5 types of Employee Surveys and when to use them

Employee surveys provide the visibility that organizations need to gain a true understanding of the workplace. However, despite the possible benefits that can be collected through employee surveys, response rates often remain disappointing. Although a response rate of around 70% is generally considered ‘good’ by businesses, the average rate lies at just 30%.

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For businesses, then, a challenge remains about how to engage with their employees via surveys. The method, the types of questions, and the kinds of employees you have will all have an impact on the types of employee surveys you should employ and the best ways of ensuring they have the greatest impact.

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Benefits of Employee Surveys

Want to understand what your employees are thinking? Well, you have to ask them. Gathering employee feedback provides a great opportunity for firms to determine what is going well at their company and what isn’t. Some of the main benefits of employee surveys are:

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• Reach – For businesses with frontline workers, collecting feedback from across the organizations can prove challenging. Employee surveys, which can be filled in via an online portal, allow companies to gather valuable feedback from the heart of their organization, regardless of their industry.

• Cost-effective – Employee surveys can be affordably rolled out using online or mobile software. However, they could deliver huge cost savings. If employee feedback helps improve talent retention, boosts productivity, or leads to the next big idea, then it will undoubtedly have been worthwhile.

• Anonymous – Your workers may not feel comfortable giving an honest appraisal of their workplace in person but with an employee survey, the results can be anonymized so they have the confidence of speaking freely.

• Engagement – When there is an open dialogue between employer and employee, engagement is strengthened. Plus, if feedback leads to action, then it shows employers are listening, which makes workers more invested in the company’s future.
• Visibility – With the right employee survey, businesses gain a clear overview of the employee experience throughout their entire organization. They can learn what’s working and get insights into what needs to be improved upon.

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Different types of Employee Surveys and when to use them

There is no single type of survey that is right for every business. In fact, there are a number of different surveys currently available. Finding the correct one for your organization will depend on your industry, culture, and goals.

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Employee Satisfaction Surveys

For HR teams, employee satisfaction surveys can provide hugely valuable information, outlining what their employees like about the company and what could be improved upon. For businesses that may have high employee turnover or those that have been dealing with a negative atmosphere, these surveys may prove vital.

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Some potential questions for an employee satisfaction survey are:

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• Is it clear what your role demands and how it relates to company objectives?
• Do you enjoy the company culture?
• Are you satisfied with your role overall?

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Pulse Surveys

Pulse surveys are generally short (between five and 15 questions) and designed to be a quick check-in delivered on a regular basis. For companies that have received a poor response rate to more detailed employee surveys, pulse surveys provide a great way of collecting feedback.

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Some potential questions for a pulse survey are:

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• How happy are you at work?
• Do you receive recognition for good work?
• Do you feel comfortable giving feedback to managers?

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Onboarding Surveys

New members of staff contain a wealth of information for companies that shouldn’t be ignored. First impressions often stay with workers throughout their employment journey and creating a good experience will be vital if they are to settle in and feel engaged.

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Some potential questions for an onboarding survey are:

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• Is there something we could have done to improve the recruitment process?
• Did you receive adequate training for your role?
• Does your role match the job description you applied for?

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Workplace Surveys

Workplace surveys can still be a great way of collecting employee feedback. As well as general questions, remember to also ask industry-specific ones or even some that are focused on specific departments or teams.

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Some potential questions for a workplace survey are:

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• Are you satisfied with your career progression opportunities?
• Does your role encourage a good work/life balance?
• How does working here compare with other organizations in the retail/hospitality/ manufacturing sector?

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Offboarding Surveys

Just because an employee is leaving, doesn’t mean that they can’t continue to have an impact on your company. Gathering feedback during the exit interview or offboarding process can provide useful information regarding why workers leave and what you can do to improve employee retention.

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Some potential questions for an offboarding survey are:

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• How would you rate your working relationships with your colleagues?
• What actions could be taken to build a better workplace?
• What did you like/dislike most about your job?

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Find the right employee survey software

Delivering an effective employee survey depends on creating a smooth, streamlined process for workers to make their voices heard. And for that, the right employee survey software is required.

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• Make it mobile – Frontline workers and others that aren’t based in the office still want to provide feedback. For that, a mobile-first tool is essential.
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• Audience selector – Use survey software that includes an audience selector and send out surveys to all or a specific group of employees, based on location, job function, or days in service.
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• Provide clear results – Truly understand your employee’s experience with real-time insights. Gain a quick overview of the feedback provided by your workers and get started with workable solutions.
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• An easy user interface – If providing feedback is confusing or long-winded, then employees will feel disconnected. To get the best response rate to your employee survey, make sure it’s user-friendly.
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• Integrate it – Bring the entire Employee Experience together by integrating your survey tool within your existing Employee Experience software, alongside onboarding, e-learning, and internal comms. Get started with Employee Surveys.

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Want to gather valuable insights from your employees? See how Oneteam’s Survey Solution helps you gather valuable feedback right from the heart of your organization.

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Get started with Employee Surveys

Want to gather valuable insights from your employees? See how Oneteam’s Survey Solution helps you gather valuable feedback right from the heart of your organization.

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Request a free product demo to learn how Oneteam can help your organization.

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