Why Should We Ask Open-Ended Questions in Employee Engagement Surveys?

Some organizations avoid asking open-ended questions in employee engagement surveys because they want to keep the survey short or because they feel they cannot analyze all comments.

However, having comment questions in surveys provides a real benefit to your survey results. Open-ended survey questions stimulate respondents' attitudes and thoughts and provide a wealth of information. Below, I would like to share with you 4 key reasons why qualitative responses are useful for the survey process;

EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT SAMPLE SURVEY

1. Open-ended questions add color and detail to qualitative data.

For example: When answering an agreement-scale question such as "I have the tools and resources I need to do my job," employees may disagree. You will only know if your tech team needs extra monitors, or your designers need updated software, or your front-line restaurant team needs new uniforms (these are the real responses we see) when you see the comments attached to the survey.

2. Open-ended questions provide clarification to previous responses.

As we often see, employees use the comments section of the survey to explain their previous responses in depth, providing valuable background information for both positive and negative feedback.

3. Open-ended questions give leaders insight into the immediate needs of employees and the quick wins you can achieve.

When companies consult with us on how to best handle hundreds of different types of employee feedback, we tell them to look for quick wins - that is, to focus on shared survey data that relates to an obvious and easily addressable need. Working on quick wins is perhaps the best way to build confidence in the survey process. One year, one of our customers noticed a general request for a filter coffee machine in the break area. It was done immediately! The coffee machine was bought and installed, and the employees who wrote comments about it saw that their feedback was being heard and acted upon. By taking action for quick wins, organizations can build trust between their employees and the survey process, and ensure that employees will be able to speak up in the future - creating a feedback culture.

4. Open-ended questions allow individuals to be heard.

Even though individuals may have thoughts in their minds that they would like to share with you, they may not be able to convey them to you accurately by answering 45-50 questions. However, for those who still want to share what is on their minds, open-ended questions allow them to share this feedback and add greater value to the survey process.

Despite these 4 very compelling reasons to use open-ended questions, organizations can use a variety of approaches. Our best practice recommendation: Use a very limited number of open-ended questions, in fact we usually recommend 2. In my next blog post I will share 2 common approaches and the benefits and harms associated with each of these approaches, stay tuned.

Bahar Sen