An employee attitude survey, also called an employee opinion survey, is a tool used by employers to measure employees’ attitudes about their workplace environment. Its general purpose is to pinpoint problems and make improvements within the company or organization, with the goal of enhancing employee morale and productivity. An employee attitude survey might be given to measure employee satisfaction, to identify training and development needs, to improve communications between managers and employees and for various other reasons. Employee attitude surveys might be given at regular intervals to monitor employee opinions continuously or in relation to specific needs assessments, depending on the surveying company or organization.
Employee attitude surveys are given online, on paper or via telephone or face-to-face interviews. A survey might be given to all of a company’s employees, to a sampling of employees or to a specific employee population depending on the reason for the survey. Companies often hire outside consulting organizations that specialize in developing employee attitude surveys. These outside companies might both develop and administer surveys, or they might develop them and have them administered by a division within the original company, such as the human resources department.
The questions on an employee attitude survey often are multiple choice, with employees designating whether they strongly agree, agree, disagree, strongly disagree or are undecided about a particular statement. Employee attitude surveys might also ask open-ended or yes-or-no questions, or they might contain a combination of question formats. Questions often are divided into specific sections that ask how well employees think the company is doing in certain areas. Common measurement areas found on employee attitude surveys include overall satisfaction with the organization, compensation, benefits and working conditions. Other measurement areas include safety concerns, recognition and rewards, career development, corporate culture and more.
Just a few typical questions from employee attitude surveys, which might contain dozens of questions, include: “My manager recognizes me when I do a good job,” “I am able to get the information I need to do my job well” and “I feel satisfied with my pay and benefits.” Following administration of an employee attitude survey containing these types of questions, the responses are analyzed, and areas for improvement are identified. Then companies typically put plans in place to address areas for improvement that were identified from results of the survey. The survey results and the improvement plans are then communicated to employees. When companies give surveys at regular intervals, surveys can measure the effects of changes over time.