5 Ways To Boost Your Engagement Survey Response Rate 

Why conduct an employee engagement survey?

Let’s step back for a moment and remind ourselves of why it’s important to conduct an employee engagement survey in the first place. An effective employee engagement survey helps you discover what motivates employees to do their very best work and helps uncover what might be causing some employees to not give their all.  

Employee engagement survey results enable you to identify areas where you’re currently succeeding as well as areas that need more time and attention. Administering on an annual basis allows you to understand how you’re moving the needle on employee engagement over time. You can use the results to make informed decisions related to everything from benefits and leadership training to communications and recruiting. 

Strategic and thoughtful implementation of employee engagement surveys can help build trust and drive organizational growth as employees witness the action you’re taking in response to results. 

To make informed decisions, however, you need good data. And for that to happen, you need a strong response rate. 

Why does response rate matter?

Higher survey response rates mean data is more representative of the entire workforce, not just a subset. With more responses you can also draw better conclusions, track trends, and make decisions based on a stronger foundation. A good goal is to aim for a 70% response rate. 

Unfortunately, with just 32% of employees in the workforce currently engaged, there’s a paradox: you’re conducting the engagement survey to find out why employees might be disengaged, but those who are most disengaged are probably the least likely to complete the survey! What to do?  

Increase your engagement survey response rate with these five tips.

Here are our top five tips for increasing the response rate for your engagement survey. Keep in mind, though, that there are many factors that influence response rates—like the size of the organization, communication strategy, trust levels, past survey experiences, and whether the organization acts on feedback.   

Keep it small, simple and short. 

• Small. Don’t ask employees about every aspect of the workplace. To narrow it down, consider the seven drivers of employee engagement and try to focus on just one per survey: personal resources, work environment, communication, effective management, benefits and pay satisfaction, growth and development and health and well-being. 
• Simple. Use mostly closed-ended questions with a few open-ended questions where employees can write in a more detailed response. Make sure the questions are clear and understandable.  
• Short. Employees indicate they don’t want to take a survey that takes them longer than 10 minutes to complete, so keep it brief. 

Communicate about the survey early and often. 

Communication is essential for a high survey response rate. And sending just one email about it won’t be enough. As part of engagement survey planning, prepare a communication plan. Use a range of communication vehicles—emails, digital signage, workplace social media posts, and more. Most importantly, ensure managers know about the upcoming survey and ask them to publicize it during team meetings. When the survey launches, send regular reminders via emails, SMS, or the company portal. 

Get leadership buy-in. 

An engagement survey is likely to achieve a higher response rate if the entire leadership team stands behind it. Make sure all levels of leadership are actively talking about the survey and its importance. If employees sense leadership thinks it’s a waste of time, they’ll be less likely to participate.  

Consider rewards.

Another way to boost your survey response rate is to create some friendly competition. Reward the team with the highest survey completion rate with a small token, such as a gift card or lunch on the company. You can also publicly recognize the winning team at an all-hands meeting. That said, it’s important to not let competition become so intense that employees feel pressured to participate, which can compromise the authenticity of the feedback. 

Future-proof high participation rates by taking action.  

Employees who fill out a survey trust that their voice will be heard and things will change. But if a survey just checks the box and there’s no action taken on the feedback, employees won’t take future surveys seriously. If you can’t act on a certain aspect of the feedback, say so and state the reasons why it can’t be done. Remember, a survey isn’t just a tool for listening—it’s to receive information and actually do something!  

Asking the right survey questions in the right way makes a big difference. 

Survey response rates can also be impacted by how questions are presented to respondents—in other words, asking the right questions in the right way. The best survey uses a combination of questions that allow employees to rate certain aspects of the employee experience as well as measure feelings and perceptions. 

Each question should be specific, use simple language, and focus on one idea at a time. 

There are a few types of questions proven to be most effective: 

• Likert scale questions use a 5- or 7-point scale to provide a range of extremes and are often used to assess likelihood or agreeability. 
• Open-ended questions provide you with specific feedback you can take immediate action on.

Here’s a sample engagement survey that gets great results.

Let’s take a look at this 10-question survey that consistently receives high response rates. We’ll examine each question to determine why—as well as how you can use responses to these questions to boost employee engagement. 

