Employee Survey Tips: Choosing Questions

I spent seven years leading methodology and data science for employee engagement surveys at Peakon and Workday. Over that time, I’ve worked with everyone from tiny tech startups to massive retail brands, mining operations, football clubs, and even government entities. Now that I’m no longer directly involved in survey creation, I can share my honest thoughts on the most effective ways to run employee surveys.

See the complete set of tips & tricks for running employee engagement surveys.

When designing an employee engagement survey, a common concern is choosing the right questions. You don’t want to waste anyone’s time, and you need insights that will guide real action. Here are three key considerations:

1. Focus on the 20% That Matters Most

In any survey, about 80% of the questions tend to earn “average” responses—respondents don’t have strong feelings either way. The real gold lies in the remaining 20%, where people have clear, passionate opinions. Your job is to figure out which topics spark that kind of engagement.

To identify these hot-button issues, review past surveys or other feedback avenues. Look for topics that consistently generate detailed comments or strong reactions. Those areas are likely to yield the most useful insights, so prioritize them in your survey design.

Some feedback analytics tools, like Sunbeam could help identify the most important issues in text feedback, which would suggest which questions should be prioritized in subsequent rounds.

2. Only Ask If You’re Willing to Act

One of the quickest ways to lose trust is to ask about topics you have no plan (or ability) to improve. For example, repeatedly asking about salaries or benefits when there’s no budget for changes can create cynicism. If you know a particular issue isn’t on the table, say, you can’t increase pay this year, then rephrase your questions so they’re still constructive. For instance, “Do you understand how our compensation model works?” might be more helpful than “Are you happy with your pay?” if you can’t do anything about the latter.

This not only respects employees’ time but also helps maintain credibility. When you demonstrate follow-up on the topics you can act on, people feel heard.

3. Include Core Engagement Drivers

While every organization has unique priorities, certain themes commonly appear in engagement surveys:

• Leadership and Vision - Do employees trust leadership and understand company direction?
• Direct Management - Are managers offering effective support, guidance, and communication?
• Career Growth and Learning - Are there opportunities to develop and advance?
• Recognition and Rewards - Do people feel their efforts are appreciated and fairly compensated?
• Workload - Is the pace sustainable?
• Health and Well-being - Are there enough resources and programs to support both mental and physical wellness?
• Teamwork and Collaboration - How effectively do teams work together?
• Communication and Feedback - Are updates clear, and does everyone feel comfortable sharing concerns?
• Goal Setting - Do employees have clear, achievable objectives that tie back to broader company goals?
• Performance Management - Are evaluations fair, timely, and geared toward growth?
• Physical Environment - Does the workspace (whether in-office or remote) promote comfort, safety, and productivity?
• Company Strategy - Do employees understand and believe in the organization’s long-term vision and objectives?

These “standard” drivers often highlight areas where changes can improve the overall employee experience. Tailor them to your context by considering what really matters to your people.

Also consider whether you can obtain benchmarks for these questions. The more "standard" a question, the more likely you'll be able to get your survey provider to benchmark it.

Sunbeam

Sunbeam is a feedback analytics platform designed to make working with open-ended, text-based feedback as straightforward as working with scores. Too many organizations overlook the rich insights hidden in qualitative responses, and Sunbeam aims to fix that. By combining deep industry expertise with cutting-edge AI, Sunbeam makes it simple to analyze and act on text feedback, ultimately helping HR teams unlock the full potential of employee engagement data.