Create A Custom Employee Satisfaction Survey

Let your employees think when you ask them what they think!

If asked, most Canadian workers will tell you they are generally satisfied with their job. It is the nature of many Canadians to be agreeable when asked for their thoughts. According to a widely reported BMO survey, almost half of Canadians, 47%, reported they are working their ‘dream job’. Chances are, most people are not working dream jobs. Yet, when asked, most Canadians will say they are at least satisfied with their careers, jobs, employer, lives and more.

While these numbers sound good, they do not tell the entire story. Sometimes it does not take much to turn a satisfied employee into a dissatisfied one. Left unchecked, small things grow into bigger problems that leave people unhappy, impacting their performance and in some cases pushing them out the door. Whether you hear gripes or nothing at all, it is useful to‘check in’ with your employees regularly so you can catch problems early.

Workplace Satisfaction Surveys

Surveying your employees about their experiences, thoughts and feelings takes time and energy. It does not always provide you with the most accurate information, either. If your survey does not resonant, it may seem as though you do not actually care about survey feedback. As a result, your employees may not take time to genuinely respond. Create a survey that speaks to your employees and has relevance.

The best survey items should sound as though you are having a real conversation with your employees. If you craft them in a way that reflects your organizations personality, your employees may be more likely to respond thoughtfully. Well-constructed questions allow you to gain insights into issues such as job satisfaction, commitment to the role, and cultural fit. It may take a little longer to design your own questions, but the time can be worth it if it produces more value.

Reflect Your Company Culture

When you begin, consider asking questions with a tone that reflects desired company culture.

Pinpoint What You Are Trying To Learn

Consider creating brief surveys that focus on two or three aspects of workplace happiness you are trying to understand. Topics can include:

Company leadership
Workplace culture
Workload or work/life balance
Understanding of organizational direction
Individual job satisfaction
Organizational positioning
The feedback process (do employees feel listened to)
Involvement in decision making/ownership of work
Feelings of stress, overwhelm or fear (for own job or organization)
Workspace or work environment

Have some fun with your questions

Build a quick and fun 10-12 question survey. You can use an open-ended response system, a scaling/ranking system or multiple choice. Here are some sample questions to get you started

On Job Satisfaction: You can always ask ‘How satisfied are you with your job’ and offer some light hearted responses or ask ‘If your job were a Facebook page many ‘Likes’ would you give it?”

By the way, examples of those responses to the traditional question could include

“On a Scale of 1-5 how satisfied are you with your job where 1 is ‘the zombie apocalypse is preferable to my job’ and 5 being ‘I would fight through the Zombies to get to my job”

On Leadership: Question ‘On a scale of 1 – 5 how satisfied are you with the organizations leaderships?

1 being ‘Get me the heck off this crazy merry-go-round’ – 5 ‘being When asked who I would nominate for President I know who I would suggest’.

On Effectiveness of Training: Question: How much do you agree with the following statement ‘Company training around here is like trying to learn Spanish from Dora the Explorer’

Here are a few fun ideas to incorporate into your next workplace survey

‘People speak up around just like they were playing a game of Pictionary’
‘My work is so unimportant that I feel like a . . . . hello is anyone listening?’
‘Our workplace resembles a hit TV show . . . “The Walking Dead’
‘Everyday at work is like a Sunday, with sprinkles and a cherry on top’
‘We have a CEO?’
‘Our company motto ‘the best employees are unseen and unheard’
“I have learned so much from my experience here that I feel I should be paying tuition’
‘I look forward to meetings, they make my life feel much longer’