"The only way to do great work is to love what you do.” - Steve Jobs

Engaged organizations are 21% more profitable and 17% more productive [Wellable].

In today's fast-paced business world, employee engagement is crucial. Using employee surveys, you can assess and enhance engagement to build a dedicated, motivated, and focused team, boosting productivity and profitability.

Surveys come in various types and serve multiple purposes, from pulse checks for routine feedback to in-depth analysis for improvements. Properly utilized survey results can drive positive changes for both the business and its employees, fostering adaptability and evolution alongside the workforce.

A Gallup study shows that companies with high employee engagement have a 10% higher rate of customer satisfaction, 21% higher productivity, and 22% higher profitability than workplaces with low engagement.

Understanding employee surveys

Employee surveys are well-organized questionnaires made to elicit insightful comments and feedback from employees.

These polls ask about a variety of parameters, including work-life balance, organizational culture, communication, and personal growth. They give employees a platform to voice their ideas, worries, and opinions, promoting open and honest dialogue between staff and management.

The advantages of employee surveys 

1. Improves employee engagement - Surveys measure employee engagement, helping management take proactive steps to boost commitment, dedication, and responsibility within the organization.

2. Gain insights into organizational health - Employee surveys provide valuable data about the organization's overall state, allowing managers to identify patterns, issues, and opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed.

3. Informed decision making - Survey results offer the necessary information for making focused adjustments, such as policy modifications, procedure optimizations, or employee development programs.

4. Reduced turnover - Employee surveys help identify the causes of unhappiness and turnover, enabling management to retain key employees and safeguard the company's success.

5. Fosters an inclusive culture - Giving every employee a voice, irrespective of their status, promotes inclusion, diversity, and a sense of belonging within the organization.

6 Types of Employee Surveys

Here are 5 key templates that reveal the heart-beat of your organization, and perform actionable follow-up steps accordingly.

Engagement surveys

These surveys help you assess the overall engagement levels of your employees. It helps you understnad how committed your employees are. And they're super useful for boosting your employees' morale and identifying areas for improvement.

Employee satisfactions surveys

Uncover the root causes of employee discontent. These surveys pave the way for swift solutions, turning dissatisfaction into a catalyst for positive change.

Onboarding surveys

The first impression is the most lasting. With onboarding surveys, you can refine the new hire experience based on feedback, ensuring each newcomer's journey starts right.

360-degree feedback surveys

Gain comprehensive insights into employee performance. 360-degree feedback surveys provide a platform for employees to work on their weaknesses and leverage their strengths based on well-rounded feedback from peers and managers.

Exit surveys

Departures hold hidden insights. Gathering feedback from employees on their way out helps you boost engagement, reduce turnover, and build a stronger organization.

Pulse surveys

The heartbeat of ongoing improvement. These frequent check-ins provide a steady stream of feedback, allowing you to swiftly address issues and maintain a workplace where positivity thrives.

8 Common Employee Survey Mistakes Organizations Make

A depiction of a fatigued employee being handed out multiple survey forms - Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik

Effective employee surveys are a valuable tool for organizations, offering a window into the pulse of their employees. However, a poorly executed survey can lead to misguided decisions and, potentially, disengagement among employees.

1. Overlooking the survey experience: Neglecting to let employees know the purpose of the survey and how it can drive improvement can lead to poorly filled responses. Apart from this, employees need to have a good surveying experience. Consider adding background images, colorful templates, and funny gif images to improve the surveying experience.

For example, ThriveSparrow's employee survey looks beautiful and aesthetic, enticing employees to complete a survey completely.

ThriveSparrow's Engagement Surveys
ThriveSparrow's Engagement Surveys

But, aesthetics alone won't help, the length and complexity of the survey matters too.

2. Long surveys: Creating surveys that are too long and complex, making it disengaging and boring for employees to complete.

3. Feedback blind spots: Overlooking the valuable insights tucked away in survey feedback data might result in gaps in your actionable follow-up plans. With ThriveSparrow's customizable reports, you gain access to a comprehensive feedback summary, including engagement trends and score distributions, which facilitates in-depth analysis of the feedback.

4. Procrastinating action: Delaying action on the feedback, which can impact employee engagement and morale.

5. Slacking on follow-up: Not following up quickly to resolve issues and track progress can erode employee trust and confidence.

6. Negative feedback aversion: Shying away from addressing areas with poor results can hinder improvement and growth within the organization.

7. Anonymity assurance: Forgetting to guarantee respondent anonymity, which could affect honest responses.

ThriveSparrow ensures employee survey anonymity in its platform that helps employees give their complete and honest feedback.

