How to use employee satisfaction survey templates

Unhappy employees lose you money. Productivity and morale suffer, and they might even find another job, meaning HR must devote valuable hours to replacing them. 

Is management communicating effectively? Could work-life balance be treated more seriously? 

Understanding employee sentiment is the first step toward building a healthy workplace, so find out what it would take to keep your teams happy. Employee satisfaction survey templates can be the catalyst to inspire HR leaders to ask the right questions. 

Here’s how employee satisfaction surveys can boost employee engagement, loyalty, and productivity. We’ll also offer a few sample questions to help you build your own template.

What is an employee satisfaction survey?

Employee satisfaction surveys are a quick and easy method of gauging how content people are with their jobs. They typically include questions about topics like work environment, job satisfaction, and managerial support. 

Surveys on job satisfaction tend to collect feedback in the following areas:

• Nature of work and purpose: Jobs evolve, and employees can end up in roles they didn’t anticipate. Use satisfaction surveys to uncover whether employees find their work fulfilling and well-aligned with their talents.
• Communication and delegation of work: A good or bad manager can radically impact the employee experience. Find out how managers lead and whether workers believe management communication could be improved.
• Mentoring and support: Employees often feel they need a little help to reach their potential. Surveys can shed light on whether they’re happy with their current level of support.
• Workload distribution: There will always be busy periods, but consistently high workloads lead to burnout. Check in on whether workers feel overwhelmed.
• Recognition and appreciation: When achievements go unnoticed, employees might feel like management doesn’t care about their efforts. Gather feedback on whether individuals feel seen and appreciated by leadership and their peers.
• Organizational values and company culture: If employee views don’t align with the business’s values or culture, they can feel like they don’t belong. Include questions that monitor engagement with company values and core beliefs.
• Team members and dynamics: Ask individuals about their working relationships to see how connected they feel to the team. Team dynamics play a core role in people’s day-to-day work and are worth prioritizing. 
• Advancement plan: Some employees are happy at their current level, while others want to progress. Sending out satisfaction surveys can reveal whether employees are happy with the current career progression options available to them.
• Employee benefits and perks: Include questions on whether people are satisfied with your current employee value proposition (EVP). Workers often expect more from employers than just a paycheck.

What are the benefits of employee satisfaction surveys?

So you’ve asked how happy your workers are, but don’t quite see why it’s important. Here are a few ways employee satisfaction survey data benefits your organization.

Identifying issues

By gathering feedback, you can spot which employees or teams are having a tough time and whether intervention is necessary. Pinpoint employees who are close to burnout, not getting along with colleagues, or who don’t feel appreciated.

If you’re noticing the most flags are from a particular team or department, you might also investigate those managers. Managers are the drivers of culture at your company, and if they’re failing to thrive, it affects everyone below them.

Retaining talent

When employees feel heard and that their feedback is acted upon, engagement skyrockets. According to Gallup data, engaged business units in high-turnover organizations see 21% less turnover. By proving to your team that you’re listening, you’re more likely to retain key talent. 

Improving productivity

According to Slack’s “The State of Work” report, 82% of employees believe that workplace happiness and engagement are key productivity drivers. Identify which areas of the employee experience need improvement using work satisfaction survey results to boost both happiness and productivity.

Enhancing employer brand

When employees are happy, they’re more likely to sing your praises. Companies known for focusing on workplace culture also gain a reputation for being a great place to work. By using satisfaction survey results to build a better culture, you create an environment that top talent wants to join. 

Planning and implementing employee satisfaction surveys

Different questions receive different answers. Depending on the information you’re looking for, tweak your phrasing and formatting. 

Here are a few of the main question types in job satisfaction survey questionnaires:

• Sliding scale: Employees are given a statement and provided with a numerical scale (such as 1-10). They are asked which number best represents their level of agreement with the statement. For example, “On a scale of 1-10, how happy are you with your current workload?”
• Matrix: A matrix table asks multiple questions and provides a list of the same possible answers. For example, “How satisfied are you with X: extremely satisfied, slightly satisfied, somewhat satisfied,” etc.
• Yes/No: Employees respond to a question with a yes or no. These are useful when you’re looking for binary answers. You can also follow up with an additional open question to allow employees to explain their response. 
• Nominal multiple answers: Employees select one or more answers from a list of options. Questions often use the format, “Select all that apply.”
• Dropdowns: A dropdown list of potential answers is ideal for questions with a large number of responses. For example, “Which department do you work in?” gives set options.
• Ranking slots: Employees are asked to rank a series of items according to how they feel about each.

