22 in-depth Employee Engagement Survey Questions

Every great employer knows that your people are your business. When they’re checked out, your business slows down. When they’re fired up, there’s no limit to what you can achieve.

But how do you know where they stand? You can’t read minds and relying on water cooler gossip isn’t exactly a strategy. This is where the humble, yet powerful, employee engagement survey comes in. 

This article walks through everything you need to know about measuring engagement, from the questions you should be asking to the red flag results you need to look out for.

What is an employee engagement survey?

An employee engagement survey is a tool used to measure how motivated, committed and connected your employees are to your business. It goes beyond basic “happiness” as when looking holistically, happiness is fleeting. You can be happy because there’s cake in the breakroom but still completely disengaged from your work.

Employee engagement goes much deeper, being the emotional commitment an employee has to the business and its goals. An engaged employee deeply cares about their work and their company’s success.

Engagement surveys give you the real data you need to understand the sentiment on the ground. They empower you to turn feelings into facts, allowing you to make informed decisions rather than assumptions.

Why employee engagement surveys matter

You might be thinking, “Do I really need another survey?” The short answer is yes. The long answer involves your bottom line. Here’s a few reasons why you should implement  them in your business.

Increased profitability and productivity

When people feel genuinely engaged at work, performance naturally follows. Teams who care about what they do take more ownership, collaborate better and consistently deliver stronger results. 

Engagement fuels discretionary effort, where employees go the extra mile because they want to, not because they have to. The outcome is higher productivity, better customer experiences and improved profitability across the business.

Lower turnover and stronger retention

Finding great people is tough, so keeping them matters even more. Employee engagement surveys give you early insight into how your people are really feeling, well before frustration turns into a resignation. 

By understanding what motivates, concerns or disengages employees, you can take meaningful action at the right time. This proactive approach helps reduce turnover, protect business knowledge and build long-term loyalty within your team.

A healthier, more authentic company culture

Everyone knows that workplace culture is so much much more than values written on a wall. The everyday behaviours, decisions and experiences are what really shapes culture. 

Engagement surveys help you understand what’s working well, where trust may be breaking down and whether your values are truly being lived. With honest feedback, leaders can address issues early and intentionally shape a culture people want to be part of.

In short, measuring employee engagement levels gives you actionable insights to build a workplace where people actually want to be.

Types of employee engagement surveys

When it comes to employee engagement surveys, one size definitely does not fit all. Depending on what you need to know, different survey types will serve you better.

Pulse surveys

Think of these as a quick health check. Pulse surveys are short, frequent check-ins that track engagement over time. They typically consist of 5–10 questions and are great for measuring reactions to specific changes or getting a quick read on the general mood. Because they are short, they combat survey fatigue effectively.

Annual engagement surveys

This is the deep dive. Sent out once a year, these comprehensive surveys cover everything from leadership and development to workplace culture and compensation. They provide a large amount of data and are crucial for setting long-term strategic goals.

Lifecycle or custom surveys

These capture feedback at key moments in an employee’s journey:

• Onboarding surveys: How was the new hire experience?
• Exit surveys: Why are people leaving?
• Stay surveys: Why do high performers stay?

Using a mix of these gives you a 360-degree view of the employee experience.

When and how often to run engagement surveys

When it comes to surveys, timing is everything. If you only ask for feedback once a year, you’re operating on old news for the other 11 months.

For this, we recommend a hybrid approach. Run a comprehensive engagement survey annually or bi-annually to set your baseline and strategy. Then, supplement this with regular pulse surveys (monthly or quarterly) to track progress and catch issues early.

Crucial tip: Don’t run a survey during your busiest season or right after a round of layoffs unless you are specifically looking for feedback on those events. The context matters.

How to create an effective employee engagement survey

Creating a survey that actually gets results requires a bit of strategy. You want detailed insights, not just random data points.

Choose the right format and tools

Ditch the paper forms and invest in tools that give you speed and deep analysis. Use an employee engagement survey software or platform that allows for easy distribution and automated reporting. This saves your HR team hours of manual data entry and reduces human error.

Ensure anonymity and confidentiality

This is non-negotiable. If employees feel their answers can be traced back to them, chances are they could sugar-coat how they feel. This could lead to them telling you what they think you want to hear to protect their jobs. Make it clear that responses are aggregated and anonymous.

Encourage honest participation

Communication is key, so you want to explain to your team why you’re doing the survey. You could tell your team, “We want to make this a better place to work and we need your honest help to do it.” When employees feel valued and heard, participation rates tend to increase.

