“There are no right answers to the wrong questions”
This is an indisputable truth, surely? Regardless, this is certainly true of employee engagement surveys. Asking the most relevant questions has always been important but it is particularly so right now with the employee experience (and much more besides) having been turned on its head by COVID-19.So, how should you respond? To help you, we’ve looked at what other organisations are doing with their surveys and delved into some new employee survey questions being included.
What are other companies doing?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, there has been a notable trend towards shorter and more frequent employee pulse surveys in recent months. These surveys have typically featured shorter question sets of anything between 10 and 20 questions, with the focus very much on priorities relating to COVID-19 and key engagement drivers.Now, this isn’t to say that fuller ‘deep dive’ employee engagement surveys are no longer in favour or able to add value. Indeed the overwhelming majority of our clients still intend to run these too. Rather, this is a reflection of the unique set of circumstances currently facing many businesses and the need to understand the impact on employee engagement in the ‘here and now’.
What ‘new’ employee survey questions should you ask?
We have pored over survey questions from around 20 organisations we partner and who have all run surveys during the last few months. This sample covers organisations of varying sizes and across a broad spectrum of sectors.Our aim with this exercise was to pick out new questions most commonly being added during in this time. We’ve listed 10 such questions below that mostly relate to wellbeing, communication, employee voice and empowerment.
- [ORGANISATION NAME] is supporting me, and considering my wellbeing, during this period in particular
- [ORGANISATION NAME] supports me to work flexibly so I can balance my needs at home
- I have been treated fairly by [ORGANISATION NAME] during this period
- I still feel connected within our team
- I feel I have adjusted to working from home and it doesn’t give me any concerns about my wellbeing
- I feel trusted by my manager to work from home effectively
- I have been provided with enough information regarding COVID-19 and how it impacts [ORGANISATION NAME]
- I trust that [ORGANISATION NAME] is treating my health and safety as a priority
- Whilst working from home, my manager has put in place/maintained team meetings and 1-2-1s that help us stay connected
- [ORGANISATION NAME] is doing a good job of listening to the concerns of employees
Hopefully, this provides some food for thought if you are planning on running an employee engagement survey soon. If you are looking for more comprehensive guidance on survey questions and questionnaire design, have a look at our other article on employee engagement survey questions.
