Human resource surveys and sample HR questions

Human resources professionals want to recruit and retain the best talent possible. Depending on your HR discipline, workplace surveys can help you understand the impact of current programs and policies while allowing you to identify areas for improvement. 

The attitudes and opinions of your employees are strongly tied to human resources areas such as employee benefits, global HR and staffing. Overall, HR surveys can help you connect your employees’ roles, work, and performance to business goals. 

Survey results will shed light upon the metrics you want to track, and you’ll have the deliverables you need to present your progress.

You can have the best product or service in demand, but if your internal workflow isn’t healthy, operations can implode. The good news is that it’s preventable. Having a perpetual understanding of internal operations is a smart practice. Submitting HR surveys for your employees to complete will provide key insights into how efficiently your company is performing and where areas of improvement are needed. 

Ensuring employees are happy will be directly correlated to management and team performance. Collecting valuable insight on such information is attainable through HR surveys. By asking the right questions, you will be able to achieve: 

Improved employee satisfaction

An employee who feels like they’re being heard will feel valued, and a valued employee will put forth the effort to do a good job serving as an example for others. This positive chain of events will increase productivity.

Higher employee retention

Keeping employee retention high significantly reduces the turnover rate. High turnover rates result in broken processes, failed communications, and poor work morale. 

Less absenteeism

Poor work morale will inevitably result in an increase in absenteeism. If you notice employees are calling in sick more than usual, it might be time to conduct an HR survey.

Improved productivity

Employee satisfaction plays a huge part in productivity. If productivity is down and you know it’s not because of the product or service you’re offering, chances are it’s an internal problem. That problem will most likely be related to how happy your employees are. An employee satisfaction survey will help collect this information.

Improved customer service

A customer can quickly tell you how good or bad your internal operations is performing. The goal is to avoid negative customer feedback. The next best option is from the employees themselves. Conducting a team performance survey will provide you with honest feedback from your employees about the colleagues they collaborate with every day.

While many organizations conduct employee surveys on an annual basis, it’s becoming clear that's not enough. Sudden events can happen within an organization the company might not be fully prepared for. Gaining insight on internal workflow can better prepare a business for changes. Through no fault of your own, a valued employee retires, gets promoted, or goes on medical leave. Such an event can shift the internal workflow for better or worse, whether iron-clad processes are put in place or not. 

HR professionals need to foster a positive work environment to accommodate conflicting personalities. Conducting frequent human resource surveys provides you with a pulse on the internal health of your organization. Recurring surveys also show employees that the company cares about the employee work environment.

Employee surveys offer the versatility to be submitted before or after a project, event, or company changes. They can also be sent on a weekly, monthly, or annual basis.

Here are some tips for creating HR and employee-related surveys:

Learn how Momentive uses SurveyMonkey to survey its own employees.

The following are common areas of focus for many business owners, HR directors, managers, training & development professionals, and human capital specialists:

The secret to a happier, more productive workforce. Use online surveys to identify which levers make employees happy and unhappy, and act on feedback to boost levels of satisfaction. Stressed out employees can lead to an unhealthy work environment—which can cost the company a loss of productivity.

HR survey questions about employee satisfaction:

You can evaluate employees based on feedback from supervisors, peers, and subordinates. This type of feedback is focused on employee assessment from multiple perspectives. See sample questions for employee evaluations. 

HR survey questions about 360-degree feedback and employee evaluation:

Building a workplace culture that prioritizes belonging and inclusion is the best way to attract diverse and talented people, create a sustainable workforce, and—most importantly—make employees feel supported. Our inclusion and belonging survey template can help you understand what you’re doing well and where there’s room for growth. 

HR survey questions about inclusion and belonging:

What courses, continuing education, or otherwise, do your employees need to meet their objectives? What do employees think of your company’s job training and development program? Do employees feel like this is a workplace that nurtures their career goals and ambitions? Try this survey template for getting career development feedback.

HR survey questions about career training and development:

While these questions may seem the same, the way they are asked can provoke different responses from the same employee. 

Do employees feel that they are adequately compensated? Does the benefits package match the needs of the staff? Are there perks and benefits they would like to see? Do employees feel that their efforts are being recognized and appreciated? 

This employee compensation template can help you ask these questions: