How We Develop Questionnaires

Survey Solutions Ltd.

Developing the question set:

We have a well-established database of key questions that are regularly used and benchmarked in employee engagement surveys, to probe opinions on a range of topics closely related to the employment experience. The choice of topics and questions to be included in your survey comes from your requirements of the survey – we will recommend to you a draft question set based on our discussions at our set-up workshop, which we will then refine through discussion and agree with you. Question wordings can be tailored to suit your organisation and your situation – we also have extensive experience of question design where a specific issue needs to be explored.

Engagement Index questions:

Our approach is to measure the evidence of employee engagement derived from the results for four to six key Engagement questions. These would test employees’ advocacy for the organisation and its services, their commitment and intention to continue working there as well as measuring pride in their employer. We see positive answers to these questions as the outcomes of an employee being engaged. From the answers to these questions we derive an Engagement Index (EEI) and also segment the workforce into Engaged, Disengaged and Passive groupings.

Our engagement model has been used by all our clients since 2009 and it was built from research done by the CIPD and the Institute for Employment Studies (IES). It is tested and validated in every survey that we run. Our measures allow engagement to be both internally and externally benchmarked and analysed further to determine specific drivers. 

Drivers of Engagement:

The drivers of engagement commonly identified for our clients through statistical analysis are the other aspects of the employment experience which are explored using many of the other questions in the survey. The following topics are a few of the important influencers of employee engagement that we often see in the work that we do and would therefore advise that these are covered in the questionnaire:

• Employee involvement – do employees feel that their views and ideas are heard and do they believe that they can make a difference and know what’s going on?

• Feeling valued – this is also usually a strong driver of engagement

• Job satisfaction – higher engagement levels are often seen where employees find their work interesting, can see its value and understand their contribution to the organisation. Scope for development and a good sense of wellbeing can also be important to this

• Organisation culture – general openness, being supported and the absence of barriers to effective working (such as inadequate equipment and negative behaviours such as discrimination, harassment and bullying) will all help to promote a culture where engagement can flourish

• Views of line management and Senior Management– are people trusted, involved, receiving both the support they need and feedback on their performance? Are employees confident in the leadership of their Senior Managers?