Keep it clear and concise

Avoid using HR jargon and keep it simple with straight-forward questions. Questions should be neutral and easy to understand. Instead of “To what extent do you agree that the strategic alignment of the organisation is optimal?”, try “I clearly understand our company goals.”

Engagement survey examples and questionnaires

Struggling with what to ask? Here are structures you can adapt for your employee engagement survey.

Short pulse survey example

• Frequency: Monthly
• Goal: Quick mood check
• Questions:
  • On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend [Company] as a place to work? (eNPS)
  • I have access to the things I need to do my job well.
  • I felt recognised for my hard work this week.
  • I am managing my work life balance effectively.

Comprehensive annual survey example

• Frequency: Yearly
• Goal: Deep strategic insight
• Categories: Leadership, Career Development, Alignment, Compensation, Culture.
• Questions: (See the detailed section below for specific questions).

Employee engagement survey questions

The quality of your answers depends entirely on the quality of your questions. Here are the employee engagement survey questions we love, broken down by category. We recommend using a Likert scale (Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree) for most of these to make data analysis easier.

Career goals survey questions

Understanding where your people see themselves is vital for retention.

• I can see myself working here in five years.
  • Why ask this: It tests long-term commitment. Even if they don’t stay five years, knowing they want to helps you understand their loyalty.
• I am proud to work for [Company].
  • Why ask this: Pride drives advocacy. You want employees who brag about where they work.
• I rarely think about looking for a job at another company.
  • Why ask this: This is a direct retention metric. If scores here are low, you have a turnover problem brewing.

Career development survey questions

Growth is a huge driver for modern employees. If they aren’t learning, they’re leaving.

• I have access to the learning and development tools I need to do my job well.
• I know what I need to do to be successful in my role.
• I receive appropriate recognition when I do good work.

Leadership survey questions

People join companies, but they leave managers.

• My manager recognises my full potential and capitalises on my strengths.
• The leadership team of my company keeps me informed about what is happening.
• My manager cares about my well-being.

Company alignment survey questions

Are we all rowing in the same direction?

• I have a clear understanding of my company’s strategic goals.
  • Why ask this: You can’t hit a target you can’t see.
• I can easily see how my work affects the company’s overall success.
  • Why ask this: Purpose matters. Everyone wants to know their daily work contributes to the big picture.
• The company’s values align with my personal values.
  • Why ask this: Cultural fit is often about shared values.

Employee wellbeing questions

You can’t have high performance without health.

• I am able to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
• I feel supported by my team when I am under stress.
• The company takes a genuine interest in the welfare of its employees.

For more specific questions on health and happiness, check out our guide on employee wellbeing survey questions.

Key metrics to measure employee engagement

You’ve gathered the feedback, but turning sentiment into something measurable can feel challenging. By tracking consistent indicators over time, you can move beyond gut feel and start understanding how engaged your workforce truly is. 

These metrics play a big role in helping you identify trends, uncover risks and assess whether your initiatives are making a real difference. When used together, they provide a well-rounded view of engagement that supports smarter decisions and more targeted action. Here’s a few metrics to consider. 

Employee net promoter score (eNPS)

Based on the “Net Promoter Score” used in customer service, the Employee Net Promoter Score asks one golden question: “On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?”

• Promoters (9-10): Your biggest fans.
• Passives (7-8): Satisfied but unenthusiastic.
• Detractors (0-6): Unhappy and potentially damaging to your brand.
  Calculating your score (Promoters % minus Detractors %) gives you a clear, trackable metric for employee satisfaction and loyalty.

People analytics

Data is your best friend. Modern HR roles are all about the numbers. People analytics involves tracking trends in your data over time. Look at turnover rates, absenteeism and tenure alongside your survey scores.

For example, if your engagement scores drop in the Sales department, and three months later turnover spikes in Sales, you have a correlated data point to act on next time.

Productivity and OKRs

Engagement should lead to output. By tracking goal completion through frameworks like OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), you can correlate high engagement scores with high performance. 

How to analyse and act on survey results

Running the survey is only one half of the equation. The real work starts when the results come in. If you ask for feedback and then do nothing, you will damage trust more than if you hadn’t asked at all.

Identify themes and trends

When sorting through results, it’s important to not get bogged down in every single comment. Look for the big picture. Are employee perceptions of leadership tanking? Is workplace safety a recurring concern? Is everyone complaining about the coffee? Group feedback into themes like “Communication,” “Resources,” or “Growth.”

Prioritise quick wins vs. strategic changes

You’ve got the data, but it’s important to acknowledge that you can’t fix everything overnight. We suggest dividing them into quick wins and longer term strategic changes.

