Employee culture surveys are a powerful tool used by companies to better understand their workplace environment.
By asking specific questions about topics like employee satisfaction, engagement, and workplace values, companies can gather valuable insights. In our work, we’ve seen that organizations with strong cultures often have a higher net profit and workforce growth.
For example, Gallup's research shows a 50-point increase in employee engagement over three years for companies with a solid culture. This is what your company can see from connecting with your employees and learning how to best improve the culture for your workforce.
By frequently using employee culture surveys, companies can identify areas of improvement. This helps in driving positive changes and aligning company values with employee experiences.
What Is An Employee Culture Survey?
An employee culture survey is a tool that companies can use to understand the beliefs, values, and norms within a company.
These surveys ask staff about their true feelings, work environment, experience, and thoughts on company values.
They are especially important since the values and statements a company has doesn’t always equate to what employees experience on a daily basis. Understanding the difference between the two is important for knowing what your employees experience.
In our past work with clients, we've seen that culture surveys are key to identifying areas needing improvement.
They can highlight problems like lack of communication and how companies can better support their employees.
For example, culture surveys might ask about…
- Teamwork
- Management fairness
- Work-life balance
Using employee culture surveys truly transforms workplaces for the better. Think of it as having a roadmap to a positive company culture - which is why we think companies should make it a regular practice!
Why Employee Culture Surveys Should Be Important In Your Company
Employee culture surveys help companies see what is actually happening inside their organization.
In our experience, these surveys give employees a way to express their honest opinions. This can reveal issues management might not know about. For example, if many team members feel disconnected, surveys can help organizations take specific actions.
Additionally, culture surveys can help…
Track changes: By comparing past and present results, it’s possible to see if actions are working.
Boost employee engagement: Engaged employees are often more productive, leading to better business results.
Improve employee retention: In our work, we've seen how these surveys can reduce turnover rates and boost retention. Knowing what makes employees stay or leave can help businesses create a healthier workplace.
Gain insight into employee productivity: Surveys also offer a snapshot of how aligned employees are with company goals. This helps in creating strategies that everyone supports.
Improve leadership: Lastly, leaders benefit a lot from the insights gained. Better decisions come from understanding the workforce's opinions and needs.
In the end, regular culture surveys are like check-ups for the health of your business. Keeping you informed of important staff trends, you’ll be able to detect issues early on in the game (before it’s too late).
Benefits of Company Culture Surveys
There are benefits to all employee surveys but specifically with culture surveys, staying up to date with the culture of your company and how employees experience it is key for a healthy work environment.
In addition to boosting employee productivity, culture surveys also help businesses:
- Identify any issues or barriers that employees feel like they have have with the current environment
- Nurture transparent and honest relationships with employees (for better and quicker feedback loops)
- Show commitment to your employees (which can help with their commitment to your company)
- Identify what works about the culture and adding benchmarks for the future
- Use current culture to inform important business decisions for next steps in your company
20 Questions To Ask In Your Employee Culture Survey
In our experience, asking carefully crafted questions is key to getting useful insights. Here are 15 examples of questions to include (hint: you can make them more specific to your company).
- How likely are you to recommend [Example Company] as a place to work? Select a rating.
- Please explain why you rated [Example Company] as a [insert response] out of 10. Enter your response below.
- How has your job satisfaction with [Example Company] changed over the past 12 months? Select one.
- How does [Example Company] compare to employment at other organizations? Select one.
- When you think about working at [Example Company], what word comes to mind? Enter your response below.
- How important are each of the following when determining satisfaction with a job? Rank each.
Please rate your agreement with each of the following statements. [Note: This question set is likely broked out into different categories (i.e., career development, work engagement, relationship management, benefits, compensation, work environment)]
- I am satisfied with my opportunities for professional growth.
- I get excited about going to work.
- Employees in my organization willingly accept change.
- I am satisfied with my overall compensation.
- Communication between senior leaders and employees is good in my organization.
- My coworkers and I have a good working relationship.
- Senior management and employees trust each other.
- Management within my organization recognizes strong job performance.
- I am satisfied with my total benefits package.
- My organization has a safe work environment.
- I am satisfied with my overall job security.
- I am satisfied with the culture of my workplace.
- If you could change one thing about [Example Company] to improve your satisfaction as an employee, what would it be? Enter your response below.
- Do you have any final thoughts or comments? Enter your response below.
Best Practices For Your Culture Survey
There are certain ways to get the most out of your employee culture survey, from how often you conduct them to implementing the data. Below, we’ll cover some of our best practices for running these essential surveys.
Conduct Culture Surveys On a Recurring Basis
It's important to conduct culture surveys regularly to not only track changes over time but to also aim for improvements. In our experience, anything from quarterly to bi-annual surveys work great.
