9 employee survey templates for your business

What’s your workforce thinking? It’s worth finding out. Surveys can tell you what’s on the minds of employees, and in the process unveil what’s working and what’s not in their eyes. The insights you gain can spark HR initiatives to boost satisfaction, productivity, and inclusion—all of which can reduce costly turnover and help employees thrive.

But where to begin, and what should you ask? The good news is you don’t have to start from scratch. In this post, we’ll aim to help you hit the ground running collecting feedback at scale by explaining how you can leverage high-quality survey templates and automation tools. Let’s dive in.

4 benefits of employee survey templates

Survey templates make it easy to collect employee feedback at scale. Not only can they help you gather employee feedback faster, but they can help you do it in a standardized way for consistent measurement and in-depth analysis.

Standardization

Surveys should be standardized across your workforce – or at least among the group of employees being surveyed – so that you can gather apples-to-apples responses and reactions. Even slight wording differences could result in different answers and skew results. 

Improved response rate

Templates from reputable sources may have been developed by HR experts and could elicit a higher response rate than homegrown surveys. Factors like question wording, format, and length can all play a role in whether employees take the time to respond. 

Time efficiency

Building a survey from scratch takes time and may require several iterations to arrive at a final product, not to mention upfront research. Templates can accelerate the development process by providing a ready-to-distribute survey that requires minimal customization. 

Actionable insights

A solid employee survey template is designed to garner responses that can be turned into action. That requires clear, thoughtful wording that leaves little room for confusion on the part of the respondent. Templates are likely to be designed with this in mind. 

Using templates repeatedly over time – sending the same survey every six or 12 months, for instance—and tracking changes in responses can help you pinpoint employee pain points that appear to be worsening, or see whether changes you’ve implemented in response to the last survey have had any impact.

3 key elements of employee survey templates

Here are a few crucial attributes that every employee survey template should have for max impact:

1. Clear and concise survey questions

Don’t make your employee surveys complicated. Questions should be straightforward and easy to understand for a wide audience spanning various roles and levels of seniority. Hard-to-decipher questions risk diluting the value of the responses you receive, as folks will apply their own interpretations to the meaning and answer accordingly. Worse, confusion could cause them to drop out of the survey entirely.

2. Balanced survey question types

You’ll want survey templates to provide a thoughtful mix of formats and questions. Some responses can be yes/no, some can be multiple choice, and others can be open-response, for instance. Respondents will appreciate the variety. 

Consider which questions are valuable to you from a data perspective (i.e., the % of employees who “agree” vs. “disagree” that they are empowered to take initiative to solve challenging problems) versus those that invite qualitative or personalized responses (what could your manager do differently to help you feel empowered to take initiative?). The former is best suited for multiple-choice, whereas the latter can be an open response.

3. Anonymity assurance

Employees need assurance that survey results are anonymous in order to feel comfortable responding honestly. Make sure it’s clear to participants in the communications you send with the email that their input is confidential. You can even add the word ‘anonymous’ to the survey title, or ask employees in the first question to acknowledge that results are anonymous and won’t be used against them.

8 employee survey templates

Here are eight survey templates that can help you gather employee feedback at key milestones.

1. Employee satisfaction survey

Every HR team should endeavor to measure employee satisfaction. Doing so can help to mitigate turnover risks and improve the employee experience. Employee satisfaction surveys typically aim to gauge overall job satisfaction, identify areas for improvement, and find ways to boost morale. Plus they can provide critical insights into how employees feel about their own roles, workload, and compensation, as well as their teams, the organization, and leadership. 

Benefits:

• Drive employee wellbeing
• Uncover ways to improve employee engagement, satisfaction, and professional growth 
• Uncover ways to improve employee retention 

2. Employee remote work survey 

If you have remote or hybrid-remote workers, it’s a good idea to stay on top of their needs as they may differ from in-office staff. Employee remote work surveys can help you assess whether remote workers are adapting well to remote setups. These surveys typically cover productivity, engagement, communication, and work-life balance, among other areas.

