VisionMonday

12 Questions to Measure Employee Engagement

September 13, 2011 2:25 PM

Almost 15 years ago, The Gallup Organization began creating a feedback system for employers that would identify and measure elements of worker engagement, most tied to the bottom line and including objective measures such as sales growth, productivity and customer loyalty.

Gallup conducted hundreds of focus groups and thousands of personal interviews with employees in a variety of industries. From these focus groups and interviews, Gallup came up with what they called Q12, a 12-question survey that identifies strong feelings of employee engagement. Results from the survey showed a strong correlation between high scores and superior job performance.

The 12 questions that were used to measure employee engagement were:

  1. Do you know what is expected of you at work?
  2. Do you have the materials and equipment you need to do your work right?
  3. At work, do you have the opportunity to do what you do best every day?
  4. In the last seven days, have you received recognition or praise for doing good work?
  5. Does your supervisor, or someone at work, seem to care about you as a person?
  6. Is there someone at work who encourages your development?
  7. At work, do your opinions seem to count?
  8. Does the mission/purpose of your company make you feel your job is important?
  9. Are your associates (fellow employees) committed to doing quality work?
  10. Do you have a best friend at work?
  11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to you about your progress?
  12. In the last year, have you had opportunities at work to learn and grow?

Since this survey was conducted and the results published, companies large and small have used this framework to help gain greater insight into their employees and employee views. Equally important, those companies that use the Q12 process have established a definitive continuous measurement tool that can be used from year to year to measure and report to their workforces the views of their employees and progress, if any, that is made from year to year, or from survey to survey.

If you have not previously acquainted yourself with the survey or survey process for your workforce, take a moment to learn more about the survey and its possible benefit to your company.

Hedley Lawson, Contributing Editor

Gallup and Q12 are registered trademarks of The Gallup Organization.