A Sample Employee Survey

The employee opinion survey that follows was created and used by a small New England HMO and was one of a series of annual surveys. Because the survey is presented as written by the company, some of the terms used are specific to that company. It is provided so you can review a relatively simple but complete survey that was actually used by a company.

    Also included: an instruction letter. Although this survey is for a specific company, many of its questions and other wording may be of assistance to you. The intro letter includes a references to “personal information”–that’s because participants were asked their race, gender, job type, and length of service along with the survey.

Sample Introductory Letter

(Company Letterhead)
(Date)

To all employees:

You are about to participate in an employee opinion survey. We conduct such a survey every year to provide an opportunity for you to communicate your opinions about the conditions of employment at our company. All employees will have an opportunity to complete a survey, and some will also be invited to participate in small groups to provide any needed additional information.

We will have the results of the survey within two months. At that time, an all-employee meeting will be held to review those results. That meeting will be followed by department meetings in which you can raise questions and develop suggestions for contributing to our company’s conditions of employment.

Your responses to the survey questions will be held in confidence. You will not be asked to identify yourself. For those who wish to do so, a place is provided at the end of the survey, but that is optional. You are not required or expected to give your name.

The completed surveys will be collected by representatives of our employee opinion survey consulting firm. They will tabulate and report the results. They will be the only ones to actually see the completed surveys.

As with past surveys, you will be asked to provide some personal information. Such information allows the results to be reported by different groupings of employees such as department and length of service.

If you are uncomfortable supplying that type of data, you may leave those questions blank, but it is hoped you will see their value and supply the requested responses.

We view our annual employee opinion surveys as an opportunity to continue to improve the two-way communication process at our company.

Thank you for your participation,

(Signature and Title)

Employee Opinion Survey

On this page, the survey questions begin. Note they are each identified here and on the answer sheet by a number. Be sure to mark your response after the appropriate number on the answer sheet.

Each of the following questions requests you to indicate how important to you various conditions of employment at our company are. Indicate your response using the following scale. Be sure to darken the appropriate lettered box.

Very Important	A
Important	B
Neither Important nor Unimportant	C
Unimportant	D
Very Unimportant	E

1. How important to you is it to work at our company?

2. How important to you are employee policies at the company for which you work?

3. How important to you is the consistent administration of company policies?

4. How important is the work you do to our company’s success?

5. How important to you is the job you do?

6. How important to you is the fairness of the way your company treats all employees?

7. How important to you is the overall training and development provided by your company?

8. How important to you is job security?

9. How important to you is the type of supervision you receive?

10. How important to you is it to be involved in quality customer service?

11. How important to you is the way your company deals with change?

12. How important to you is the overall communication at your company?

13. How important to you is the salary you receive?

14. How important to you is your total cash compensation?

15. How important to you are the benefits you receive?

16. How important to you are the overall operating procedures of the department in which you work?

17. How important to you are the opportunities to advance at our company?

18. How important to you is the performance of executive management?

19. How important to you is the quality of customer service provided by your company?

20. How important to you is the recognition you receive from your company?

How important are each of the benefits provided by our company?

21. Vision Benefits

22. Eyeglasses Discount

23. Employee Life Insurance

24. Dependant Life Insurance

25. Additional Employee Life Insurance

26. Employee Referral Plan

27. Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

28. Travel Insurance

29. Time Away from Work

30. Employee Dental Insurance

31. Dependant Dental Insurance

32. Flexible Work Hours

33. Employee Health Care Coverage

34. Dependant Health Care Coverage

35. Pension Plan

36. Gainsharing

37. Tuition Reimbursement

38. Short-Term Disability Insurance

39. Long-Term Disability Insurance

40. Employee Assistance Plan

41. Prescription Drug Plan

The next statements are concerning your job and our company. Indicate the extent to which you personally agree or disagree with each one using the following scale for your responses:

Strongly Agree	A
Agree	B
Neither Agree nor Disagree	C
Disagree	D
Strongly Disagree	E

42. I am proud to work for our company.

43. Company employee policies are administered the same in all departments.

44. I like my job–the work I do.

45. I am satisfied with the training provided for my current job.

46. I am satisfied with the amount of training offered for advancement.

47. Our company is concerned with the long-term welfare of its employees.

48. I feel secure that I will be able to work for our company as long as I do a good job.

49. I feel I can voice my opinion without fear of reprisal.

50. My supervisor is technically competent.

51. My supervisor is competent in human relations.

52. My supervisor deals with all employees fairly.

53. My supervisor deals with employee problems fairly.

54. Our company handles change well.

55. The communication I receive from the company is accurate.

56. The communication I receive from the company is timely.

57. Our company maintains salary levels that compare well to other companies in the area.

58. Our new incentive program is part of my total cash compensation.

59. Our company maintains benefits that compare well to other companies in the area.

60. I receive cooperation from other departments.

61. My department is well organized for the work it does.

62. The employees in my department work well as a team.

63. Company employee policies are properly and equally administered in my department.

64. I feel there is adequate opportunity for me to move to a better job within our company.

65. The job posting policy and procedure supports the advancement opportunities at our company.

66. My supervisor is concerned with providing quality service.

67. The employees of other departments are concerned with quality customer service.

68. Other departments are concerned with providing quality service.

69. I feel executive management is committed to quality customer service.

70. The company’s executive management is concerned with providing quality service.

71. My supervisor recognizes my performance.

72. I have an annual set of performance standards.

73. Our company recognizes the accomplishments of employees.

74. I receive regular performance reviews.

On this page and the next one are questions to be answered using the following rating scale:

