One of the best ways to measure and track employee wellbeing is with surveys and questionnaires. The amount of data you can collect from a staff wellbeing questionnaire is limitless, depending on the type of questions you include.
Below, we’ve included everything you need to know about running your own staff wellbeing surveys, including how to improve engagement rates and question examples you can use.
We’ve also created a downloadable version of this guide with questionnaire examples and wellness survey template you can use within your own organisation. Click here to download
Best Practices for Staff Wellbeing Questionnaires and Surveys
Before we dig into the employee wellness survey examples, let’s first look at some best practices to consider when you put your survey together:
- Collecting data on employee wellbeing should be one of the first steps in any workplace wellbeing strategy – but not the whole strategy! You can read our 8-step guide here to see how this fits in with the rest of your strategy.
- Employee wellness surveys are just one part of the puzzle. Use the data collected here alongside other key metrics to measure your employee wellbeing levels now and in the future.
- Keep them short and simple. It can be tempting to use all of the staff wellbeing questionnaire examples we have provided, but your staff will soon lose interest. Aim for surveys that take 10 minutes or less to complete.
- Avoid vague questions and avoid any ambiguity. Make sure questions are specific and the meaning of each is clear.
- Ensure employee wellbeing surveys are kept confidential. Employees are far more likely to be open and honest if they can remain anonymous when answering.
- Not all questions need to be compulsory! Give employees the options of skipping any questions they don’t feel comfortable answering.
- Consider all aspects of employee wellbeing, not just how they feel about work. Consider their emotional, physical, social and general mental health alongside occupational wellbeing for a clearer picture.
- Provide employees with information as to where they can get support at the end of the survey so that they can reach out if they have identified any issues with their mental health or wellbeing.
How to Improve Engagement Rates with Your Employee Wellness Survey
One of the biggest drawbacks of a staff wellbeing questionnaire compared to other data you may already have on hand is that you’re relying on employees to engage with it in the first place.
The higher the engagement rate, the better the data, and the more you can do to support your team. Here are some top tips to encourage staff to complete your employee wellness survey:
- Clearly explain the purpose of the survey, how you’re using it to support their wellbeing, what will be done with the results, and what actions will be done to support any findings.
- Keep communicating about the staff wellbeing questionnaire through newsletters, in meetings, through line managers, and on your website/intranet.
- Ensure employees know that the questionnaire is anonymous and nothing they say will be linked to them.
- Allow employees time within working hours to fill it in and don’t expect them to do this during their lunch break or after work.
- You may also want to incentivise the survey by offering something for filling it in. Just consider the best way to do this if the questionnaire is going to be anonymous (eg, a specific code shown at the end of the survey for entry into a competition).
- Leave it running for long enough to collect data, but not too long that it never ends! Depending on the size of the organisation, 2-4 weeks should be enough time to get in enough data. Just remember to keep communicating about the survey as often as possible.
As a general rule of thumb, aiming for a completion rate of over 50% is a good start. This really depends on the size of the organisation, as those with fewer employees will want to get closer to 60-70% or above.
50 Question Ideas and Workplace Wellness Survey Template
Now we’ll move on to some staff wellbeing questionnaire examples that you may want to consider for your next survey. Remember, you don’t want to add so many questions that it takes too long to complete!
Pick the questions that best represent the data you want to gather and use the same questions ongoing to measure how any workplace wellbeing initiatives are going. You can also download our employee wellness survey template which gives an excellent starting point.
Score-Based Questions for Your Staff Wellbeing Questionnaire
Scored-based questions can help you gather data quickly and can keep your staff wellbeing questionnaire short and succinct. These should be used alongside other measurement tools such as multiple choice and open questions for a clearer picture of employee wellness.
Score-based questions will generally give you a better picture of your team’s wellbeing over yes/no questions, as they’ll provide a spectrum of answers that will help you build your overall strategy.
Here are some examples of score-based questions focusing on everything from mental health to employee engagement.
Personal Wellbeing Questions
These are excellent questions to start with as they’re easy to benchmark against the rest of the population through the ONS. Use a scale of 1-10 (1 being “not at all” and 10 being “completely”)
- Overall, how satisfied are you with your life nowadays?
- Overall, to what extent do you feel that the things you do in your life are worthwhile?
- Overall, how happy did you feel yesterday?
- Overall, how anxious did you feel yesterday?
The HSE Management Standards Indicator Questions
This is a ready-made survey from HSE that asks about specific working conditions known as potential causes of work-related stress.
You can download the full list of 35 questions from HSE here, along with an analysis tool to measure the results. Each question has its own score from 1-5 and some examples include:
- I am clear what is expected of me at work
- I am given supportive feedback on the work I do
- I am clear what my duties and responsibilities are
- I have unrealistic time pressures
- I get the help and support I need from colleagues
- I am supported through emotionally demanding work
Overall Employee Satisfaction
You may want to look at overall satisfaction and employee engagement in the workplace as a key indicator of whether employees are happy at work. Example questions include:
- How satisfied are you with your job overall? Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “completely dissatisfied” and 5 being “completely satisfied”)
- How likely are you to recommend our organisation as a great place to work? Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “not at all” and 5 being “extremely”)
- How valued do you feel as part of the company? Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “not at all” and 5 being “extremely”)
- Do you feel as though your job has purpose and meaning? Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “not at all” and 5 being “extremely”)
- Are you proud to be a part of your team? Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “not at all” and 5 being “extremely”)
Mental Health in the Workplace
These questions will give you an insight into how employees feel about their mental health in the workplace, and whether the right tools are in place to support those with poor mental health or mental health issues.
