Employee surveys are powerful tools to gather valuable insights and feedback directly from employees. By providing employees with a voice and a platform to share their perspectives, employers can better understand employee experiences, sentiments, and needs. The data and insights gleaned from employee feedback are critical in creating a competitive, highly engaged, high-performance culture.
Engaged employees serve as the cornerstone of any successful organization. They drive productivity, innovation, and customer satisfaction. Employee surveys create a direct line of communication between employers and employees, allowing organizations to make data-driven decisions (rather than decisions based on hunches or loud voices) and develop informed strategies to enhance the employee experience.
In this blog, we'll explore:
Regular employee surveys provide many benefits and can yield a significant return on investment for organizations, including:
By actively listening to and addressing employee concerns, employee surveys can help organizations foster a more positive and engaging work environment, reducing unwanted turnover and associated costs. However, not just any employee survey platform can help with this. Leaders need the right tools to connect employee survey data to retention data. Your survey platform should have retention analytics that help you identify groups at high risk of turnover, uncover reasons for that risk, and help you take action. It should be working in the background to analyze the feedback you gather and determine what's impacting retention–especially of your most critical talent.
Most executives agree that engaged employees perform better. They are more motivated, committed, and productive, which improves organizational performance and profitability. Employee surveys can also help uncover the factors that are helping or hindering individual, team, and organizational potential. By asking questions like, "Do you clearly understand your performance expectations?" or, "Does your manager regularly give you feedback that helps you perform better?" you can gain clarity around pockets of the organization that might be struggling to perform. And work with managers to improve engagement and performance.
Employee survey data helps leaders make better decisions. You get incredibly valuable insights into your workforce's sentiment and challenges. With this knowledge, your leaders can make more informed decisions that align with employees' needs and expectations and move the business forward. This type of data is especially valuable when it comes to the age-old challenge of change management.
Our research shows it's not change in itself that disengages employees—it's all about the communication. When employees feel they have input and awareness before, during, and after change—rather than simply learning about it after it occurs— they are more engaged. This helps businesses facilitate change with greater confidence, effectiveness, and buy in, which ultimately accelerates success and impact.
Employee surveys help you uncover hidden truths. They elevate what your organization is doing well and where there are obstacles to tackle. This helps organizational leaders and people teams develop more targeted interventions and fuel continuous growth. You get more insight that helps you adapt, pivot, and grow as an organization. All of this leads to better business outcomes and a competitive advantage you simply can't have without employee feedback. Now, let's dive deeper into how to build an effective employee survey plan!
Employee listening goes beyond simply conducting surveys; it's a cycle of understanding, validating, and enhancing the employee experience. The Employee Listening Flywheel is Quantum Workplace's complete framework to help you establish a continuous employee feedback strategy.
Consider the Employee Listening Flywheel as a continuously turning wheel, with each rotation generating more momentum than the previous one. When you invest time and energy in the flywheel, your feedback cycles become more efficient, build employee trust, increase participation, target actions more effectively, and amplify impact.
Successful organizations don't approach employee surveys and engagement as a one-time project. They implement an ongoing cycle of employee listening and action, ensuring work improves daily. Each rotation of the Flywheel propels organizations toward the next achievable step, often one they never knew was possible. Your organization increases in agility and strength, leaving you thinking “Why didn’t we implement this sooner?!”
Your organization can build a successful employee survey program at its own pace. If you need a roadmap to ramp up, accelerate, or achieve excellence in gathering and acting on employee feedback, we have you covered.
Your organization should initially focus on creating and solidifying the foundation of its employee listening strategy. This involves conducting an annual engagement survey to gauge sentiment and highlight initial opportunities for improvement. At this stage, you measure success by achieving a baseline response rate, identifying clear priorities, and creating basic action plans.
As your program gains momentum, you can introduce more survey types (such as pulse surveys and lifecycle surveys) to gather more frequent and targeted feedback. Practice makes perfect with employee surveys. You can apply what you learn from prior employee surveys to enhance survey design, communication strategies, and data analysis. At this stage, you should aim for improved response rates, increased survey frequency, and a more robust implementation of action plans.
Mature employee survey programs leverage a continuous feedback loop. They use a variety of surveys, seamlessly integrate insights, and quickly move to action and impact. Excellence looks like seamless survey administration processes, ongoing data analysis, organization-wide engagement in action planning, and clearly measurable impacts of your initiatives. When you get to this level, you can expect outcomes like improved employee engagement, tangible increases in key business metrics, and a rewarding culture of listening and taking action.