How to encourage employees to complete satisfaction surveys

It’s all well and good sending out a survey, but if your employees don’t complete it, it’s a wasted effort. A good survey response rate goal is around 70%. Anything below 50% is suboptimal, since you’re acting on the opinions of less than half of your workforce. If you’re struggling to reach this figure, here are a few tips you can try:

• Communicate the purpose: Outline why you’re sending out a survey, what data you’re looking to collect, and how you plan to use it. When employees know the survey will result in changes to their workplace experience, they’re more likely to take part. 
• Schedule around workloads: Employees are less likely to complete a survey if they’re swamped with a busy project. Take into account your team’s workloads when scheduling and plan accordingly.
• Provide enough time: Short turnaround times don’t give employees enough time to complete the survey around their daily responsibilities. You could also miss out on responses from part-time workers and those on leave if the participation window is too short.
• Make the survey accessible: Not everyone is glued to their inbox. Send out surveys via company email, but send reminders over various platforms to boost engagement.
• Consider allowing anonymity: Anonymous surveys allow employees to answer honestly, without fear of reprisal.
• Use software solutions: Software such as Workleap Officevibe can simplify the whole process. Officevibe allows you to collect feedback, generate data-first insights, and take actionable steps to improve the employee experience from one platform.
• Act on insights: Employees will be less inclined to answer surveys if they feel their input is ignored. Make sure you communicate your survey findings and outline a game plan to address the most important feedback in a timely manner.

Staff satisfaction survey template: Top questions to ask

Employee satisfaction surveys can cover a broad range of topics. Tailor your survey to the specific insights you want to collect. Here’s a selection of typical questions employers tend to include. 

Role recognition

To make sure workers still feel satisfied with their role and are happy with the current level of recognition they receive, try asking:

• Do you get a feeling of personal accomplishment from our daily work?
• How well would you say that your job description matches your current responsibilities?
• Do you feel like your efforts are appreciated by your supervisors?

Work climate

Understanding your workplace culture is the first step to improving it. Here are some questions you can ask to get a feel for employee sentiment:

• Do you feel confident in the work completed by your peers?
• How often do you share work-related advice with your teammates?
• Do you feel your team needs more members to manage its workload?

Compensation and benefits

Check how happy employees are with their current pay and benefits by asking the following questions:

• Do you find your benefits package competitive?
• Is your pay rate enough to keep you from taking a second job?
• How likely are you to get leave time when you need it?

Work-life balance

A poor work-life balance can leave your employees feeling burned out. Ask for employee feedback with these questions and then follow up where necessary:

• How stressed do you feel on a typical workday?
• How often do you finish/work on tasks at night or on the weekends?
• How would you rate your work-life balance on a scale of 1-10?

Managerial communication

Find out whether employees are happy with the level of communication from leadership and their managers with these questions:

• Can you describe all staff meetings as essential?
• Are you often confused by project goals and objectives?
• Do you see a clear line of promotion for yourself through your supervisor’s recommendations?

Training adequacy

Employee survey questions that address training and tool familiarity help pinpoint roadblocks. Find out whether employees are comfortable with their level of training with these questions:

• Do you often feel like you have to use unfamiliar tools?
• When was the last time your immediate supervisor mentored you?
• How well do training sessions translate during practical tasks on the job?

Staff satisfaction survey templates made easy

Employee satisfaction surveys help you better understand your workplace. From views on company culture to managerial communication, employees have vital insights you can use to improve your workplace. And by regularly sending out surveys and acting on their feedback, you can boost job satisfaction, increase employee retention, and boost productivity.

With fully customizable survey templates, real-time employee satisfaction metrics, and AI-powered insights, Workleap Officevibe can streamline the collection of survey data. Improve employee engagement with Officevibe’s enhanced analytics and by following its actionable insights.

‍Demo Workleap Officevibe today and start boosting your employee satisfaction levels.