Design an employee engagement survey and analyse results

Employee Engagement Survey Skill

Designs complete employee engagement surveys and provides a framework for analysing and acting on results.

Required Inputs

Ask the user for these if not provided:

• Mode — designing a new survey or analysing existing results
• Survey type (annual / quarterly pulse / post-onboarding / exit / specific topic)
• Company name (for personalisation of question text)
• Company size and stage (startup / scaleup / enterprise — affects question relevance)
• Key areas of concern (optional — e.g. "we have had high attrition on the engineering team")
• Anonymity approach — fully anonymous, team-level reporting only, or individual responses visible to HR
• Length target (short: 5–10 questions / standard: 15–25 / comprehensive: 30+)
• For analysis mode: survey results data (paste as table, CSV, or summary statistics)

Mode Detection

• User provides survey results -> Analysis mode
• User wants to create a survey -> Design mode

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Design Mode

Required Inputs

• Survey type (annual / quarterly pulse / post-onboarding / exit / specific topic)
• Company size and stage
• Key areas of concern (optional)
• Anonymity approach
• Length target (short: 5-10 / standard: 15-25 / comprehensive: 30+)

Opening Statement (always include)

"This survey is anonymous. Your responses help us understand what is working and what to improve. Results will be shared with [who] and we will communicate actions taken by [date]."

Core Questions

Overall Engagement

1. On a scale of 0-10, how likely are you to recommend [Company] as a great place to work? (eNPS)
2. I feel proud to work at [Company]. [1-5]
3. I intend to still be working here in 12 months. [1-5]

Role and Clarity 4. I understand how my work contributes to company goals. [1-5] 5. I have the tools and resources I need to do my job. [1-5] 6. My workload is manageable. [1-5]

Manager and Team 7. My manager gives useful feedback. [1-5] 8. My manager cares about my development. [1-5] 9. I feel part of a team that works well together. [1-5]

Culture and Belonging 10. I feel I can be myself at work. [1-5] 11. People treat each other with respect. [1-5] 12. [Company] lives by its stated values. [1-5]

Growth and Recognition 13. I have opportunities to grow and develop. [1-5] 14. My contributions are recognised. [1-5] 15. I have had a meaningful career conversation in the last 6 months. [Yes/No]

Open questions (always include)

• What is one thing [Company] should start doing?
• What is one thing [Company] should stop doing?
• Anything else to share?

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Analysis Mode

Analysis Output

1. Headline Scores

Metric	Score	Benchmark	Trend
eNPS	[-100 to +100]	Industry avg	vs last survey

eNPS: Below 0 = Concerning / 0-30 = Good / 30-70 = Great / 70+ = Excellent

2. Strengths — Top scoring areas with evidence.

3. Improvement Areas — 3 lowest scoring areas with verbatim comment themes.

4. Action Planning Template

Improvement area	Action	Owner	Timeline	Measure

5. Communication Template — Draft message to share results with employees.

Output Format

• Design Mode delivers: the question set grouped by driver (each with its response scale and the reason it earns its place), the anonymity/threshold rules stated up front, the invitation copy, and the analysis plan written before data exists — so nobody designs the analysis around the answers.
• Analysis Mode delivers: participation and segment coverage first (with the n-below-threshold segments suppressed and said so), driver scores vs. prior wave with the deltas that clear noise flagged, verbatim themes with prevalence counts, and a "three commitments" section — because a survey that doesn't end in visible action is the fastest way to kill next year's response rate.

Quality Checks

• Survey includes anonymity statement at the start
• eNPS question (0-10 recommend scale) is included in all survey types
• Open-ended questions are included (not just Likert scales)
• Analysis includes a specific action planning template (not just observations)
• Results communication template commits to sharing back with employees by a specific date

Anti-Patterns

• Do not launch a survey without committing to a communication-back date — surveys with no follow-through reduce trust and depress future response rates
• Do not use only Likert scale questions — open-text responses surface specific themes that quantitative scores cannot, and are essential for action planning
• Do not design a comprehensive 30+ question survey as a pulse — pulse surveys that take more than 5 minutes see sharply lower completion rates
• Do not present analysis without an action planning template — raw scores without committed actions are the most common reason engagement survey data is ignored
• Do not segment results below teams of 5 when anonymity is promised — small-group breakdowns allow individual identification and destroy psychological safety

Example Trigger Phrases

• "Create an employee engagement survey for our team"
• "Design a pulse survey for [topic]"
• "Analyse these engagement survey results: [paste]"