An effective employee listening strategy includes various survey types tailored to capture feedback at multiple points in time throughout the employee lifecycle. By adopting a more robust approach, organizations gain a holistic understanding of employee sentiment, identify opportunities for improvement, and drive real change.
Employee engagement surveys are the cornerstone of any healthy employee listening strategy. Typically conducted annually or bi-annually, these surveys assess levels of employee engagement, job satisfaction, and workplace culture. They cover various topics, including leadership, career development, work-life balance, and job satisfaction.
Pulse surveys live up to their name by being frequent and designed to capture real-time feedback on specific topics or initiatives. These short and focused surveys enable organizations to gather insights and quickly address emerging issues. Organizations can conduct monthly, quarterly, or as-needed pulse surveys, empowering them to stay in tune with employee sentiment and respond promptly.
Organizations administer lifecycle surveys at key milestones in the employee journey. For example, candidate or onboarding surveys for new employees, check-ins for employees transitioning in their careers, and exit surveys or stay surveys to help inform employee retention strategies. Lifecycle surveys offer valuable insights into the employee experience at critical junctures, allowing organizations to identify areas to improve, which positively transforms employee experience.
The frequency and timing of employee surveys are critical to establishing a healthy listening strategy. Organizations typically conduct annual or bi-annual engagement surveys but should administer pulse surveys more frequently. Lifecycle surveys occur when specific events or milestones arise in an employee’s journey. Conduct surveys at least annually, ideally four to five times per year.
If you take one best practice away from this article, it's critically important that you leverage a survey partner that uses a validated survey methodology that actually measures engagement. Otherwise, you're just gathering feedback and guessing at where might be best to aim.
A well-researched, validated survey methodology (like Quantum Workplace's e9 employee engagement model) guarantees that you measure what truly matters for engagement and business success. And that your actions will be more fruitful as a result.
Effective survey design is also essential for obtaining accurate, actionable feedback. Best practices include:
The scale you use for collecting feedback might not seem like an important detail. But it matters! Quantum Workplace recommends using a 6-point Likert Scale. It encourages respondents to take a clear stance by providing a balanced range of response options without a neutral midpoint, resulting in more meaningful data and insights.
To obtain reliable data, you must maximize survey response rates. Here are strategies to improve employee survey response rates:
Organizations can unlock the full potential of employee feedback by implementing a thorough employee listening strategy that incorporates multiple survey types, follows design and administrative best practices, and leverages proven frameworks.
Now that you’ve gathered employee feedback, it’s time to turn those insights into action.
Collecting employee feedback through surveys is the first step, not the final one! It is crucial to analyze the data collected, create action plans, measure the impact of those plans, and communicate those results transparently to drive real organization-wide change and improve the employee experience. If you don't act, you're likely hurting engagement. So only survey on topics and questions you are willing and able to take action on. If you can't or won't address something that surfaces, be transparent with your employees instead of letting the results collect dust.
Learn more about Quantum Workplace's AFTER Framework for employee survey action planning >>
Establish a data analysis framework to extract valuable insights from employee survey responses. Begin by analyzing the response rate. Aim for 70-80% in larger organizations and 80-90% in smaller organizations to ensure meaningful data.
Next, establish a systematic analysis approach that includes:
This structured approach uncovers strengths, pinpoints improvement opportunities, and prioritizes actions based on potential impact.
Transparent communication after your employee surveys is vital to build trust and maintain employee engagement throughout the employee survey process.
After analyzing the data, you need to develop an action plan addressing the identified concerns. A practical action plan should:
Cross-functional teams can involve employees and seek their input to ensure that action plans remain relevant, practical, and, most importantly, aligned with organizational priorities. Remember, 95% of employees report high engagement when their leaders effectively act on survey results.
Once you've implemented action, you must be able to measure effectiveness and impact. This helps leaders understand if the changes made as a result of feedback truly had the impact intended. Establish key performance indicators aligned with survey goals, conduct follow-up pulse surveys to track progress, analyze relevant metrics, and gather qualitative feedback. By continuously monitoring progress, organizations can adjust and course-correct as needed while demonstrating the tangible benefits of their employee listening efforts.
Strategic employee surveys can drive organizational transformation. Don’t take our word for it. Discover how three organizations harnessed the power of a well-designed listening strategy and transformed their workplace culture to achieve measurable business outcomes.
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Grant Thornton’s sophisticated approach to employee surveys uncovered crucial insights. They learned that while strong relationships help retain employees, the real drivers of engagement in their workforce are impactful work, growth opportunities, and appreciation. Through regular pulse survey implementation and deployment, Grant Thornton leaders were empowered with real-time insights that led to data-driven decisions about workplace improvement. |
Organizations must actively use employee listening tools to effectively capture, analyze, and act on employee feedback. These tools streamline the entire survey process by designing and distributing surveys, analyzing data, and planning actions. Remember these features when you choose an employee survey platform to ensure they align with your organization’s unique needs and goals.