Benefits:

• Identify challenges with remote work
• Optimize remote work policies
• Enhance connection and communication with remote workers

3. Employee engagement survey

An engagement-focused survey helps you gauge the emotional commitment and motivation employees have toward their work and the organization. It can help you identify what’s preventing employees from feeling aligned with their team or organizational goals, if anything.

Benefits:

• Boost engagement and productivity
• Proactively reduce turnover rates
• Improve workplace culture

4. Employee onboarding survey

Onboarding is a critical juncture in the employee experience. It should be thoughtfully planned out to address the needs of any new hire. Seeking feedback at the end of the onboarding period can help you optimize it for subsequent hires and improve the chances of a successful ramp-up.

Benefits:

• Identify and address unmet needs for new hires
• Enhance onboarding efficiency
• Accelerate time to productivity

5. Employee exit survey

An employee exit survey collects feedback from employees after they give their notice. It can help you understand why they chose to leave, and what may have prevented them from leaving. You can use that information to make changes in the organization that improve retention.

Benefits:

• Identify what’s causing turnover
• Develop employee retention strategies
• Flag managerial issues 

6. Employee device setup survey

An employee device setup survey can help to ensure that employees have the software and tools they need to get their jobs done – and that getting it all set up and working properly isn’t a barrier to productivity.

Benefits:

• Ensure seamless device provisioning
• Improve IT support
• Boost productivity 

7. Employee leave of absence survey

Leave of absence surveys can help gauge employees’ experiences leading up to and returning from leave. The goal is to gain insights that can help support employees as they return to work so that they can quickly and easily return to productivity. 

Benefits:

• Improve support for employees coming back from a leave of absence
• Streamline the leave process
• Accelerate time to productivity upon return

8. Employee DEI survey

A diversity, equity, and inclusion survey can help you understand whether your organization is hospitable for minority or underrepresented groups. The results can help you plot efforts toward building a more inclusive workplace.

Benefits:

• Track progress toward diversity and inclusion goals
• Identify DEI improvement areas
• Improve employee belonging and engagement

9. Employee benefits survey

An employee benefits survey aims to measure employees’ satisfaction with their benefits package, including compensation, insurance, paid time off (PTO), and other voluntary benefits. The goal is to collect data points that you can use to make future benefits decisions and improve satisfaction.

Benefits:

• Understand employee preferences 
• Measure satisfaction with benefits and compensation
• Make data-driven decisions about future benefits 

4 Tips to conduct an employee survey

Here are a few tips for HR managers looking to get high-quality input from staff and reap the benefits of employee feedback: 

1. Customize the templates to meet business needs

Most employee survey templates are assembled to meet the widest range of needs for any HR department that sets out to use them. To that end, they may be generalized and could benefit from some customization according to your specific needs and priorities. Think carefully about what you hope to be able to do with the responses you receive, and whether the survey questions in the template are set up to elicit the kind of feedback that will empower you to take action.

2. Communicate and encourage honesty

Your survey should have its own communications plan that aims to build awareness about the purpose and impact of the survey, as well as communicate logistics like how long it will take and the deadline to complete it by. 

 Make sure employees know:

• When the survey is coming. Consider sending some information about it beforehand, and asking managers to drum up interest among their teams.
• The purpose of the survey. Explain the survey’s purpose when you send it out. How will it be used? Which teams or departments will use it? What changes might it lead to? What changed in the past as a result of the same survey? Answers to these questions could boost employee participation by driving home the potential impact.
• The deadline. Make sure it’s clear when you need responses by, and consider sending a reminder or two to holdouts. 
• That candor is critical to impact. Stress the importance of honest responses, whether they are positive or negative. Only then can the survey lead to changes that address real issues, or help HR and managers double down on successes. 

