Employee satisfaction survey: 12 questions you need to ask

Employee satisfaction surveys can help you understand whether your company culture is thriving - or just getting by. 

If used well, an employee satisfaction survey can be a valuable way to gather honest, anonymous feedback that helps your company and its culture grow. That’s because of the way they give your staff the chance to say what they really think without fear of being reprimanded or discriminated against.

But of course, you won’t get the answers you need if you don’t ask the right questions. So, to help you on your way, here’s what we ask in our employee satisfaction survey.

Measuring employee satisfaction: methods and best practices

Research shows that happy employees are more likely to stay with your business, and less likely to cost you in recruitment and lost productivity. In fact, happy staff stay with their employers seven times longer than unhappy employees. And dissatisfied employees can cost businesses an average of £2,732 per person each year in recruitment costs.

That’s why it’s so important to approach employee satisfaction surveys in the right way - from how you deliver it, to what you do with the feedback.

To get the most from an employee satisfaction survey, it’s important to think beyond just the questions. You'll need to think about:

1. Your Survey method. Survey methods can vary. Online surveys tend to be the most practical and accessible, especially if your team’s hybrid or remote. Tools like Breathe’s Employee NPS feature can help you gather insights in a way that’s simple and easy for everyone involved.

2. Frequency. Running surveys once or twice a year allows you to track progress over time, but you might also want to check in more regularly with shorter pulse surveys. The key is consistency - so your people know you’re listening.

3. Anonymity. Anonymity is a big part of getting honest feedback. Make it clear that responses won’t be traced back to individuals, and avoid asking for identifiable information unless absolutely necessary. This helps build trust and encourages openness.

4. Closing the loop. Take time to share the results with your team, even if the feedback’s tough. Show them what you’re doing in response. It doesn’t need to be perfect, but it does need to be genuine. That’s how trust is built.

Categories of questions for employee satisfaction surveys

Before you write your questions, it’s worth thinking about the themes you want to explore. Grouping your survey questions into categories can help you spot trends more easily and create a more structured, meaningful set of insights.

Some helpful categories might include:

• Culture – How connected people feel to the company’s values and ways of working

• Leadership – How supported and inspired people feel by those leading them

• Wellbeing – Whether people feel cared for, both emotionally and practically

• Teamwork – How well teams work together and support one another

• Motivation – What drives people, and whether they feel a sense of purpose in their role

Once you’ve identified the categories that matter most to your business, you can start to shape questions around them.

To make things easier, we’ve grouped together some questions to get you started. 

12 questions to include in your employee satisfaction survey:

Each question is scored from 0 - 10. The higher the score, the more they agree. Feel free to add space for comments to explain their answer with specific details.

Culture

• Do you feel valued within the company?

This survey question focuses on organisational culture. If staff feel valued by their employer, they're more likely to want to prove their value to the company. It's a win-win. The more engaged they are, the more productive they'll aim to be.

• Do you have the tools you need to do your job well?

'A bad workman always blames his tools.' He's got a point. Regardless of how many motivational talks you give your staff, they need the right tools to execute their role efficiently.

This employee satisfaction question isn’t just about checking that your staff have the right physical tools, it's about making sure they've got the right support around them too.

• Are you proud to work for the company?

Positive answers to this question will indicate that your organisational culture is thriving. It shows that you’re offering the right development, growth and workplace environment.

It can also be an indication that you respect your employees’ views and ideas, promote diversity and offer the right amount of help and support to anyone experiencing difficulties.

If people respond negatively to this part of the questionnaire, it could be time to review your policies for employee wellbeing.

Leadership

• Do you feel as though your manager is invested in you?

Your leadership team can make or break staff productivity, morale and culture. By asking this question and calling for honest feedback, you'll quickly determine how satisfied your employees are with their managers and department heads.

Carefully evaluate the responses and refrain from personalising any negative comments, so you can learn to change.

Numerous studies tell us that people work for more than just a pay-cheque. They want to feel like they're making a positive contribution and are valued by the business.

If someone’s immediate manager isn’t doing that or worse still, is actively berating them or putting them down, they'll quickly become disengaged.

Teamwork

• Do you feel connected to your co-workers?

This question helps you understand whether your people feel a genuine sense of connection with the people they work alongside. Strong relationships can boost collaboration, trust and morale, while a lack of connection can lead to isolation and disengagement.

• Are you proud to be a member of your team?