The right survey platform combines powerful technology with strategic partnerships that help you collect meaningful feedback and drive real organizational change through your employees.
You don't want to be pulling survey questions out of thin air when it comes to measuring employee engagement. Look for a survey tool that provides a user-friendly survey builder with a library of research-backed survey questions. You should be able to customize your surveys to a certain degree, but it's important that your survey provider provides a solid foundation for proper measurement, including a variety of best practice templates. Also, building the survey should not give you a migraine. It should be easy pull in questions and set up any branching logic and skip patterns.
Distributing your employee surveys through multiple channels (such as email, text messaging, or a mobile app) ensures all employees can participate and share their honest feedback. You need survey technology that helps you reach remote and frontline workers. Features that drive strong participation rates, like and automated reminders and response rate tracking, make HR's job easier and increase quality of your feedback.
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Robust & Intuitive Reporting and AnalyticsReporting and analytics provide real-time insights into survey results. They help you make sense of what to do with your data. This is an area you shouldn't cut corners when it comes to investing in employee survey tools. If you can't easily understand and act on the data, there's really no point in collecting it in the first place. Look for employee survey software that offers easy-to-understand dashboards and reports that surface what is most important—and also let you slice and dice to your heart's desire. Better data = better action = better business outcomes.
Efficient & Effective Action Planning and Follow-UpThe most important piece of your entire employee listening strategy is action. The right survey platform must help you facilitate action planning and follow-up after the survey is over. This includes tools for creating action plans, assigning tasks, tracking progress, and communicating updates to employees. HR should not be responsible for action plans—it's a responsibility that MUST be shared with managers and employees. Decision-makers should seek a platform that provides frameworks and guidance for leading and implementing meaningful improvements across the organization.
It's important that your employee survey tools are synced with the rest of your employee and business data. Be sure to ask about integration capabilities with your HRIS and other key systems. A seamless flow of data will provide a more holistic view of the employee experience and improve the quality of your analytics and insights—making them easier for you to take action on, efficiently and effectively.
There are plenty of survey tools out there, even some free ones. But truly talent-minded HR teams know better than to under-invest in their employee survey technology. You need a trustworthy partner that acts as an extension of your team. Someone who doesn't just bring tools, but expertise, insight, and support that levels you and your organization up. Investing in the right partner will save you lots of time, money, and headaches in the long run, helping you feel confident in your strategy and the results you achieve.
Understanding what matters simplifies your choice of an employee survey vendor. By carefully evaluating these factors, you will gather the information needed to choose an employee survey vendor that aligns with your organization’s goals, supports your employee listening strategy, and delivers a strong return on investment.
Evaluate a vendor’s ability to customize surveys to meet your organization’s requirements. Consider aspects such as question types, branding, and language translations. Identify what makes your organization unique and express how you want that uniqueness to appear in your surveys.
Evaluate the vendor’s capability to grow alongside your organization. As your needs increase, whether it’s accommodating higher survey volumes or a more significant number of employees being surveyed, the vendor must align with your current and future requirements.
Evaluate the vendor’s reporting and analytics capabilities for depth and quality. Ensure they provide actionable insights into employee feedback. This functionality allows employees to manage the surveys, saving time and effort.
Can the vendors you evaluate seamlessly integrate with your existing HR systems and tools? Although this functionality may initially seem minor, proper integration streamlines data flow and processes.
Ensure the vendor adheres to industry-standard security protocols and relevant data privacy regulations. You may encounter other data considerations based on your organization’s specific needs. Speak up and ask if you have any questions!
Prioritize a user-friendly platform that has historically engaged many clients. The platform should encourage high participation rates and reduce employee survey fatigue.
If your organization operates globally, select a vendor to accommodate this need. Also, seek vendors with multilingual survey capabilities for your diverse employee population.
A mobile interface is crucial, and mobile compatibility is more critical than ever. Optimize the platform for mobile devices so employees can conveniently provide feedback from anywhere.
Choose a platform that automates survey scheduling and distribution to streamline the process and reduce manual efforts.
What does great look like? Industry-specific benchmarking helps a great vendor answer that question. Gain the context needed to elevate your employee survey efforts from good to great.
Assess a vendor’s support accessibility. Determine if they are committed to providing dedicated support resources. Ensure that support goes beyond simply onboarding and remains continuous.
Your organization should choose a vendor that provides thorough training and onboarding. This process will prepare your team for success and equip you to leverage the platform effectively.
