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Free tools for HR leaders

Employee
engagement survey questions

24 questions across 8 themes, each with the scale to use. Filter, copy, print. Free, no sign-up.

Pick a theme, then a format. Every question carries the scale to use with it, because a good question on the wrong scale produces data you cannot act on. Copy what you need, then cut the survey down until people will actually finish it.

How these were written, and the five steps to a survey worth running ↓
Theme:
Format:
24 showing
Manager relationship

My manager gives me feedback that helps me do my job better.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

My manager notices when the workload is unreasonable and does something about it.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

What is one thing your manager could start or stop doing that would make the biggest difference?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Recognition

Work that goes well here gets noticed by the people who matter.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

Recognition here goes to the people who actually did the work.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

Think of something good you or your team did recently. What happened next?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Growth and development

I can see a realistic next step for myself here.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

I have had a conversation about my development in the last six months.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

What would you like to be able to do in twelve months that you cannot do now?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Purpose and direction

I understand how my work contributes to what this organisation is trying to achieve.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

I believe the direction leadership has set is the right one.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

If you had to explain what this organisation is trying to achieve, what would you say?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Workload and wellbeing

My workload is sustainable over the next six months.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

I can switch off from work when I am not working.

Five-point frequency scale, never to always.Rating scale

What is taking more of your time than it should?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Autonomy

I have the authority I need to do the job I am accountable for.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

I can make decisions about how my own work gets done.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

Where do you have to ask permission for something you should be able to decide?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Resources and enablement

I have the tools and information I need to do my job well.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

Processes here help me do my work rather than getting in the way.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

What slows you down most in a normal week?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
Belonging and inclusion

I can raise a concern here without worrying about the consequences.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

People here are treated fairly regardless of who they are.

Five-point agreement scale, strongly disagree to strongly agree.Rating scale

Is there anything you have wanted to say at work this year and not said?

Open text. Keep it optional.Open text
No questions match those two filters together. Clear one of them.
What questions should be on an employee engagement survey?

Cover the drivers that predict whether somebody stays and does good work: manager, recognition, growth, purpose, workload, autonomy, resources and belonging. Everything else is optional.

How these were written

Nothing here is calculated. Each question is written against two tests: can somebody answer it honestly, and can you act on the answer. Each one carries the scale it should be asked on, because the scale is part of the question and mixing scales inside a survey makes results much harder to compare. Filter by theme to cut whole sections rather than trimming words, and by format to balance rating questions against open text.

Assumptions
  • These are a starting point, not a survey. Cut hard. Response rate falls with every question you add.
  • Scales are part of the question. Five-point agreement for most, frequency for behaviour. Pick one convention and hold it.
  • Anonymity has to be explained, not asserted. People assume the worst when you are vague, and it shows up in the answers.
  • Written for Australian workplaces and Australian English. Compono product terms are reproduced exactly as they appear in the platform.
  • Do not ask more often than you can act. Asking without visible follow-through does more damage than not asking at all.
Sources

What to do about it

Most survey problems are not question problems. They are what-happens-next problems, and people can tell the difference by the second round.

1

Decide what you will do with the answers before you ask

If no decision is waiting on the result, do not run it. An unused survey teaches people not to answer the next one.

2

Cut it until it hurts

Remove whole themes rather than trimming words. Eight sharp questions beat forty thorough ones nobody finishes.

3

Say how anonymity actually works

Who sees what, at what group size, and what happens to free text. Vagueness reads as surveillance.

4

Report back before you fix anything

Tell people what you heard, including the uncomfortable parts, within two weeks. This is the single biggest driver of next year's response rate.

5
Where a tool helps

Pick one thing and visibly change it

One change people can see beats five they cannot. The point of a survey is the change, not the score.

Nobody abandons
a short survey.

Compono Engage measures engagement alongside culture and work personality, which is what turns a score into an explanation. A number tells you where you stand. The three together tell you why.

Step 5 is where most survey programs stall: the score arrives and nobody agrees what it means. That is an interpretation problem, and interpretation is what the platform is for.

See how it works
Compono Engage
8%+
reduction in turnover

Common questions

How many questions should an engagement survey have?

Fewer than you want. Response rate falls with every question, and a short survey people finish beats a thorough one they abandon halfway.

What scale should I use for engagement questions?

A five-point agreement scale for most, frequency for behaviour. Pick one convention and stay with it, because mixing scales makes results much harder to compare.

Should engagement surveys be anonymous?

Yes, and say exactly how anonymity works before you ask. People assume the worst when you are vague, and that shows up in the answers.

How often should we run one?

Annually for the full survey, with something shorter in between. Running the full thing quarterly produces survey fatigue and worse data.

These questions are a starting point, not a survey. Cut hard: response rates fall with every extra question, and a short survey people finish beats a thorough one they abandon. Say what you will do with the answers before you ask, and be honest about how anonymity actually works, because people assume the worst when you are vague. Last reviewed July 2026.

Next step

HR Glossary

Employee engagement

What engagement actually measures, and how it differs from satisfaction.

Read the definition →Related tool

eNPS calculator (employee net promoter score)

Put a number on what the survey surfaces.

Run it next →Buying

Requirements builder

Score the platforms you are looking at against the two risks, must-haves first.

Build the scorecard →Talk to us

Bring us your results

A conversation about what your survey is telling you, not a demo script.

Talk to us →