Employee wellbeing surveys are a great investment for any company.
These surveys help understand how employees feel about their work and personal well-being.
Knowing what makes your team tick and what stresses them out is key to creating a happy and productive workplace. In our experience, a carefully crafted survey can provide insights you’d never get from a casual chat.
By asking the right questions, we can zero in on what matters most to employees. Topics like work-life balance, mental health, and job satisfaction often come up. For instance, one of our clients found that 70% of their employees felt overwhelmed by their workload. Using this data, they were able to make changes that improved both morale and productivity.
Let's dive deeper into how to design these surveys for maximum impact next.
What Is an Employee Wellbeing Survey?
An employee wellbeing survey is a tool for getting feedback about health and happiness in the workplace. In our work, we've found these surveys help paint a full picture of how employees feel.
They cover areas like mental and physical health, job satisfaction, and stress levels. An investment into your employees wellbeing on a regular basis can be critical in long-term goals for your company.
Asking the right questions can uncover things like what is working well and where things can improve. These surveys also help companies spot trends over time.
We’ve seen that regular surveys lead to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover. Employees appreciate knowing that companies care about their views and wellbeing. Companies that invest in this practice get a clearer understanding of the employment conditions that employees experience.
Anyone from HR professionals to small business owners can benefit from using these surveys, as they provide a clear picture of what’s happening behind the scenes. After all, a happy team is a productive team, and knowing how to better support your employees is always a smart move.
Why You Should Care About Employee Wellbeing Surveys
Employee wellbeing surveys help companies understand their employees' mental and physical health. And better wellbeing leads to happier, more productive workers.
In our experience, healthy employees perform better. To back this up, wellbeing programs can improve productivity by up to 21%. Workers who feel supported are less likely to call in sick or leave the company - this happens because they feel valued and take fewer days off.
Remember: communication is key! Surveys give employees a voice, making them feel heard and more comfortable sharing honest feedback. When employees see changes based on their feedback, they engage more.
PS: This can also help in reducing company turnover.
Specific feedback from these surveys helps organizations address issues quickly. Our work has shown that regular feedback loops with employees are essential for a thriving workplace and eliminating under-the-radar issues.
Best Practices For An Employee Wellbeing Survey
Don’t know where to start? That’s okay. Take a look at some of our suggestions for conducting a seamless employee wellbeing survey.
Identify Goals For The Survey
First, decide what you want to learn from the survey. We’ve seen companies have the best results when their goals align with current workplace challenges or specific initiatives.
Are you looking to get data on job satisfaction, measure stress levels, or understand your employees' wants or goals more? Clear goals help tailor your questions. Knowing your objectives ensures that the survey collects meaningful data and will be a success.
Determining your targets in advance prevents vague results, helping you make informed decisions.
Write the Best Questions for Your Employees
Questions make or break a survey.
Avoid complex or leading questions by using simple language, and make sure each question covers a single topic. For example, ask, "How satisfied are you with your work-life balance?" instead of combining work-life balance with job satisfaction.
In our experience, specific questions yield more high-quality answers. Always include options for more detailed, qualitative feedback, like open-ended questions. This helps uncover insights not captured through standard multiple-choice questions.
Make Sure Anonymity Is In-Place
To get honest feedback, guarantee anonymity to your employees. Assuring confidentiality builds trust and promotes a culture of openness. It’s a win-win situation for both employees and employers.
Let them know their responses are confidential. Anonymous surveys encourage employees to share truthful opinions without fear of repercussions. In our work with clients, we’ve seen anonymous surveys often result in higher participation rates and more candid responses.
Send Out Your Survey Programmed To Collect The Data
Once you’ve collected your employee list to send to, you can start sending out your programmed survey.
Program the survey to collect data efficiently, categorizing responses to make analysis easier. Occasionally, survey programming can be complex to include
We’ve found that programming it yourself is do-able with more simple surveys. If you’re using survey logic or complex programming, you may need a survey programming company to help.