This cadence keeps the feedback current and relevant, without surveying too often (survey fatigue is real). Regular surveys also show employees that their opinions matter help promote positive changes.
Furthermore, frequent surveys help identify trends and spot areas of concern before they become bigger problems. This allows for timely interventions and helps employees feel better about their workplace.
Identify Your Goals
Before creating your survey, clearly define what you want to achieve.
This could be things like improving employee engagement, understanding team dynamics, or enhancing overall job satisfaction. In our work, we help clients set measurable goals from our very first kickoff meeting, making the survey more effective.
Knowing your goals also allows you to tailor and craft specific questions to get the most useful feedback. For instance, if you're focusing on job satisfaction, include questions about workload, management, and work-life balance (and ignore questions that are irrelevant to the goal). Clear goals also help you analyze your data and create better actions from it.
Write the Best Questions For Employees
The questions you ask are crucial to obtaining high-quality feedback.
Using a mix of open-ended and structured questions (along with other types if needed) is always a good idea. Open-ended questions let employees express their thoughts in detail, while structured questions provide quantifiable data.
Additionally, keep questions relevant and straightforward. AKA, avoid jargon or complex language that might confuse employees.
For example, instead of asking "Do you find intrinsic motivation in your work?" ask "Do you enjoy your work?" Simple language like this ensures understanding and better engagement with your surveys.
Program a Seamless Survey
Make sure the survey is easy to access and complete.
Enacting good survey programming practices ensures employees can participate on their computer, phone, or tablet. Take it from us: the smoother the experience, the higher the response rate (and therefore, higher data quality).
You can also use things like survey logic to speed up the survey process and make it more seamless for employees.
Lastly, make sure to test the survey before sending it out to fix any technical issues. This is one of those tips you don’t want to skip. At Drive Research, we make sure to test 100% of the surveys before we send them out in order to catch last minute things.
Analyze Your Data & Create an Action Plan
Analyzing the data is crucial for making informed decisions.
It’s essential you break down the results by department, role, or other relevant categories and Identify areas that need immediate attention and those that require long-term strategies.
Next, you’ll want to develop an action plan based on your findings. Set realistic, measurable goals for improvement. For instance, if you find low engagement in a particular department, consider team-building activities or training sessions. Assign responsibilities and timelines to ensure changes are implemented.
How To Use Culture Survey Results
Once you've gathered the data, look for patterns and trends. Share the results with key players in your company to decide on taking actionable steps.
Improving the day-to-day operations and experience of your employees is a great way to use these results, and the best outcome will be dependent on your survey goals.
For example, if the survey reveals that many employees feel overworked, consider implementing changes to manage workloads better.
Bonus: Be Communicative With Your Employees
In our experience, employees appreciate knowing that their feedback leads to real changes.
Keep those lines of communication open, and provide regular updates on the actions taken based on survey results can boost morale and employee engagement.
Consider holding meetings, or send out newsletters to inform employees about the steps being taken. For example, if you've introduced flexible working hours based on survey feedback, let everyone know.
Our main point here? Continuous communication helps maintain trust and keeps employees engaged in the survey process.
Why A Third Party Is Best For Your Employee Culture Surveys
When it comes to conducting employee culture surveys, using a third-party firm like Drive Research is the best option for several reasons.
Faster Turnaround Times
Firstly, a third-party company ensures a fast turnaround time.
With specialized expertise and efficient processes, everything from deployment, data collection, and analyzing survey data happens quickly. This speed allows your organization to swiftly identify cultural strengths and areas for improvement, enabling timely interventions that can positively impact the workplace environment.
Ensure Employee Anonymity
Employee anonymity is another significant advantage.
Employees are more likely to provide honest and candid feedback when they are assured that their responses are confidential.
A number of our clients have to come to this just for this reason. This confidentiality is crucial for obtaining accurate and actionable data.
Better Data Quality
You’re more likely to get the highest quality data with a third party company. High-quality data is essential for understanding the nuances of your organizational culture and making informed decisions.
Expert-level analysis is another key benefit here. Having third-party survey experts that bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the table is the key. You’ll be getting in-depth analysis and comprehensive reports (which you wouldn’t have otherwise).
They identify key trends, highlight critical areas for improvement, and offer actionable recommendations.
Contact Our Employee Survey Company
Drive Research is a market research company specializing in employee satisfaction. With year of combined experience in market research, our team has the knowledge and tools to create a detailed employee culture for your team.
To learn more about our market research services, get in touch with us today.
- Message us on our website
- Email us at [email protected]
- Call us at 888-725-DATA
- Text us at 315-303-2040
Austin Parker
Austin has an extensive background in SEO as he's been blogging since 16 years old back when the internet was in its infancy. As fitting, he holds a Bachelor's degree in English with a concentration in creative writing.
Learn more about Austin, here.
