There are many employee survey types that you can use for all sorts of purposes. However each survey
type typically has a unique purpose, which is why an understanding of the various survey types can be
useful for determining the format for your next employee survey.
Employee survey types exist so that you can optimize the opportunity to gather feedback from your
employees. There are many types of surveys that all have different purposes. Choosing the Survey type
is really driven by what the business driver is.
Regardless of the Survey type the benefits of surveys also extend to employees – they often feel heard
and valued when they find opportunities to give feedback. And further if they see that their feedback is
acted upon they are several times more likely to recommend their employer.
One note is you not find a COVID-19 Survey or Questionnaire in the list. Why? COVID-19 employee
Questionnaires are a different format all together. Please watch for our next blog post that outlines the
differences.
What follows are the most common employee survey types.
1. Pulse Surveys
The name “Pulse Surveys” is exactly what they are used for. To gauge the “Pulse” of the organization.
Pulse Surveys are typically very short – perhaps 1-3 questions and are basically “check in” type Surveys..
Pulse Surveys are sent out on a regular interval like once per month. Pulse Survey common questions:
- I believe this organization will be successful in the future.
- I understand the organization’s plans for future success.
- I trust our senior leaders to lead the organization to future success.
2. eNPS Surveys
The Employee Net Promoter Score is a measure of how much employees will have to recommend the
workplace to acquaintances and friends. It is sort of like the in-house version of the Net Promoter Score
that measures the loyalty of customers.
eNPS scores can easily be compared from year to year or whatever the interval you use. eNPS Surveys
typically are longer in nature – perhaps 20 questions since they try to get a measure of employee
perceptions and attitudes for areas throughout a company.
3. Annual Surveys
Many organizations use an annual survey. Annual surveys are typically 20 plus questions and contain
many differnet question types like single choice, Slide bar, multi choice, etc. The annual survey will have
a cross section of questions. Many companies have moved away from annual surveys since they prefer
to engage the employee community at a more frequent rate.
4. Check-In Surveys
Check in surveys are closely related to Pulse Surveys. The minor distinction is Check Surveys are typically
more geared to the employee’s job and objectives for that job. For example a common question might
be
- What was your biggest accomplishment for the week?
- What are your goals for the upcoming week.
- Did you meet your goals for the previous week?
Check in Surveys give management a sense for the overall cadence of their teams. And also gives
management a baseline for expectation alignment and performance.
5. Engagement Surveys
Engagement surveys are usually focused on productivity oriented questions. They are designed to
measure or get a general sense for the productivity/engagement of employes . Typical questions that
might be in a slide bar format are:
- Do you feel you have have the tools to do your job?
- Are you able to complete most your tasks during the day?
- What are some suggestions for helping you be more effective in your job
Once the objective for the Employee Survey is finalized then you are in a great position to select the
most appropriate Survey Type.
