10 Employee Engagement Survey Questions You Should Ask

Create impactful employee engagement surveys that drive meaningful insights, improve morale, and boost workplace productivity.

December 18, 2024
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There are 300 more icebreaker questions at the bottom of the article
How would you describe your job to a five year old?
What season would you be?
What is a weird food you have tried? Would you eat it again?
What is your favorite holiday tradition?
Would you go in the mother-ship with aliens if they landed on Earth tomorrow?
What is your favorite season?
Do prefer working from home or the office?
What is your earliest memory of this job?
What is the best thing you have bought so far this year?
What is the earliest book you remember?
If you had to move to another country, which one would you choose?
You are the best criminal mastermind in the world. What crime would you commit if you knew you would get away with it?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
What was the last thing you ate?
What person from history would you add to Mount Rushmore?
What is a weird fact you know?
What is your favorite part of working from home?
Were the Spice Girls a good team?
Imagine you can instantly learn any language. Which would you choose?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Which fictional team is the best team of all time?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
What do you usually eat for a quick lunch?
What simple food will you never eat?
Show us the weirdest thing you have in the room with you right now.
Would you rather stay at a hotel or an AirBNB?
What is your favorite movie genre to watch?
Are you more productive in the morning or at night?
Who is someone in your community that makes a difference?
Who was your most unique pet?
Choose one famous person from history you want on your team during a zombie apocalypse.
What is a good way to give back to the community?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
Is Hugh Grant funny?
What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast?
Would you want to have an imaginary friend today? Did you have one as a child?
What actor or actress would you want to play you in the movie about your life?
What is the best super power?
What is your New Years resolution?
You can only eat one food again for the rest of your life. What is it?
What is the best work holiday?
What is the first gift you remember receiving?
Would you rather join Metallica or Backstreet Boys?
What is the best example of a community you have seen?
What is an easy way to do something nice for someone?
Show us your phone background and tell the story behind why you picked this image.
What was your first job?
Pick any band to play at your funeral.
If you could have an unlimited supply of one thing for the rest of your life, what would you pick?
Which superpower would you give to your arch enemy?
What is the most obscure superpower you would want?
What emoji best describes how you are feeling right now?
If you could live in any country, which country would you pick?
Would you rather live in a city or a town?
What is your favorite holiday?
What is something you accomplished as part of a team?
What is your standard office lunch?
What is your most used phone app?
What is your favorite season?
Have you ever won something as a team?
Imagine you are a professional baseball player. What is your introduction song?
Beach holiday or ski trip?
Have you ever been to a funny comedy show?
Would you rather live at the North Pole or the South Pole?
What is your favorite song to sing?
If you could live in any state, which state would you pick?
Imagine you could teleport anywhere. Where would you go right now?
What is the most unusual job you have heard of?
What was the last thing you ate?
You can visit any fictional time or place. Which would you pick?
What do your family and friends think you do all day?
What movie do you wish you could watch again for the first time?
Show us your most-used emoji.
What was the most unique style or fashion trend you ever embraced?
What movie defined your generation?
You are stranded on a remote desert island. Are you alone or with your worst enemy?
What is your favorite knock-knock joke?
Have you ever told someone Santa is not real?
Do you know how to speak more than one language?
On a scale of 1 – 10, how much of a team player are you?
What is your #1 recommendation in this city?
What is your favorite holiday?
What bucket list item do you most want to check off in the next six months?
What is your favorite mythical creature?
What was the first way you made money?
If you could be great at any Olympic sport, which would it be?
Which song could you listen to over and over again?
When did you start liking/hating mushrooms?
Where is your favorite vacation spot?
Do you take your PTO all at one time, or another way?
Which show do you remember most from your childhood?
Which beverage goes best with pizza?
Would you want to have a personal assistant follow you around everywhere and do what you asked of them?
Have you ever met your idol?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Would you rather live 100 years in the past or 100 years in the future?
What is your hobby?
When you are alone in the car, what volume is the music at?
Imagine you no longer have to work. How would you spend a Tuesday?
What is your favorite type of sandwich?

Every company wants an engaged workforce, yet it's often a hassle to achieve a high employee engagement rate. Why?

Could it be that the employee engagement surveys aren't fulfilling employees' needs? Or could it be that many companies are asking redundant questions?