3. Ensure confidentiality

In order to elicit the maximum number of high-quality, candid responses, you’ll need to ensure that the survey is confidential. Employees need to be able to approach the survey knowing that their responses won’t be shared or associated with their name, or used for retribution in any way. Otherwise, respondents might be wary of revealing that they are not satisfied or engaged and why. 

4. Take prompt action on feedback

Acting quickly and decisively in response to feedback demonstrates to employees that their voice matters and that you take their input seriously. It can also trigger an upward spiral of trust that encourages future survey participation. Afterwards, make sure it’s clear to respondents—or to the organization as a whole—what action you’ve taken in connection to the survey so there’s no doubt that it had an impact.

How often should you conduct an employee survey?

How often you conduct an employee survey depends on a number of factors, including the size of your organization, the type of survey you’re sending, your organization’s goals, and past feedback you’ve received. However frequently you send them, try to find a cadence that meets your needs for input without inundating employees with survey requests. To that end, perhaps the best thing you can do is establish a regular, predictable cadence (every six or 12 months, for example) to help set expectations and avoid fatigue.

Rippling: automate employee surveys to boost engagement and productivity

Rippling makes it easy to create, distribute, and analyze employee surveys at scale—all in one, unified HR platform. With powerful automation tools, you can collect feedback from employees without manual effort, helping your organization stay in touch with employees and make data-driven decisions to meet goals related to culture, engagement, inclusion, benefits, hiring, and more. 

Rippling’s templates make it easy to create and send surveys at key points in the employee experience. Automated workflows allow you to trigger them at the junctures of your choosing—after onboarding, after an exit, after an interview, or on one-year anniversaries, for example. 

Use analytics to monitor responses and dig into employee data in real time so you can take quick, decisive action to drive change. Or, automatically trigger notifications and workflows based on survey responses to get the ball rolling on a fix. 

Employee survey template FAQs

What are some common mistakes to avoid when using employee survey templates?

Some common mistakes to avoid when using employee survey templates include using hard-to-read or complex language, failing to keep surveys anonymous, failing to communicate the purpose of the survey, and not acting on feedback. To avoid this, make sure you ask clear, concise survey questions that align with your objectives, and communicate the purpose of the survey as well as the importance of responding candidly. Afterwards, make sure it’s known that you took action or initiated changes based on the feedback. Finally, be sure to review the template for updates before you send it again to keep it up-to-date and relevant.

Can employee survey templates be customized?

Yes, employee survey templates can usually be customized according to your needs, organization, and goals for the survey. Customization can range from adding or removing survey questions to changing the response format (multiple choice vs. open answer, for instance). Depending on the software you’re using, you may also be able to customize the look and feel of the survey by applying your corporate colors, fonts, and/or logo. 

What types of questions should be included in an employee survey template?

The types of questions you include in your employee survey template depend on the type of survey you’re sending and what insights you’re looking to gain from respondents. Generally speaking, you’ll probably want to include a mix of quantitative and qualitative survey questions so that you can get a mix of data and open-ended feedback. Common survey questions include those related to job satisfaction, management, culture, career development, work-life balance, equipment, and the work environment.

What should you not say in an employee survey? 

If you’re sending an employee survey, don’t lead the witness—make sure your survey questions aren’t inadvertently eliciting a specific type of feedback or response. You’ll also want to avoid survey questions that appear biased or too personal in nature (you don’t want to make anyone uncomfortable). Steer clear of any negative language; keep your tone neutral or positive instead. Lastly, don’t say or ask any survey questions that might compromise employees’ trust in the anonymity of their responses, such as asking for personally identifiable information.

This blog is based on information available to Rippling as of February 3, 2025.

Disclaimer: Rippling and its affiliates do not provide tax, accounting, or legal advice. This material has been prepared for informational purposes only, and is not intended to provide or be relied on for tax, accounting, or legal advice. You should consult your own tax, accounting, and legal advisors before engaging in any related activities or transactions.