Excellent	A
Very Good	B
Typical	C
Fair	D
Poor	E

75. How do you rate our company as a place to work compared with other companies you know about?

76. How do you rate our company on treating employee problems fairly?

77. How do you rate the overall relationship between the company and its employees?

78. All things considered, how do you rate our company?

79. How do the company’s employee policies compare with those of other companies you know about?

80. All things considered, how do you rate our company’s employee policies and procedures?

81. All things considered, how do you like your job?

82. All things considered, how do you rate the fairness with which our company treats all employees?

83. All things considered, how do you rate the overall training and development provided?

84. How do you rate our company’s business prospects for the next five years?

85. All things considered, how do you rate the job security provided by our company?

86. How do you rate your supervisor’s credibility?

87. All things considered, how do you rate the supervision you receive?

88. All things considered, how do you rate the way in which our company deals with change as it relates to your job?

89. How do you rate the amount of communication you receive from our company?

90. How do you rate the level of communication of employee policies and procedures?

91. How do you rate the amount of communication you receive regarding quality customer service?

92. How do you rate the amount of communication you receive regarding the company’s plans?

93. How do you rate the amount of communication you receive regarding reorganization?

94. All things considered, how do you rate the overall communication at our company?

95. How do you rate the total cash compensation you receive compared to what you could receive for similar work from another company in the area?

96. How do you rate the relationship between the amount of compensation you receive and your performance?

97. All things considered, how do you rate our company’s overall total cash compensation program?

98. How do you rate the benefits you receive compared to those you could receive from another company in the area?

99. All things considered, how do you rate our company’s overall benefits?

100. In your opinion, how do employees of other departments rate your department?

101. All things considered, how do you rate your department’s overall operating procedures?

102. How do you rate your long-term career potential at our company?

103. All things considered, how do you rate the opportunities to advance at our company?

104. How do you rate the credibility of our executive management?

105. All things considered, how do you rate executive management’s performance?

106. All things considered, how do you rate the quality of our customer service?

107. All things considered, how do you rate the recognition you receive at our company?

On this page are questions to be answered using the following scale:

Much Too Much	A
Too Much	B
Just Right	C
Too Little	D
Much Too Little	E

108. How do you feel about the quantity of work you are asked to perform?

109. How do you feel about the quality of work you are asked to perform?

110. How do you feel about the amount of time your supervisor spends with you?

111. How do you feel about the amount of change occurring within our company?

112. How do you feel about the amount of organizational change as it relates to our company?

113. How do you feel about the amount of organizational change as it relates to quality customer service?

114. How do you feel about the number of approvals required to get a decision made?

115. How much concern do you feel our company’s executive management has for our company members?

116. How much concern do you feel our company’s executive management has for our providers?

117. How much concern do you feel our company’s executive management has for our employees?

118. How much concern do you feel our company’s executive management has for customers?

119. How much has the quality of our company’s customer service changed over the last year?

120. What is your level of understanding of quality customer service?

On this page are questions to be answered using the following scale:

Very Satisfied	A
Satisfied	B
Neither Satisfied nor Dissatisfied	C
Dissatisfied	D
Very Dissatisfied	E

121. All things considered, how satisfied are you with our company?

122. All things considered, how satisfied are you with our company’s employee policies?

123. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job?

124. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the fairness of the way the company treats all employees?

125. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the training and development provided by our company?

126. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your job security at our company?

127. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the supervision you receive?

128. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your level of involvement in quality customer service?

129. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the way our company deals with change as it relates to your job?

130. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the overall communication at our company?

131. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your salary at our company?

132. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the benefits provided by our company?

133. All things considered, how satisfied are you with your department’s overall operating procedures?

134. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the opportunities to advance at our company?

135. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the company’s quality standards?

136. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the changes that have been made to the quality standards?

137. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the quality of customer service?

138. How satisfied are you with the amount of change occurring within our company?

139. How satisfied are you with the amount of organizational change as it relates to our company?

140. How satisfied are you with the amount of organizational change as it relates to quality customer service?

141. All things considered, how satisfied are you with the recognition you receive at our company?

Rate your satisfaction with each of the benefits provided by our company.

142. Vision Benefits

143. Eyeglasses Discount

144. Employee Life Insurance

145. Dependant Life Insurance

146. Additional Employee Life Insurance

147. Employee Referral Plan

148. Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance

149. Travel Insurance

150. Time Away from Work

151. Employee Dental Insurance

152. Dependant Dental Insurance

153. Flexible Work Hours

154. Employee Health Care Coverage

155. Dependant Health Care Coverage

156. Pension Plan

157. Gainsharing

158. Tuition Reimbursement

159. Short-Term Disability Insurance

160. Long-Term Disability Insurance

161. Employee Assistance Plan

162. Prescription Drug Plan

For the following question, use the answers shown and respond by darkening the appropriate letter.

163. From what source do you receive most of your information about our company and your job?

163. A Grapevine

163. B Supervisor

163. C Other employees

163. D Company publications

163. E Meetings

163. F Bulletin boards

163. G Newsletter

163. H Other

164. If you have any additional information or comments that you feel will be of assistance to this survey, please write them in the space below.

Excerpted from How to Design, Implement, and Interpret and Employee Survey by John H. McConnell Copyright © 2003 John H. McConnell Published byAMACOM Books, a division of American Management Association. New York, N.Y. Used with permission. All rights reserved.