It's no longer good enough for companies to pay their employees for time worked. Employees are also looking for emotional satisfaction from their job - to feel like part of a team.

Employee engagement surveys are crucial for any business to succeed and an excellent way to get honest employee feedback. These surveys can help you uncover employee engagement issues and develop strategies for improving employee recognition, morale, and retention.

A well-executed employee engagement survey can help determine the level of employee-organization connection, along with how to leverage your human capital to solve some of your most important business objectives.

This article will explore all you need to curate valuable employee engagement survey questions.

Why Should I Use an Employee Engagement Survey?

Employee engagement surveys are a great way to get an overall snapshot of how your employees feel about their jobs. They help you gauge the pulse of your company culture, identify areas where improvement is needed, and motivate employees to take action.

They are a powerful yet simple way to gain in-depth insight. Companies can use them in all stages of the employee lifecycle: hiring, onboarding, training and development, performance management, etc.

There are many reasons why you should use an employee engagement survey. Here are the most important ones:

  1. Motivation

It helps you understand what motivates your employees. Motivation can influence everything, from company culture and productivity to turnover rates and customer satisfaction. If you know what motivates each employee, it's much easier to provide incentives that will encourage them to do their best every day.

  1. Gives a Voice

Employee engagement surveys allow everyone to share opinions. Include questions that enable employees to participate. Employees can share their views openly and honestly without fearing retribution or judgment from upper management. You'll have more information about what's working and what isn't, which will help you improve.

  1. Increase Productivity

When employees feel like they're part of something bigger than themselves, they're more likely to work more efficiently. This, in turn, leads to higher productivity and better overall results from your team members' efforts.

  1. Drive Engagement

Ultimately, an engagement survey aims to gain insight into the best ways to improve engagement and create better growth opportunities for employees. Employees are more productive, healthy, and happy when their underlying needs are met.

  1. Measure Progress

Managing employee engagement surveys allow you to monitor your progress over time, helping identify areas where there are opportunities for improvement or expansion. This can also help businesses plan for future growth by knowing where they need more staff or determining if they need training programs to support current employees as they take on additional responsibilities.

Engagement is seamless with Assembly. Get started today.

How Do I Write a Survey for Employee Engagement?

Different companies have survey templates that work for them. An engagement survey flow is also an excellent way to have a guided survey. 

A good employee engagement survey should be as objective and unbiased as possible so that employees aren’t afraid to answer honestly. Note that the questions you ask and how you ask them will determine how useful the survey will be. 

Are you looking for employee feedback on something more specific? Or do you want to find out the level of employee satisfaction?

Outlining the 'why' makes it much easier to organize your survey questions into a logical, seamless sequence.

To create an accurate survey, consider: 

  • Defining the target audience
  • Putting questions into categories
  • Asking actionable questions
  • Emphasizing employee feedback
  • Long-Term data collection

Questions to consider in making your survey more seamless include: 

  • What are you trying to learn?
  • Who’s taking the survey?
  • How will you use the results?
  • What kind of data should be collected?

Looking for your own engagement survey? We are here to help. Book a demo to get started.

What Are the Top 5 Drivers of Employee Engagement?

Employee engagement is a major driver of business performance. It's more than making money; it's also about providing an environment where employees feel valued and needed.

But what drives employee engagement?

  1. Value and Purpose

Research from Qualtrics shows that 72% of employees whose company’s values align with theirs feel a personal accomplishment.

Outlining your mission and vision to employees builds the connection needed to motivate them. When the employees feel a part of your broader strategy, they can purposefully work with you toward a common goal.

  1. Proper Tools and Resources

Employees need access to the right equipment and resources required for their job performance. If it's not readily available, they need to know that they can get it when they ask. 

This helps them feel that they have adequate support from management. And that's an excellent engagement driver!

  1. Recognition and Appreciation

Employee recognition is essential in building an engaged workforce because it shows employees that they're valued by management and coworkers.

According to Hubspot, 69% of employers would work harder if the company showed them more appreciation.

There are many memorable ways to appreciate employees without breaking the bank. Templates and workflows also help build a recognition culture at work allowing employees to know that the company cares about them as people, not just as workers.