Evaluate how the vendor manages change. Do they offer guidance? Are they using best practices to encourage adoption and maintain engagement?
When choosing an engagement survey provider, look beyond the technology specifications and consider the return on investment. The right partner becomes an extension of your team, bringing extensive expertise, providing strategic guidance, and demonstrating a genuine commitment to your organization’s success. Those factors translate directly to an increased likelihood of return on investment.
Why? While automated tools can gather data, knowledgeable and experienced partners drive true organization-wide transformation by understanding your goals and working with you to translate insights into impact. Seek a provider who offers robust services and ongoing support. Someone who will be there after you sign the contract to help your organization achieve meaningful and lasting results.
Here are some additional areas to consider when evaluating potential return on investment.
Ultimately, many of these decisions are based on price. Consider factors tied to a vendor’s pricing model, such as survey volume, employee population size, and additional features, functionality, or services.
Assess potential cost savings - we promise they exist! Consider the cost reductions from streamlining survey processes, reducing manual employee efforts, and improving employee engagement, performance, and retention.
Look at a vendor’s track record in delivering formative business outcomes. These may include increased productivity, improved customer satisfaction, and enhanced organizational performance.
Earlier, we mentioned that your vendor must meet your organization where it is today and be ready for the future. Is your vendor of choice committed to continuous innovation and platform development? This is essential information to uncover to ensure that the platform remains relevant and valuable in the long run.
Read more about how to calculate the ROI of employee engagement >>
Experience the power of Quantum Workplace's employee engagement software in helping you understand and improve employee experience.
Our comprehensive suite of employee survey tools includes:
Schedule a personalized demo to discover how our platform can transform your employee listening strategy. Take the first step toward building a more engaged, productive, resilient workforce.
BOOK A DEMO WITH A SURVEY EXPERT >>
Organizations uncover valuable insights that improve business outcomes by gathering and responding to employee feedback. Regularly listening to employees helps identify issues before they tangibly impact performance, uncovers opportunities, and creates a bridge built on respect and continuous improvement between employees and employers.
An organization’s goals, available resources, and the specific type of survey being conducted determine the frequency of employee surveys. Many organizations prefer to conduct comprehensive engagement surveys annually and complement them with shorter pulse surveys more frequently. This approach helps organizations better understand the employee experience while capturing real-time feedback and monitoring progress throughout the year.
Designing effective employee survey questions is crucial for gathering meaningful data and translating that data into actionable insights. To achieve this, use clear and concise language, avoid leading or biased questions, and ensure the questions relate to the survey’s objectives. Balance numerical and open-ended questions to capture all responses and informative insights effectively. Additionally, make sure the questions you include help measure engagement. A vendor with a well-researched model for engagement plays a vital role in ensuring success.
Administrators must effectively manage the survey to ensure high response rates and accurate data collection. They should communicate the survey's purpose and importance, guarantee anonymity and confidentiality to encourage more open responses, provide ample time for completion, and offer multiple response options. Administrators must also follow up with reminders and ask individuals at all levels of the organization to encourage survey participation.
Increase employee survey response rates to obtain an accurate sample and reliable data. Promote the survey through various employee channels, involve leadership to endorse survey participation, and survey as accessible and user-friendly as possible. Communicate the impact of previous survey results and your actions to underscore the value of participating.
When you evaluate employee survey platforms, consider factors such as ease of use, customization, analytics and reporting capabilities, mobile compatibility, HR system integration, and security and data privacy. Additionally, seek a platform that provides export support, best practice guidance, and a proven track record of successful implementations in organizations similar to yours.
Conduct analysis and action planning to translate employee survey responses into meaningful change. Identify key trends, areas of concern, what’s going well, and any demographic or department-specific differences. Based on impact and feasibility, prioritize areas for improvement. Develop specific action plans with clear objectives, assigned owners, and timelines. Communicate the results and action plans, continuously monitoring progress and adjusting as needed.
Successful employee survey programs require companies to listen, analyze, and act on feedback continually. For instance, a company that conducts an annual engagement survey alongside frequent pulse surveys takes steps to create cross-functional teams that review and act on the results. They consistently communicate the progress and actions they take based on employee feedback. This commitment demonstrates that they are willing to put in the effort, and as a result, their employees feel appreciated and are happier than ever!
Measuring the ROI for employee survey initiatives proves crucial for demonstrating value and justifying continued investment. You can track improvements such as engagement and satisfaction scores, turnover and absenteeism reductions, productivity and performance increases, and positive changes in customer satisfaction or financial metrics linked to an improved employee experience.
Published January 23, 2025 | Written By Kristin Ryba