Automating surveys also allows for quick turnaround times in gathering and analyzing data, helping you act on insights sooner.
Choose Proper Times to Survey
This is not about the time of day, but more about time of year to survey your employees.
In our experience, a well-timed survey gets higher response rates and better-quality feedback. Planning and timing your survey thoughtfully shows respect for employees’ time and schedules.
Furthermore, understanding that survey fatigue is real for employees will help you pinpoint how often you can survey them for the highest quality data.
Additionally, consider sending the survey during a calmer time of the year so employees don’t feel pressured. Monday mornings or Friday afternoons might not be ideal times due to work stress or end-of-week fatigue.
Analyze Your Data & Create Action From It
Once your data collection step is complete, analyze the results carefully. This is a key step in the market research process, as it reveals the quality of feedback.
Look for patterns and key insights that can be related to your goals for the survey. Use the data to inform your decisions and create actionable steps.
It’s always best to share your findings with the team to foster transparency and collective problem-solving. We've seen the best results when companies don’t just collect data, but use it to implement real changes.
Acting on survey findings shows employees that their feedback is valued and leads to a more engaged and satisfied workforce.
Recommended Reading: 8 Employee Engagement Trends Shaping Workplaces in 2024
Questions to Ask in Your Employee Wellbeing Survey
Below are 10 examples of questions to include (hint: you can make them more specific to your company):
1. How likely are you to recommend [Example Company] as a place to work? Select a rating.
2. Please explain why you rated [Example Company] as a [insert response] out of 10. Enter your response below.
3. How has your job satisfaction with [Example Company] changed over the past 12 months? Select one.
4. When you think about working at [Example Company], what word comes to mind? Enter your response below.
Please rate your agreement with each of the following statements. [Note: This question set is likely broken out into different categories (i.e., career development, work engagement, relationship management, benefits, compensation, work environment)]
5. My health and well-being are a priority at my organization.
6. I successfully balance my work and personal life.
7. I feel good about my mental health.
8. I feel a sense of belonging at this organization.
9. I am proud to work at this organization.
10. I feel like I can be myself at this organization.
11. I have people at work who genuinely care about me.
12. Employees treat each other with respect.
13. My supervisor respects me.
14. If you could change one thing about [example company] to improve your health and wellbeing as an employee, what would it be? Enter your response below.
15. Do you have any final thoughts or comments? Enter your response below.
Why A Third Party Is The Best Option For Your Employee Wellbeing Surveys
When it comes to conducting employee wellbeing surveys, partnering with a third-party service is the optimal choice for several reasons.
Quick Turnaround
First and foremost, utilizing a third-party company ensures a quick turnaround time. With specialized expertise and efficient processes, a third party survey company can deploy, collect, and analyze data much faster than an in-house team.
This quickness allows you to promptly address any issues and implement improvements, thereby fostering a more supportive and responsive work environment.
Employee Anonymity
Employee anonymity is another major advantage here. In many cases, employees are more likely to provide honest and candid feedback when they are confident that their responses are confidential.
In our experience, many clients come to us simply to ensure anonymity.
A third-party service guarantees this and encourages more open and accurate insights into employee wellbeing. This level of trust is essential for gathering genuine data that can drive meaningful change.
Expertise
Lastly, third-party survey companies bring expert-level analysis to the table. With years of experience and specialized knowledge, professionals can interpret the data with accuracy and depth that you may not get from analyzing data on your own.
This expert analysis ensures that your organization can make informed decisions to enhance employee wellbeing effectively. It’s one of the reasons clients love working with us so much.
Contact Our Employee Survey Company
If you’re looking for the right third party company for employee wellbeing surveys, don’t hesitate to reach out today for a customized quote from us at Drive Research.
Drive Research is a market research company dedicated to delivering critical employee insights. With years of experience in research, our team will partner with yours to uncover the highest quality employee data.
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.