  1. Opportunities to Learn and Grow

When employees feel like they're growing personally (and professionally), it increases employee satisfaction. It inspires them to do more than just fulfill their job requirements. This could be as simple as using Career Development Survey Flow in your organization, or as complex as creating opportunities for training or certifications and a clear career path with promotions within reach.

  1. Work-life Balance

Work-life balance as a top driver of employee engagement is not surprising. Most people spend more time at work than anywhere else.

When employees feel that they have a good balance between work and personal lives, they are much more likely to be engaged in their jobs.

In addition to increased employee engagement, work-life balance is also one of the reasons employees remain in companies. In fact, research by Statista shows that 72% of people in the job market consider work-life balance when job hunting. Prioritizing balance is as important for retention as employee engagement. 

How Do You Measure Employee Engagement?

The first step in improving your company's employee engagement is to measure it. The most common way to measure engagement is using surveys, but that’s not all you can use.

There are various ways to measure employee engagement. Let's explore 5 of them:

  1. Employee Pulse Surveys

One of the best ways to measure employee engagement is through a pulse survey. A pulse survey is a short, simple, and quick way to get feedback from employees. It measures their level of satisfaction using various aspects of their work environment and experience.

You can ask 5-10 questions about how people feel at work and what (if anything) they would do differently. Frequent surveys are a great way to have a consistent feedback vibe in the office.

  1. One-on-One Meetings

A one-on-one meeting is a great way to get to know your employees, their motivations and how they work. These face-to-face discussions can help you learn more about their experiences and how they feel about the company.

The privacy and confidentiality of one-on-one meetings allow you to get as much detail as needed. Having regularly scheduled meetings where you ask each employee the same questions enables you to gauge a common problem or improvement.

  1. eNPS

The employee Net Promoter Score (eNPS) is a simple and reliable metric that helps you measure employee satisfaction. 

The eNPS aims to give a quick snapshot of employee loyalty and engagement with one question: “How likely are you to recommend our company/brand to a friend or colleague?”

It’s one thing to be happy at work, but would your employees be willing to recommend the organization as an excellent place to work?

  1. Use an Exit Survey

Exit surveys can be used in a variety of situations. Companies can use them when an employee leaves and with new hires to understand how they feel about the company before they begin their employment.

They are a great way to get honest feedback because the employees leaving your company are less likely to give inaccurate input out of fear. This makes exit surveys a goldmine of honest feedback!

  1. Set Up a Focus Group

With a detailed employee engagement questionnaire, focus groups allow you to measure employee likes, dislikes, and attitudes through a representative sample. You can choose participants from different departments to create a diversified group and get varied feedback.

Focus groups help companies identify potential issues affecting employee motivation. Participants can also provide valuable feedback on improving overall engagement levels across the business.

Employee engagement is at the core of what Assembly does. Get started today.

What Should I Ask in an Employee Engagement Survey?

Asking the right questions is essential to getting valuable and actionable feedback from employee engagement surveys.

To compile an employee engagement questionnaire that fits your organization’s needs, you’ll need to categorize questions that reflect those needs. 

Here are 10 valuable employee engagement survey questions to get you started:

Satisfaction Questions

Satisfaction is a key factor in employee engagement. Getting your employees’ feedback on how they feel about their work and the organization is essential. The more satisfied your employees are with their jobs and employer, the more likely they will stay and help the company succeed.

1. Are you proud of working for [organization]?

2. Are you satisfied with your current compensation and benefits?

Alignment Questions

A company's brand is its most important asset and can often be hard to define. So, how can you find out what your employees think about your brand and how it aligns with the company's values? By asking the right questions.

1. Do your [organization]’s vision and values inspire you?

2. Do others provide you with recognition for your accomplishments at work?

3. Do you think that the company cares about your physical and mental wellbeing?

Communication Questions

Communication is one of the most important aspects of a healthy workplace. Communication between employees and their managers directly impacts how engaged employees feel at work. Questions to include are:

1. Do you feel comfortable contributing ideas and opinions in our workplace?

2. What's your working relationship like with colleagues?

General Open-ended Questions

The value of free text or open-ended questions is that they can provide qualitative data. 

These questions can be designed to either gather general feedback from employees or used under specific categories. Managers can also use them to open up conversations with their employees. Questions include:

1. Are there some things we are doing great here or not doing so great?

2. Is there something else you think we should have asked you in this survey?

3. How can we help improve your engagement at work?

Book a demo and get started today.