A screenshot of ThriveSparrow's Anonymous Survey Interpretations
A screenshot of ThriveSparrow's Anonymous Survey Interpretations

8. Transparency gaps: Missing the opportunity to share survey results and action plans transparently with the team.

ThriveSparrow's Employee Engagement Platform: An Effective Way to Measure What Your Employees Feel

ThriveSparrow's cutting-edge Employee Engagement Platform takes employee surveys to the next level. With its user-friendly interface and advanced data capabilities, it empowers organizations to:

  1. Create and share data-backed surveys in just 2 minutes.
  2. Gain real-time insights into employee sentiment.
  3. Address emerging issues and capitalize on positive trends.
  4. Identify and evaluate department-specific engagement levels using Heatmaps.

Share and analyze surveys with ease, and view department wise engagment levels with Heatmaps.

ThriveSparrow's Heatmap module

The value of Employee Feedback: Its Impact on Organizations

Employee feedback is a potent instrument that has benefits beyond the obvious ones. It serves as a catalyst for development, enhancement, and teamwork inside the organization.

Here are some benefits of employee feedback:

  1. Constructive criticism: Helps employees understand their strengths and areas for improvement.
  2. Engagement and empowerment: Elevates motivation and engagement by showing employees that their opinions matter.
  3. Informed decision making: Provides essential data for informed decision-making at all organizational levels.
  4. Constant development: Facilitates ongoing improvement by identifying areas for change.
  5. Stronger team dynamics: Fosters a positive and cooperative work environment through honest communication.
  6. Tailored upskilling: Identifies high-potential employees and areas requiring further training.
  7. Innovation and creativity: Encourages innovation and creative problem-solving.
  8. Reduced turnover: Addresses employee concerns proactively, enhancing retention rates.
  9. Positive organizational culture: Promotes a culture of openness and trust.
  10. Customer satisfaction: Engaged employees lead to improved customer relations and increased client loyalty.

Questions Asked in an Employee Survey

The following are typical questions that could be asked in a survey. However, the kind of questions and format is ultimately your choice.

If you need to, copy and paste these questions onto your notepad, and you can refer to them later and fine tune them accordingly.

  1. Do you receive helpful criticism from your boss? 
  2. Do your coworkers provide you with timely feedback? 
  3. Does your boss commend you for your efforts when you succeed?  
  4. Do you believe the hiring and firing procedure is fair?  
  5. Do your team members support you in completing your everyday work and encourage participation? 
  6. Does the company value collaboration and participation highly? 
  7. Do the people on your team contribute to your success as a business? 
  8. Do your team members accept your recommendations? 
  9. Do you see a positive career goal and growth in this organization? 
  10. Are you properly trained when implementing new systems/tools/software? 
  11. What suggestions does your supervisor give you? 
  12. Does your supervisor seem interested in your progress?  
  13. Do you feel your organization supports a healthy work-life balance? 
  14. Do you think the amount of work assigned to you is reasonable? 
  15. Do you feel that your work creates unwanted tension in your personal life?  
  16. Are you able to devote enough time to your family? 
  17. Is your supervisor professional and cordial when dealing with you?  
  18. Are you satisfied with the organization's reward and recognition practices? 
  19. Do you feel that favoritism is not a problem in the organization?  
  20. Do you feel that management treats all employees equally in the organization?

Final thoughts

Employee engagement is a cornerstone of organizational growth, and employee surveys play a pivotal role in achieving it.

These surveys empower employees to provide genuine feedback, shaping a culture of continuous improvement and driving innovation and harmony within organizations.

If you've found this blog useful, consider sharing it with your colleagues. Promote collective engagement and growth together.

To really finetune the employee experience, managers could ask key questions to assess their employees' sentiment and morale.

Happy Surveying! 🙂

FAQs

1. What are employee feedback surveys?

Employee feedback surveys is a valuable tool for organizations to assess how their employees feel, pinpoint opportunities for enhancement, and promote transparent communication between leaders and their team members. These surveys usually include a series of inquiries, spanning diverse subjects, and can encompass both structured (quantitative) and open-ended (qualitative) questions.

2. What are employee satisfaction surveys?

Employee satisfaction surveys are typically use by organizations to measure and understand the level of contentment and happiness among their employees. These surveys typically consist of a series of questions that cover various aspects of work such as job satisfaction, work-life balance, compensation, and benefits.

By collecting feedback from employees through these surveys, organizations can gain insights into their employees' perceptions, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions to enhance the overall employee experience.