Quick wins

Once your engagement data is in, the temptation can be to tackle everything at once. In reality, the most effective approach is to start with quick wins that deliver visible impact with minimal effort. These are the changes that can be implemented quickly without complex approvals or long-term planning. This could be things like fixing a frustrating process, getting clear on expectations or updating an outdated policy. 

Acting on these insights promptly sends a powerful signal to employees that their feedback has been heard and taken seriously. When people see real improvements early on, they are more likely to stay engaged, contribute openly and support broader change initiatives as they roll out.

Strategic changes

Not all insights can, or should be, addressed immediately. Some of the most meaningful improvements require deeper, long-term investment and careful planning. Strategic changes often involve complex areas such as culture transformation, leadership capability, organisational design or compensation and benefits reviews. 

These initiatives take time to design, resource and implement effectively, but they are critical to sustained engagement. The key is transparency. Acknowledge these themes openly, explain why they require a longer timeline and clearly communicate what will happen next. Setting realistic milestones and regularly updating progress helps maintain trust and shows employees that even the larger issues are being taken seriously, not ignored.

Communicate results transparently

Once your engagement survey is complete, what you do next matters just as much as the questions you asked. Sharing results openly with your team builds trust, even when the feedback is difficult to hear. 

Resist the urge to filter the data or focus only on positives. Instead, present a balanced view that reflects the real employee experience. Structuring your communication around clear themes such as “what you told us,” “what we’re doing well” and “where we need to improve” helps employees see that their voices have been heard and understood.

This is where you’ll find that transparency has the power to reinforce that feedback isn’t collected for appearances, but to make genuine improvement. 

Common mistakes to look out for when putting together employee engagement surveys

Even with good intentions, things can go wrong.

• Asking vague questions: If you ask “Is work good?”, you’ll get useless answers. You want to make sure you’re asking specific questions.
• Survey fatigue: Don’t bombard people with 100 questions every month.
• Lack of follow-up: If you don’t act, people stop answering.
• Focusing only on the negative: Don’t forget to celebrate what you’re doing right. Reinforcing positives is just as important as fixing negatives.
• Breaching anonymity: If you promise anonymity, be certain it is.

Tools to run effective engagement surveys

Running meaningful engagement surveys doesn’t have to be complicated or time-consuming. With the right technology, you can gather honest feedback at scale. Modern tools help you listen to your people, uncover insights quickly and take action that genuinely improves the employee experience. Here’s a few tools you can use. 

Integrated HR platforms (recommended) 

When engagement data connects with your HR, payroll and performance systems, insights can start to drive meaningful action. This integrated approach gives leaders the context they need to understand what’s really happening across the employee experience and respond effectively.

Employment Hero offers a fully integrated HR suite with Custom Surveys, Happiness Scores and OKRs built in. Our engagement questionnaires are designed to work seamlessly across the employee lifecycle, making it easy to gather feedback, measure employee engagement and satisfaction.

From engagement surveys that uncover motivation and retention risks, to pulse surveys that track sentiment in real time, Employment Hero makes employee engagement simple, actionable and better for work. 

Survey platforms

While generic form tools can work for very small teams, they quickly fall short as your business grows. They aren’t designed specifically for employee engagement, which means limited benchmarking, minimal context and a heavy reliance on manual processes. 

Analytics and reporting tools

Collecting feedback is only half the job, the real value comes from understanding it. Strong analytics and reporting tools transform raw survey data into clear, visual insights that leaders can actually use. Features like heatmaps, trend lines and department-level comparisons make it easier to identify patterns, spot risks early and prioritise action. 

Instead of manually slicing spreadsheets, teams can quickly see where engagement is improving, where it’s declining and which areas need support. This supports faster, more confident decisions that lead to meaningful improvements across the business.

Download your free employee engagement guide

Ready to get started? We’ve built a guide to help put you on the right path. It’s packed with everything you need, including the right questions you need to build a world-class culture.

Download the employee engagement guide here. 

If you want to see how Employment Hero can help you build a top performing team, get in touch with one of our business specialists today to learn more. 

The information in this article is current as at 19 December 2025, and has been prepared by Employment Hero Pty Ltd (ABN 11 160 047 709) and its related bodies corporate (Employment Hero). The views expressed in this article are general information only, are provided in good faith to assist employers and their employees, and should not be relied on as professional advice. Some information is based on data supplied by third parties. While such data is believed to be accurate, it has not been independently verified and no warranties are given that it is complete, accurate, up to date or fit for the purpose for which it is required. Employment Hero does not accept responsibility for any inaccuracy in such data and is not liable for any loss or damages arising directly or indirectly as a result of reliance on, use of or inability to use any information provided in this article. You should undertake your own research and seek professional advice before making any decisions or relying on the information in this article.