This employee satisfaction survey question tells you if your team have a sense of pride in what they do. If so, it can be indicative of a positive company culture.

Human motivation stems from a need for purpose. Check to see if your team take pride in their company roles and responsibilities.

Sometimes, stepping back and allowing more autonomy can really help develop a sense of ownership and pride within your organisation.

Micromanaging has the opposite effect and can make your team feel inadequate for the role as well as underappreciated and untrustworthy.

• Does your team support you and do you work together towards a common goal?

This staff survey question zones in on your tribe mentality. When individuals feel part of a team, their confidence soars. When contributions are valued and appreciated, you're likely to see an improvement in employee self-worth, and subsequently, their achievements.

Lack of team cohesion - on the other hand - can dampen creativity, reduce morale and make work for your staff more stressful. This'll negatively impact business productivity, so it's important you take note and make adjustments.

Motivation 

• How confident is your understanding of your organisation's goals and vision?

If you've already invested in your company culture and successfully communicated your organisation's visions, expect to see cohesive and similar responses from this staff survey question.

Your leadership team is responsible for driving an effective and thorough onboarding process, which ultimately teaches your employees what the company goals and priorities are.

Don't worry if the responses to this satisfaction question are negative or all over the place. At least you now know where you stand. Evaluate, revise and try again.

If you're still stuck, check out our Culture Pledge pack. Whatever stage your company culture is at; it's filled with expert culture tips and processes to help you and your team develop.

• Do you know what you can do to help the company meet its goals and objectives?

This one expands on the previous staff satisfaction question by asking employees if they know where they fit into the company goals. If they've got a clear idea of what their role is and how it impacts on the wider business, then culture is good.

Although, if they struggle to articulate what they do or understand why they need to do it, then it may be time to address your onboarding process.

Wellbeing

• Do you feel happy at work?

This question gets straight to the heart of how your people are feeling day to day. Happiness at work isn’t just a ‘nice to have’. It's often a sign of strong leadership, a healthy culture, and a supportive environment. If people are consistently unhappy, it’s worth digging deeper into what might be behind it.

• If something unexpected happens do you know who you can turn to and do you feel supported?

It’s in those moments of crisis that the effectiveness of your organisational culture is tested to the full.

If your staff know who to turn to and can easily access necessary information, give yourself a pat on the back. This is usually a sure sign that you're managing your team well.

• How would you rate your work-life balance?

Achieving a good work-life balance is a key part of a healthy company culture and should therefore be on any employee satisfaction survey.

Research reveals that employees who achieve a good balance work 21% harder and are 33% more likely to stay at their organisation.

A flexible working schedule is top of 68% of employees’ wish lists, followed by 62% who want an appropriate workload.

Employee satisfaction surveys play a big role in helping build honest, open relationships. They're not something to do once and forget - they're part of how businesses (and the people within them) can keep learning and improving,

Why not use these staff satisfaction survey questions as a starting point for your own employee satisfaction survey? Try checking in with your team twice a year to track progress, spot trends and pledge to keep building a better culture.

FAQs

What other questions could I ask on my employee satisfaction survey?

The questions in this blog are a great starting point, but every business is different. You might want to include more open-ended questions, like “What’s one thing that would make your work life better?” or dig deeper into specific areas such as personal development, recognition or workload. Think about what you genuinely want to learn and shape your questions around that.

How often should I run an employee satisfaction survey?

How often you run a survey depends on your goals and your team. Some businesses prefer a deeper dive once or twice a year, while others find regular check-ins, like monthly or quarterly pulse surveys, more useful. Whatever you choose, the most important thing is to keep it consistent and follow through on what you learn.

Should employee satisfaction surveys be anonymous?

In most cases, yes. Anonymity helps people feel safe to share what they really think. Just be sure to explain how their responses will be used and show that you take their feedback seriously.

What should I do with the results of my employee satisfaction survey?

Share them. Talk about them. Act on them. Even if the feedback’s hard to hear, your team will respect your honesty and your effort to improve. Closing the loop builds trust, and that’s the foundation of any great culture.

How can HR software like Breathe help with measuring employee satisfaction?

HR software like Breathe helps you build a clearer picture of how your people are feeling, without all the admin. From surveys to simple check-ins, it makes it easy to collect regular feedback and spot patterns over time. And because everything’s in one place, it’s easier to track progress and take meaningful action.

With Breathe’s  Employee NPS feature, you can take a quick anonymous pulse check on how all your people are feeling - whenever it works for you.