---
name: employee-survey
description: "Creates employee engagement surveys with anonymous feedback mechanisms, question categories, rating scales, and action planning frameworks. Use when measuring team satisfaction or culture."
allowed-tools: Read Write Glob
metadata:
  author: matthewhitcham
  version: "1.0"
---

# Employee Survey

## When to Use This Skill

Use this skill when you need to:
- Create an employee engagement or satisfaction survey
- Design a pulse check survey for quick team health reads
- Build a comprehensive annual culture assessment
- Gather anonymous feedback on specific workplace issues

**DO NOT** use this skill for customer surveys, market research, or exit interviews. This is for internal employee feedback collection only.

---

## Core Principle

EVERY SURVEY QUESTION MUST BE ACTIONABLE — IF YOU CANNOT CHANGE SOMETHING BASED ON THE ANSWER, DO NOT ASK THE QUESTION.

---

## Phase 1: Brief

### Required Inputs

| Input | What to Ask | Default |
|-------|------------|---------|
| **Survey type** | "Full engagement survey, pulse check, or topic-specific?" | Pulse check (10-15 questions) |
| **Team size** | "How many people will take this survey?" | 5-20 |
| **Focus areas** | "What do you most want to learn? (satisfaction, management, culture, growth, compensation)" | Overall satisfaction and culture |
| **Anonymity level** | "Fully anonymous, anonymous with demographics, or named?" | Fully anonymous |
| **Frequency** | "One-time or recurring? If recurring, how often?" | Quarterly |
| **Distribution method** | "Google Forms, Typeform, SurveyMonkey, or other?" | Google Forms |

**GATE: Confirm brief before proceeding.**

---

## Phase 2: Design

### Question Category Framework

Build the survey from these categories, selecting based on the user's focus areas:

1. **Overall Satisfaction** — general happiness and likelihood to recommend
2. **Management and Leadership** — communication, support, trust in leadership
3. **Growth and Development** — learning opportunities, career path clarity
4. **Culture and Belonging** — inclusion, team dynamics, values alignment
5. **Workload and Wellbeing** — stress levels, work-life balance, burnout risk
6. **Compensation and Benefits** — pay satisfaction, benefits adequacy
7. **Tools and Environment** — resources, workspace, technology

### Question Design Rules

- Mix rating scales (1-5 Likert) with 2-3 open-ended questions
- Keep total survey under 15 minutes (max 25 questions for full survey, 10 for pulse)
- Group questions by category with clear section headers
- Include one eNPS question: "How likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?" (0-10)
- End with one open-ended: "What is the one thing we could change to make this a better place to work?"

**GATE: Present the question list and wait for approval.**

---

## Phase 3: Build

### Deliverables

**1. Complete Survey Document**
- All questions with response options formatted for the chosen platform
- Section introductions explaining why each category matters
- Estimated completion time noted at the top

**2. Introduction Message**
- Why the survey exists and what will happen with results
- Anonymity assurance with specific details on how data is protected
- Deadline and estimated time to complete

**3. Reminder Message**
- Sent at the halfway point before the deadline
- Restate anonymity and purpose

**4. Results Analysis Framework**
- How to calculate scores per category
- Benchmarks: what scores indicate healthy vs. concerning
- Priority matrix: high importance + low score = act first

---

## Phase 4: Polish

### Action Planning Template

Provide a framework for turning results into action:

1. **Top 3 Strengths** — celebrate and protect these
2. **Top 3 Improvement Areas** — pick one to act on immediately
3. **Quick Wins** — changes implementable within 2 weeks
4. **Longer-Term Initiatives** — changes requiring 1-3 months
5. **Communication Plan** — share results and action plan with the team within 2 weeks of survey close

### Results Communication Template

A message template for sharing results transparently, including what scored well, what needs work, and what specific actions the company will take.

---

## Example 1: Quarterly Pulse Check (10 questions, 8-person team)

- 6 Likert scale questions across satisfaction, culture, and workload
- 1 eNPS question
- 3 open-ended questions (best thing, biggest frustration, one change)
- Estimated time: 5 minutes

## Example 2: Annual Engagement Survey (25 questions, 30-person company)

- 18 Likert scale questions across all 7 categories
- 1 eNPS question
- 3 ranking questions (prioritize benefits, rank development preferences)
- 3 open-ended questions
- Estimated time: 12 minutes

---

## Anti-Patterns

- **Surveying without acting** — if you collect feedback and change nothing, trust erodes. Commit to acting on at least one finding.
- **Leading questions** — "Don't you agree our culture is great?" biases responses. Use neutral phrasing.
- **Too many questions** — survey fatigue kills response rates. Respect the time limits.
- **False anonymity** — if a team of 3 has demographic filters, responses are identifiable. Remove demographics for tiny teams.
- **Annual-only cadence** — once a year is too slow. Quarterly pulse checks catch issues early.

---

## Recovery

- **Team too small for anonymity:** Remove all demographic questions. Consider using an external facilitator or anonymous suggestion box instead.
- **Low response rates:** Shorten the survey, extend the deadline, have leadership personally encourage participation (without pressure).
- **User wants to ask about specific person:** Redirect to a 360 review process. Engagement surveys should not target individuals.
- **No action plan from last survey:** Acknowledge this honestly in the introduction. Commit to a specific action timeline this round.
