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Ever issue a survey to your employees only to be sorely disappointed in the quality of the feedback? While employee surveys are a powerful tool for understanding workforce sentiment, improving engagement, and driving organizational change, they cannot operate in a vacuum. Their very success lies in the quality of the questions within them.
Designing surveys effectively is both a science (driven by data) and an art (leading with engaging questions). So if you truly want to maximize response rates and extract meaningful insights, HR leaders must craft surveys with intention and clarity. That means being strategic – from the very beginning – about what you’re doing and why.
Understand the Purpose of Your Survey
Before drafting any questions, identify what you want to achieve. Are you looking to improve retention? Assess workplace culture? Get feedback on a specific program? Identifying clear goals ensures that every question serves a purpose and yields actionable insights. In fact, organizations that clearly define their survey objectives are 70% more likely to achieve meaningful insights that drive real change.
Best Practices:
Link questions directly to specific objectives.
As tempting as it may be, avoid including questions just for curiosity’s sake — each one should have a clear use case.
Keep It Short and Sweet
Long surveys lead to fatigue and drop-off. That’s because employees are more likely to participate when they know their time is respected. To maximize the effectiveness of your surveys, limit them to under a 10-minute response time. Companies that leverage concise surveys tend to see 70-90% response rates.
Best Practices:
Limit surveys to 10-15 well-crafted questions.
Set expectations up front: Provide an estimated time it will take to complete the survey.
To improve response rates even further, move demographic questions to the end.
Use Open-Ended Questions Strategically
If you’ve taken a survey yourself, you know how much easier it is to complete multiple choice than to write in answers. (If you’re hoping to gather specific, quantitative data, close-ended questions are your best bet.) While open-ended questions can provide deep insights, they should be used sparingly to avoid overwhelming employees. And if open-ended questions are absolutely necessary, don’t require a lengthy response to get to the crux of what you’re looking for. The reality is that the time and effort required for thorough responses to open-ended questions can discourage participation and result in lower response rates.
Example:
“What’s one thing you would change about our workplace?” might elicit more / better responses than something like "Describe a time when you felt our workplace culture wasn’t ideal.”
Best Practices:
Balance open-ended and close-ended questions for a diverse range of insights.
Use open-ended questions only where additional context is necessary.
Avoid Bias and Ambiguity
Leading or unclear questions can skew results and reduce the accuracy of your data. Make a point to be objective in your questioning so that the insights you extract are pure. Improving the language in your surveys can have implications in overall participation as well, since respondents might leave a survey if they think that questions are pressuring them to respond a certain way.
Example:
Instead of “How much do you love our employee recognition program?”, ask “How often do you feel recognized for your work?”
Best Practices:
Use neutral, straightforward language.
Avoid assumptions that may not be true for all employees.
Test Before Launching
Just as you’d test any client-facing document, a well-designed survey should be piloted before it goes company-wide. Doing so can address issues early on that result in improved data accuracy.
Best Practices:
Test with a small group of people to identify unclear questions or technical issues.
Adjust questions based on feedback to maximize clarity and engagement.
A well-structured survey can go far to drive participation and deliver actionable insights. But if you want the best results, treat survey design as a continuous improvement process to keep them relevant and effective.
Consider Using a Third-Party Provider
Research shows that 48% of workers felt their employee surveys did not provide an accurate assessment because employees didn't answer honestly. Using a third-party provider like CARRY™ Consulting can significantly boost participation and honesty. In fact, 57.3% of employees said they would be more willing to provide feedback if it was anonymous. Partnering with a third-party ensures confidentiality and encourages genuine feedback.
Let's Take the Next Step Together
Want expert help designing employee surveys that actually work? Schedule a survey consulting call with CARRY™ Consulting today and let’s create surveys your employees will love to answer.
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