01. How valued do you feel at work?

Feelings matter. Employees who feel valued are more motivated, more engaged, and more likely to go the extra mile. 

The emotions that develop from feeling valued can help build a stronger connection with the organization, leaders, and colleagues. On the flip side, low scores in this area may mean you need to look into employee recognition efforts. 

If you’re struggling in this area, perhaps you need to train managers on how to give better day-to-day recognition. Or, maybe you need to improve your current rewards and recognition program.  

02. How happy are you at work? 

An Oxford study found that happy workers are 13% more productive, which suggests that unhappy employees can be a real drain on productivity. If your happiness scores are low, look at the responses to other questions to pinpoint the source of the unhappiness. If you have high levels of happiness, use that data to your advantage in recruiting efforts. Potential employees want to know your current employees are happy. 

03. How likely are you to be working here in one year? 

By limiting this question to a one-year timeframe, you aren’t asking employees to think too far into the future. 

This is another opportunity to do some detective work. By looking at this question’s response in relation to other results you can uncover reasons an employee might leave that are within the organization’s control.  

For example, if an employee doesn’t feel valued and has no work-life balance, they’re likely looking for a new job right now. 

04. Do you know what is expected of you at work? 

This question is great because it’s very specific. Employees either know what is expected of them or they don’t. 

Responses to this question can help you identify a communication gap. Departments and leaders may need training on how to best communicate expectations well and consistently. 

Getting this right can also impact other areas—such as employee recognition and performance management. 

05. What’s one thing we do very well here that we should continue doing or do more of? 

This provides employees with an opportunity to tell you what they like and what matters to them. 

It’s easy to look at engagement survey responses and get caught up in what you need to improve. But it’s critical to also pay attention to what’s going right so you can continue to support and maintain those areas. 

06. How would you rate your office’s commitment to keeping the customer at the center of everything we do? 

This is a perfect question to use a rating scale for because it’s very complex. 

There can be several factors affecting commitment and, in turn, the customer experience. The response to this question will help you predict how your business may be impacted by the overall employee experience. 

Low numbers can also point to problems such as your frontline employees not feeling empowered or receiving good feedback. 

07. How transparent do you feel management is? 

Transparency builds trust, increases feelings of connection and improves performance. If scores for this question are low across the board, it could indicate a cultural issue that should be addressed through enterprise-wide leadership training. If the results are a bit more scattered, the problem might only need addressing in certain departments.

08. Please rate the company’s communication in keeping you informed about matters that affect you. 

Effective communication is one of the most important factors impacting employee engagement. And, our research shows it’s an important factor in employees feeling the organization truly cares about them. 

Using a scale helps you determine if most people feel communication is lacking—or if it’s just a problem in certain departments. 

Perhaps you have employees who aren’t at a desk all day. If that’s the case, maybe it’s time to add a mobile app for those who don’t use email or the company intranet as often. 

09. How likely would you be to refer someone to work here? 

This question elicits an emotional response from employees—which is a key factor in engagement. It provides you with insight into employee satisfaction levels and tells you about their emotional connection to your employer brand. 

Consider your employees as walking brand ambassadors. If they aren’t happy, they won’t just avoid referring people, they’ll likely tell people why they don’t like working at your organization. If you’re getting that kind of feedback, look at the other question responses to try to determine why they feel that way. 

10. How would you rate your work-life balance? 

You can’t improve employee engagement without understanding an individual’s basic needs, which this question targets. If employees are burned out, their engagement will naturally decline. 

Utilize the answers to this question in conjunction with other data to determine where the problem lies. For example, are there staffing issues or does outdated technology add unnecessary workload? 

Ready to rock your next engagement survey? 

A well-designed employee engagement survey provides valuable insight into what’s going on inside your organization and how your employees feel about it. By asking the right questions in the right way, you can get the data you need to move forward in creating a strong company culture supported by highly engaged employees. That’s the ticket to a happier team, delighted customers, and a healthier bottom line. 

Encouraging employees to participate in surveys is no easy task. But by implementing the five tips in this article, you can set yourself up for success.   

Ready to make an impact in your organization? Learn more about TINYpulse, our employee feedback and engagement software solution. You can also request a demo to speak with an employee engagement expert and kickstart your company’s productivity and culture today.