Summary
The feedback you get from employees is only as good as the employee satisfaction survey questions you ask them.
Why Are Employee Satisfaction Surveys Important?
Gathering direct feedback from employees in the form of surveys is a great way to improve your engagement and satisfaction efforts. In some ways it’s the most trustworthy method for reading the pulse of your culture. In a more practical sense, identifying areas of dissatisfaction is required before you can begin to diagnose it. However, the feedback you get from employees is only as good as the employee satisfaction survey questions you ask them.
Uncharted Engagement Territory
2020 gave us a lot to reconsider about the way we work, and one could argue that the term “employee satisfaction” took on new meaning. Now, with workforces more geographically dispersed than ever before, and employees facing unprecedented disruptions in their home and civic lives on top of everything, we are all wandering into uncharted engagement territory as the year wraps up.
5 Important Employee Satisfaction Survey Questions for 2021
Suffice to say, 2021 employee satisfaction surveys are a great opportunity to adjust the dialogue around happiness at work, and in doing so gain a better picture of what will keep your employees feeling engaged, empowered, and confident to do their jobs in the coming months. Here are 5 questions we think are must-haves, in no particular order:
- Do you have the technology and equipment to do your job well? Remote work has spiked in 2020, and technology is more essential than ever before in keeping everyone connected and productive. Even high performers need the right tools do their jobs well.
- Do you have enough freedom to do decide how to do your work? With many employees having to run virtual classrooms from their homes, take care of sick loved ones, and all manner of other external pressures, autonomy is a gold standard for driving satisfaction in 2021.
- Does your direct manager provide meaningful support to complete your work? An employee’s relationship with their manager is always a top driver of satisfaction and maintaining strong connections and positive feedback loops is critical during tumultuous times.
- Does the company provide a work environment conducive to good mental health and wellbeing? The added pressures of the pandemic have aggravated an already troublesome mental health crisis in the country. Any organization not taking mental health seriously in 2021 risks alienating its employees.
- Do you feel like the company is open to meaningful change? Flexibility and adaptability will be core survival skills in an unpredictable new year. If any employees perceive the company as unresponsive changing circumstances, it’s a number you’ll want to know.
Keep the Dialogue Going
These employee satisfaction survey questions are not anything game-changing or new – you’ve probably used one or two of them in the past. But they are ones to include and watch closely as 2021 unfolds. Part of keeping employees satisfied and steady in their jobs is remaining acutely aware of how standards of satisfaction and work habits change. By paying attention to the right details, employee surveys can still deliver valuable data even in uncertain times.
