Engagement question library

Engagement

How likely is it you would recommend [Company Name] as a place to work?

Loyalty outcome question

How likely is it that you would stay with [Company Name], if you were offered the same job at another organisation?

Satisfaction outcome question

Overall, how satisfied are you working for [Company Name]?

Belief outcome question

How likely is it you would recommend [Company Name] products or services to friends and family?

Accomplishment

Most days I feel a sense of accomplishment from what I do.

Challenging

I have the opportunity to do challenging things at work.

Autonomy

I'm given enough freedom to decide how to do my work.

Flexibility

I'm satisfied with the amount of flexibility I have in my work schedule.

Remote work

I have the option to work remotely when I'd like to.

Environment

My physical work environment contributes positively to my ability to do my job.

Collaboration

I can easily find space away from my desk for conversations and collaboration with others.

Informal

When I need a break, my workplace has spaces to chat and relax with others.

Equipment

I have the materials and equipment I need to do my job well.

Freedom of opinions

At work, my opinions seem to be valued.

Manager

My manager cares about my opinions.

Team

My co-workers welcome opinions different from their own. 

Goal setting

At work, I know what I'm expected to deliver.

Alignment

I understand how my work supports the goals of my team.

Growth

I feel that I’m growing professionally.

Career path

I see a path for me to advance my career in our organisation.

Learning

My job enables me to learn and develop new skills.

Mentoring

Either my manager or a mentor encourages and supports my development.

Management support

My manager provides me with the support I need to complete my work.

Caring

My manager cares about me as a person.

Openness

My manager communicates openly and honestly with me.

Meaningful work

The work I do is meaningful to me.

Fit

At work, I have the opportunity to use my strengths every day.

Significance

I see how my work contributes to positive outcomes for customers or people I provide services to.

Organisational fit

[Company Name]’s values provide a good fit with the things that I consider important in life.

Support

[Company Name] really cares about my mental well-being.

Health

Working here, I feel that I can live a physically healthy lifestyle.

Equality

People from all backgrounds are treated fairly at [Company Name].

Response

If I experienced serious misconduct at work, I’m confident [Company Name] would take action to rectify the situation.

Peer relationships

I can count on my co-workers to help out when needed.

Friends

I see [Company Name] as the kind of place where I could make friends.

Quality

My coworkers are committed to doing quality work. 

Recognition

If I do great work, I know that it will be recognised.

Performance

I get enough feedback to understand if I’m doing my job well.

Reward

I am rewarded fairly (e.g. pay, promotion, training) for my contributions to %s.

Process

The processes for determining pay in our organisation seem fair and unbiased.

Discussion

I can have well-informed and constructive conversations with my manager about pay.

Strategy

The overall business goals and strategies set by senior leadership are taking [Company Name] in the right direction.

Communication

Our organisation does a good job of communicating the goals and strategies set by senior leadership.

Mission

I’m inspired by the purpose and mission of our organisation.

Workload

The demands of my workload are manageable.

Employee engagement is an outcome of the relationship between an organisation and its employees. An engaged employee is fully absorbed in and enthusiastic about their work, with a high level of commitment to the company and its goals.

The engagement question follows the methodology of eNPS (employee Net Promoter Score). This question causes people to consider many factors that influence engagement (satisfaction with the organisation’s culture, work environment, career prospects, brand) and apply them to a very simple decision making process.

Loyalty

Satisfaction

Belief

The engagement outcome questions highlight the behaviors that employees are likely to demonstrate if they’re engaged. These can serve as powerful motivators for leaders and managers on the road to building highly engaged teams.

Data shows that disengaged employees (detractors on the eNPS scale) are 6 times more likely to leave their organization than engaged employees (promoters on the eNPS scale). Disengaged employees are more likely to be actively thinking about or looking for other jobs before they resign. Engaged employees are more likely to enjoy coming to work and recommend the organizations products. They're less likely to complain about the organization to their friends, family, network, or coworkers.

Accomplishment

Challenging

These questions indicate if employees feel a daily sense of accomplishment in their work. Accomplishment, also known as competence, is a main motivational need for employees. According to Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci), the 3 motivational needs are: competence, relatedness, and autonomy.

Perceiving themselves as incompetent at an activity undermines an employee's intrinsic motivation. Ryan & Deci found that giving people unexpected positive feedback on a task increases their intrinsic motivation to do it. Positive feedback fulfills people's need for competence.

Autonomy

Flexibility

Remote work

Autonomy relates to employees' ability to complete their work as they see fit, unhindered by micro-management. Autonomy is central to many theories on motivation and engagement, including Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci), Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham), and Employee Engagement (Kahn).

Self Determination Theory shows that controlling behavior can undermine intrinsic motivation, resulting in either extrinsic motivation (the activity might continue based on rewards and coercion) or amotivation.

Environment

Collaboration

Informal

Equipment

These questions indicate whether employees believe that their physical environment has a positive effect on their work. A British government study (Cabe, 2005) describes the profound link between office design and employee performance, highlighting the need for unstructured, informal spaces to facilitate the collaboration. Rashid (2015) also emphasizes informal spaces as a key factor in improving teamwork and enabling employees to benefit from colocation.

Freedom of opinions

Manager

Team

Goal setting

Alignment

Employees can fully apply themselves at work when they feel capable of meeting current and future needs and understand expectations. When employees lack ways to understand their performance, they feel anxious about how managers and peers perceive them, eroding their capability for self-expression (Brown & Leigh, 1996).

Well formulated goals help fulfill employee needs for competence and relatedness. Goals should cultivate shared purpose on a team, as opposed to creating competition between peers.

Growth

Career Path

Learning

Mentoring

The growth questions are about the personal and career development opportunities that employees perceive that they have at your organization. Growth features in almost every theory on motivation and engagement, including Two Factor Theory (Herzberg), ERG Theory (Alderfer), and Employee Engagement (Kahn).

Growth need describes the degree to which a person has higher order needs, such as self-esteem and self-actualization. This includes desires to be creative and productive, and to complete meaningful tasks. According to ERG Theory, growth need can fluctuate depending on career stage or individual preferences. Example: Some employees see their job as just a way to pay their bills.

Management support

Caring

Openness

Peer relationships

Friends

Quality

These questions relate to the health of employees' relationships with others in the organization. Strong peer relationships foster an environment of trust. Employees who care about each other personally tend to share values and watch out for each other. They’re more inclined to go the extra mile and work as a team.

Teams with strong relationships communicate more openly. Often, strong peer relationships result in increased productivity because employees are less afraid of taking risks and making decisions.

Recognition

Performance

These questions assess whether employees feel that the organization values their work, which is closely linked to the feedback and praise they receive. Recognition, or feedback, is a main component of both Self Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci) and the Job Characteristics Model (Hackman & Oldham). Feedback refers to how much people learn about how effective they are at work.

Feedback at work can come from other people, such as supervisors, peers, subordinates, and customers, or from the job itself. Example: When a salesperson presents to potential clients but doesn't learn what the client's final purchasing decision is, they have a low degree of feedback. When a salesperson knows what the client decides, they have a high degree of feedback from the job itself.

Reward

Process

Discussion

Strategy

Communication

Mission

Workload

Unmanageable workloads can lead to burnout. This question assesses if employees feel that they're responsible for a reasonable amount of work or if their workload is a source of stress. As defined by psychologists Leiter, Schaufeli, and Maslach (2001), burnout is a prolonged response to chronic emotional and interpersonal stressors on the job, characterized by exhaustion, cynicism, and inefficacy. They cite engagement as the positive antithesis of burnout.