- I believe I have the right support at work for my mental health – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel comfortable talking about my mental health with management/HR – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I have a clear understanding of all the resources available to support my mental health at work – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel as though my workplace prioritises and cares about my mental health – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I know that if I was experiencing poor mental health that I would get the right support from management/HR – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
Work/Life Balance Questions
Good employee health and wellbeing generally means good work/life balance. These questions will help you determine whether your employees feel as though they have that balance.
- I feel as though I can switch off at the end of the working day and not have to check emails or messages outside of my working hours – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel comfortable asking for time off (annual leave) – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- If I’m off sick, I feel comfortable not checking my emails or still working while I recover – – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I believe I have a good work/life balance that allows me enough time to enjoy other things in my life (eg, spending time with loved ones and hobbies) – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel as though I’m given adequate time at work to get all of my work done – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
Financial Wellbeing Questions
More and more employees are feeling worried and anxious about their financial wellbeing at the moment. These questions will help you better understand if this is an issue within your organisation.
- I feel happy with my financial wellbeing at the moment – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel as though I’m on top of my finances and am not worried about debt or the cost of living – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I believe I am compensated well for the work that I do – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I believe the benefits I receive from work are generous – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel comfortable discussing any financial worries or concerns I have with management/HR – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
Employee Connection
Ensuring your team feels connected is vital for improving morale and employee wellness. These questions can help you establish whether your employees feel connected and supported by one another.
- I feel as though I have a good relationship with my co-workers – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I believe that our team works well together – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel accepted by my colleagues – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel as though my co-workers and I have time to connect and bond outside of the workplace – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
- I feel as though my colleagues respect and value me being part of the team – Use a scale of 1-5 (1 being “strongly disagree” and 5 being “strongly agree”)
Multiple-Choice Questions for Employee Wellness Surveys
Multiple-choice questions can help you gather even more data and provide employees with different options and suggestions. These are particularly helpful when considering wellness initiatives you may want to implement.
We have a few examples here, but there are 100s of multiple choice questions you can ask in a staff wellbeing questionnaire.
Quick tip: Always leave an option for ‘other’ so that employees can submit their own ideas too!
Multiple Choice Questions for Wellness Initiatives
These questions can help you build wellness programs that your employees would be interested in taking part in.
We’ve provided some answer examples, but consider what employee health and wellbeing initiatives you’d like to bring into the workplace to create your own multiple-choice options.
- Which of these areas of wellbeing are you most interested in improving? Answer examples:
- Physical health and wellbeing
- Mental health and wellbeing
- Financial wellbeing
- Social wellbeing
- Personal development opportunities
- Which of these kinds of activities appeal to you? Answer examples:
- Physical health classes/app
- Mental health classes/app
- Workshops and opportunities to learn new skills
- Away Days/opportunities to bond with my team
- A platform that covers multiple physical/mental health tools (eg, The Anti-Burnout Club!)
- How would you like to access better wellbeing support?
- Through an app/online platform
- Face-to-face
- Over the phone (eg, EAP)
- When would you like to be able to access workplace wellbeing initiatives and programs?
- In my own time
- During working hours
- During my lunch break
- Which of these employee benefits appeals to you the most?
- Discounts and vouchers (eg, using a employee discount scheme)
- Employee health/life insurance
- Free lunch/healthy snacks
- Free access to mental/physical wellbeing programs
- More annual leave
As mentioned, there are 100s of opportunities to use multiple-choice questions in employee wellness surveys, so consider what’s most important for you to know right now.
It may be that you want to create a second survey with more multiple-choice follow-up questions once you’ve identified key issues in the workplace.
Open Questions Your Staff Wellbeing Survey
The final type of question you may want to consider in your workplace wellbeing questionnaire is the ‘open question.’
While too many open questions can make it longer and harder to complete for staff, it is important that you include 1-2 to give employees the opportunity to discuss things in more detail.
An important reminder: These surveys should be anonymous to enable your employees to feel as though they can be open and honest with their answers.
Here are some open wellness survey questions you may want to consider:
- Do you have any issues or concerns at work right now? If so, what are they?
- Is there anything we could be doing to better support you in the workplace at the moment? If so, what would it be?
- If we could change one thing for the better at work, what would it be?
- How do you feel about the leadership team? Is there anything you think they could do better?
- Do you enjoy remote working? What could make it better? (For remote employees)
- Do you enjoy working in the office? What could make it better? (For office-based employees)
- Is there anything you think we should have asked in this staff wellbeing survey?
- Do you have any suggestions for things we can do to improve physical and mental wellbeing at work?
- Is there anything at work that could be contributing to higher-than-usual stress levels right now?
- Is there anything else you want to add at all?
Finally, you can also use open questions to ask employees to expand on any of the score-based questions you’d like more insight into. Remember to not include too many open questions, however, as this can make employees less likely to complete the wellness survey.
Recap
Hopefully, this guide has helped you with ideas for your next staff wellbeing questionnaire. As a recap, don’t forget to:
- Keep it short and succinct
- Ensure it’s anonymous
- Provide signposting for support and other resources after completion
- Use the survey results and feedback to put together a strong strategy to improve employee wellness
- Run employee wellness surveys multiple times per year, to track the effectiveness of wellness initiatives and make any changes needed
Download the Free Staff Wellbeing Questionnaire Template
