28 brilliant employee retention survey questions
Employee retention surveys play a key role in understanding the overall health of a workplace and identifying how to keep your most valuable talent .
However, crafting the right retention survey questions isn’t so easy if you haven’t done one of these exercises before, or aren’t familiar with how to build surveys .
In this article you’ll find great examples of retention survey questions so you can be confident you’re asking all the top questions to create the best retention strategy for your organisation.
- What is an employee retention survey?
- Why asking the right retention survey questions is so important
- 28 examples of employee retention survey questions
- How to use feedback from surveys to improve employee retention and satisfaction
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What is an employee retention survey?
An employee retention survey is a questionnaire designed to measure and understand the factors influencing employee satisfaction and loyalty within your organisation. Ultimately, they help you evaluate how likely your employees are going to stay (or leave).
Staff retention survey questions aim to collect the most authentic feedback from employees, allowing you to make informed decisions and implement targeted strategies to enhance the overall employee experience and reduce turnover rates.
Why asking the right retention survey questions is so important
Choosing the right questions for your employee retentions survey is not just about ticking boxes – every question you ask should evoke honesty, genuine answers that will lead you to taking positive action for your employees.
The questions you ask are key to understanding what makes your employees happy, and what will really make them want to come to work every morning.
The right questions dig deep into job satisfaction, work-life balance, career dreams, and workplace trust. Once you have clear evidence about how your employees feel, you then have the ingredients to improve retention.
28 examples of employee retention survey questions
Designing a survey that will drive results takes time. A good place to start is to understand the key drivers of employee retention in your workplace, and then delve into those areas of influence.
Common drivers of employee retention include wellbeing, feedback, autonomy and trust, pay and benefits, work-life balance, and career development.
With this in mind, here are some examples of retention survey questions to ask your employees.
General employee retention survey questions
- What aspects of your day-to-day work contribute most to your satisfaction and motivation?
- Can you pinpoint any recent experiences (negative or positive) that have influenced your commitment to your role?
- When thinking of your future, what kind of long-term support or changes would make you excited about your role?
- In your opinion, how effective is the communication within the company, and how does it impact your desire to continue working here?
Survey questions about wellbeing and retention
- On a scale of 1 – 10, how comfortable do you feel opening up about your wellbeing at work?
- Can you share specific aspects of your job that contribute positively or negatively to your mental and emotional wellbeing?
- On a scale from 1 – 10, how well do you feel your immediate team understands and respects your personal boundaries?
- In what ways can the organisation enhance its support for your wellness to positively impact your commitment to long-term employment?
Survey questions about feedback and retention
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how satisfied are you with the frequency and quality of feedback you receive?
- How regularly do you engage in open discussions with your supervisor about your performance and professional development?
- On a scale of 1 – 10, how comfortable do you feel providing feedback to your superiors about your work environment and responsibilities?
- In your opinion, how does the company’s approach to feedback contribute to a positive or negative work culture, and how does it affect your intention to stay?
Survey questions about trust and retention
- On a scale of 1 – 10, do you feel you are given enough autonomy to succeed in your role.
- How would you describe the level of trust you feel from your team and superiors in your daily tasks?
- On a scale of 1 to 10, how empowered do you feel to make decisions within your role, and how does this affect your commitment to staying with the company?
- How does the company’s approach to granting autonomy align with your expectations, and how does it impact your long-term commitment?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how competitive do you perceive your total compensation compared to industry standards, and how does this impact your commitment to staying?
- Are there specific benefits or perks you believe would significantly enhance your motivation and likelihood of staying with the organisation?
- On a scale of 1 – 10, how transparent do you find the communication regarding salary reviews and adjustments, and how does this transparency impact your trust and commitment?
- Can you share your perspective on the alignment between your performance and the recognition you receive in terms of pay and benefits?
Survey questions about work-life balance and retention
- On a scale of 1 – 10, how would you rate your current work-life balance?
- On a regular workweek, how often do you find yourself needing to work beyond standard hours, and how does this affect your overall job satisfaction?
- Can you provide examples of how flexible working arrangements, such as remote work options, have impacted your ability to maintain a healthy work-life balance?
- In your experience, how has the company’s approach to leave policies and time-off requests contributed to your overall sense of work-life balance?
Survey questions about career development and retention
- How often do you speak with your manager about your personal career goals?
- On a scale from 1 to 10, how aligned do you feel your career goals are with the growth opportunities provided by the company?
- Are there specific mentorship or coaching experiences that have influenced your professional development and commitment to the organisation?
- In your experience, how transparent and effective do you find the communication regarding career paths and advancement opportunities within the company?
How to use feedback from surveys to improve employee retention and satisfaction
Once armed with the insights from your employee retention survey, the next step is most important – translating feedback into tangible improvements. This is where Stribe takes the spotlight as a sophisticated solution to harness the potential of your data.
Stribe’s suite of tools not only facilitate the collection of authentic feedback from your teams , but also provide in-depth analysis to help you identify key trends and areas needing your attention – all while our People Science team support you along the journey.
If you like to understand more how Stribe works, we’d love to speak with you.
