Tips to create an employee survey that boosts engagement

Increase profitability, work quality, employee productivity, and employee retention rates. These are just a few of the potential benefits businesses experience with highly engaged employees. Conducting employee surveys is an essential tool for organizations to gauge employee engagement while also gaining valuable insights in their workforce. 

Keep reading or watch the podcast episode (with guest Melanie Tinto, who is chief human resources officer at WEX) below to learn the importance of employee surveys and how you can launch one that will make a difference for you.

Why are employee surveys important? 

The insights that employees give in these surveys help foster a culture of trust, openness, and collaboration, leading to the business outcomes you want to achieve. These surveys can also identify issues and concerns, which in turn can help prevent them from escalating. 

Surveys also focused on employee benefits provide valuable insights into how well a company’s benefits align with employees’ needs. This feedback can offer benefits for attracting and retaining top talent. By using the data, organizations can create a more engaged, satisfied, and motivated workforce. 

Tips and tricks for a successful employee survey

Get buy-in

Clearly communicate the purpose of the survey, potential value, and how this survey aligns to your business to get the buy-in you need from key leaders in your company. Invite these key leaders to participate in the survey design process. 

Decide what tool to use 

This all depends on the needs, what the survey is about, and the budget. Some things to consider:

• Ease of use
• Scalability
• Data analysis capabilities
• Data security

Determine the right questions to ask

Questions are directly related to survey goals. Deciding what questions to ask can be a difficult task. Think about the three C’s:

•  Clear
• Concise
• Comprehensible

Consider a mixture of questions such as closed-ended multiple choice or open-ended questions. Mixing up the questions can get more engagement from the employees, and each question gives a different data. Closed-ended questions provide quantifiable data, and the open-ended questions shed insight to what employees have on their mind. Also, be mindful of how long the survey will take. 

Grab employees attention to participate

Anonymous questions are a must for engagement! Confidentiality will bring honest opinions, which also entice the employees to participate. Providing reminders and frequent updates also help with participation.

Information gathered from the employee survey

The information and data collected from the employee survey can drive positive change and inform decision-making within an organization. Employers/HR professionals should analyze the data from the employee surveys to align with the goals of the survey. Finding trends and common themes can show either problems or solutions from what the main goal of the survey was about. Picking out the key areas which require attention or highlights should be prioritized. 

A key note: When the results are in, make sure to share it with the leadership team first, then to employees. Always be transparent about the data! 

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The information in this blog post is for educational purposes only. It is not legal or tax advice. For legal or tax advice, you should consult your own legal counsel, tax and investment advisers. 

WEX receives compensation from some of the merchants identified in its blog posts. By linking to these products, WEX is not endorsing these products.