best employees. However, understanding where and when burnout might occur, and how to stop it, can be tricker. According to the Harvard Business Review, employee burnout is preventable, but only if employers lean into “better data.” Collect the critical data that can help you prevent burnout using these employee surveys:
- Employee work-life balance surveys
- Employee bandwidth survey
- Employee hybrid or remote work satisfaction survey
“Are we competitive in the job market?”
In a candidate’s job market, are you ready to compete? Employee surveys can help you understand how your employees feel about their compensation. Data can help to prepare your organization for whether you should explore matching the “going rates” at competing firms.
Whether they’re directly asked or not, some employees may feel uncomfortable discussing compensation with their managers. Other employees, especially those with private medical concerns, may be reluctant to enquire about improved or more comprehensive benefits. To find out more (whether anonymously or not), lean into data from the following surveys:
- Employee compensation surveys
- Employee benefits surveys
- Employee return to work surveys
“Are our employees performing at their highest levels?”
If asked by their direct managers or supervisors, employees may feel inclined to tell you that they’re doing their best. Self-conducted performance evaluations often skew positively, with employees feeling reluctant to disclose issues they struggle with out of fear surrounding job security, bonus pay, or other concerns. The following employee surveys can help you garner open and honest information about employee productivity, so you can start to close the gaps:
- Employee engagement surveys
- Employee productivity surveys
- Employee motivation surveys
- Employee performance surveys
- Employee time management survey
“What do our employees think of our organization?”
You know that your employees’ perception matters; it’s what keeps employees engaged, encouraged, and productive—and what keeps everything else in the organization working in alignment. Measuring this perception can be tricky, but these surveys can help you paint an accurate picture of how your employees see your company:
- Organizational culture perception surveys
- Employee pulse surveys
- Employee management perception survey
- Employee confidence survey
- Employee feedback surveys (anonymous or not!)
Leverage employee feedback in your HR strategy
Get detailed insights and AI-powered recommendations with eNPS surveys and employee surveys sent through Peoplelytics.
“Where are our knowledge gaps and silos?”
Are your departments sharing knowledge in a way that protects and improves your organization? If certain functions or departments house knowledge that isn’t shared throughout the company, you may have what’s known as a “silo,” or a reluctance, whether purposeful or not, to share processes and other useful information with others within your organization. If left unaddressed, silos can be detrimental to the synergies and workflows within your team. Consider the following employee survey types to help you identify and correct potential silo vulnerabilities:
- Employee collaboration survey
- Employee innovation survey
- Team communication surveys
- Employee cross-training surveys
“Are our company values and goals shared by our employees?”
Does your company have a set of values? If so, do your employees understand them, embrace them, and ultimately, share them? If asked, they’ll likely report that they do, but employee survey data can reveal a different picture. Use the following employee surveys to determine alignment:
- Employee goal setting surveys
- Employee culture alignment surveys
- Employee value surveys
- Employee compliance awareness and understanding surveys
“Do our employees have what they need to succeed?”
For many reasons, employees may be reluctant to disclose that they could use a hand. Whether your team would benefit from a better understanding of your safety protocols, or an individual would be more productive with the right equipment, employee surveys can offer your team members a space to really think about what they need at work.
- Employee support surveys
- Employee equipment surveys
- Employee knowledge surveys
- Employee safety surveys
- Employee amenities and facilities surveys
“Are our employees ready for future changes within our organization?”
Do you have big changes coming up within your company? Are you facing a potential merger, or are you ready to explore internal promotion efforts? Have you recently gone through a significant change, like a divestment, acquisition, or merger? To ensure a smooth transition (and prevent whiplash), take stock of your employee’s opinions and readiness to embrace change with the following employee surveys:
- Employee cross-training interest surveys
- Employee integration surveys
- Employee readiness surveys
- Employee career development surveys
- Employee growth surveys
- Employee change management perception surveys
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Let’s Recap
Employee surveys are powerful tools that offer organizations invaluable insights into their workforce’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions. By leveraging various types of surveys, tailored to address specific organizational goals and challenges, businesses can uncover areas of strength, areas for improvement, and potential opportunities for growth.
Whether it’s understanding employee satisfaction, clarifying roles and responsibilities, preventing burnout, or aligning with company values, the diverse range of employee surveys discussed in this article provides a comprehensive framework for gathering actionable feedback.
By embracing the insights gained from these surveys, organizations can foster a culture of continuous improvement, enhance employee engagement, and ultimately drive success in today’s dynamic and competitive business landscape.
Get started with your employee surveys through our free demo!
