Employee Engagement Survey–What questions to include?

You want to conduct an employee engagement survey. But do you know the employee engagement survey questions to ask?

When measuring employee engagement, organizations typically measure two things:

• Firstly, the Level of Engagement
• Secondly, the Drivers of Engagement

1. Level of Engagement

Firstly, to measure the Level of Engagement, you typically measure the state of engagement. That is to say, the state of engagement is the presence of an employee’s energy. To clarify, there are three types of energy. These are cognitive energy, emotional energy and physical energy at work.

State of Engagement

For example, some Level of Engagement items that measure the state of engagement are:

• I am absorbed in my work.
• I am enthusiastic about my job.
• I work with intensity in my job.

Outcomes of Engagement

In addition, some Level of Engagement items that measure the outcomes of engagement are:

• I plan to stay with this company for the next 12 months.
• I put forth extra effort in my job to help the company succeed.
• I would recommend this company to a friend as a good place to work.

Track Engagement Year-after-Year

When measuring the Level of Engagement, you can evaluate engagement year-after-year. Tracking changes in the Level of Engagement can show you if employee engagement is increasing or decreasing in your organization. But this metric alone does not give guidance in the specific areas you should target to improve engagement. That’s where the second set of questions is so important.

2. Drivers of Engagement

Secondly, there are factors that affect how you measure the Drivers of Engagement. To clarify, the questions you choose depend on the model you use to define the drivers. My model of engagement has six interacting elements that drive engagement. The drivers are as follows: Fit, Trust, Caring, Communication, Achievement, and Ownership. To clarify, I derived these elements from research and working with organizations.

These universal Priorities are values that promote an engaged workforce. In an ideal world, these values would not be differentiators. But organizations do not uniformly live these values. Therefore, the presence of these values enhances the competitiveness of the organization. And similarly, the absence of these values deters an organization from achieving its potential.

Drivers of Engagement Survey Items

The questions in an employee engagement survey measure each of these drivers. To clarify, as with the Level of Engagement items, participants rate responses on a Likert scale. Therefore, respondents select to what extent they agree or disagree with each of the driver statements.

Below are examples of survey items that measure each of the Drivers of Engagement:

FIT

• The Purpose of this organization is meaningful to me.
• The values of this organization are consistent with my values.
• I understand how my work contributes to the organization’s performance.
• I am doing the right work for me.

TRUST

• Senior leaders are fair.
• My immediate supervisor is fair.
• Senior leaders are honest.
• My immediate supervisor is honest.
• We have competent senior leaders.

CARING

• This organization feels like family.
• My immediate supervisor / manager cares about me as a person.
• I have friends at work.
• There is good cooperation among my co-workers.
• I have the support I need to do my work right.

COMMUNICATION

• I know what is expected of me at work.
• I get the information I need to do my job well.
• At work, my opinions seem to count.
• People here share information with me freely.
• My immediate supervisor / manager takes the time to listen to me and my concerns.

ACHIEVEMENT

• Someone at work encourages my development.
• My immediate supervisor / manager talks to me about my progress.
• The feedback I get on my performance is sufficient.
• I have the opportunity at work to learn and grow.
• I receive recognition, praise or appreciation for doing good work.
• My work is challenging.
• My work gives me a feeling of personal accomplishment.

OWNERSHIP

• I feel like I have enough responsibility to perform my job.
• There is enough freedom in my job.
• Others include me in decision-making that impacts my job.
• I feel like an owner.

Responses to the Drivers of Engagement items reveal opportunities to improve employee engagement. To clarify, the survey analysis identifies that organization’s key drivers. In short, these key drivers are the specific areas your company should focus on. The key drivers become the Universal Priorities of your organization’s core culture.