What Next?

The findings of your employee engagement survey can positively impact your business. It's not enough to ask valuable questions; analyzing the results is equally important.

By either starting or improving upon programs to make your workforce happier, you'll notice a direct correlation with how well your team does at reaching goals and objectives. 

Take the time to consider these questions, and utilize them for the best possible outcome for you, your employees, and ultimately, your business.

Browse our Free Employee Recognition Guide

Get the foundational knowledge on creating an employee recognition program that boosts employee engagement and helps them feel valued.

Explore Guide

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Assembly SOC 2 compliant?

Yes, at Assembly, security is a top priority. Each quarter, we have ongoing security work that is everyone’s responsibility. While we maintain a strong security posture, it was important for us to prove to our customers that we do everything we claim to do. This led us to pursue a SOC 2 Type II report that would provide evidence of our compliance with industry gold-standard security practice.

What's the ROI for employee recognition?

There is study after study showing that employee recognition leads to increased engagement. This in return creates an environment where employees are happier and more motivated which increase productivity and reduces voluntary turnover significantly. In order to filled critical roles, companies tend to spend nearly twice the value of an annual salary. Assembly is an investment in your employees that supports your bottom line.

Does Assembly offer longer-term contracts?

Yes, we will offer contracts for companies with longer-term agreements to help larger customers have more certainty around future costs.

The minimum agreement term is a 12-month subscription.

Does Assembly offer onboarding support?

We do and for FREE! Any new customer needing further support to get started with Assembly to ensure you're set up for success can request custom onboarding support. Improving your employee experience is about much more than just using our amazing software; it’s about transforming your business to create a workplace that people love. That’s much easier to do with the personal support and advice from our passionate people experts.

How much do rewards cost?

At the time of redemption (when your employees exchange their points for a paid reward) you'll pay face value. If a reward is a $10 Amazon gift card, your cost will be $10. All paid rewards are billed for on a monthly basis.

The good news is that you don't have to pay for rewards upfront because we only charge you when points are redeemed, not when they're earned.

Does Assembly offer discounts?

We offer discounts or educational or charitable organizations. In order to secure a discount, you'll first need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.

For all other organizations, we are willing to consider longer-term agreements in exchange for discounts. To set up annual plans or longer, you will need to book a demo with a customer support specialist.

How do I cancel my plan if needed?

If you're on a month to month plan, you can go here and cancel anytime. If you're having concerns or need help setting up your account for success, you can always book a demo with a customer support specialist.

If you're on a longer-term custom plan, you'll need to reach out to your customer support specialist to cancel your account or email us at support@joinassembly.com.

What customizations are available?

Great question! You can customize your core values to match your organization's to boost and track alignment. You can change your currency from the 🏆 emoji (our default) to any emoji of your choice. You can swap our logo for your own. You can also set up company culture rewards such as, "Lunch with the CEO," "Buy a book on us," and so much more!

Who can give or receive recognition?

While we recommend a peer to peer set up where anyone in your organization can give or receive recognition, you can set up Assembly however you want. If you need to limit the people who can give or receive recognition, that's perfectly fine and can be done from your Admin, here.

What integrations are available?

Assembly connects to the tools your employees use every day to offer an easy, seamless experience with minimal change management.  

Assembly has integrations with HCM/HRIS systems like ADP, Google, Office 365, and Slack. We also integrate with communication tools like Slack and Teams so you and your employees can access Assembly wherever they work now.

What's your average adoption rate?

That depends on the company's permissions set up. That said, over 90% of the employees on Assembly's platform are recognized on a monthly basis. That means nearly every employee across all of our customers are receiving regular recognition from their peers, managers, or leadership. We're extremely proud of this.

Must rewards be set up to use Assembly?

They are not required. You can use Assembly without having rewards set up. However, we don't recommend it if you intend to have a high adoption and usage rate. You can always keep the costs down by offering internal culture rewards that are fulfilled by you internally.

Are points required to use Assembly?

No, you can remove allowances from anyone or everyone. It's up to you but we do recommend using points whether they're worth a real dollar value or not. Companies that use points have a much higher engagement rate even if those points don't exchange for real dollars.

Could find the answer you are looking for?

Please schedule time with an expert and we will help you to get all your questions answered