Setting goals before an employee survey means deciding up front which question the survey will answer and which decisions the results will inform. Surveys without clear goals try to cover every topic, which leads to a long survey, low participation and a report that never turns into action. In this article, we explain how to set survey goals in 5 steps and what a good goal looks like.
- A survey without a clear goal tries to ask about "everything" instead of the question that needs answering; the result is a long survey and a report that never turns into action.
- A good survey goal states which decision the organization needs this data for: not "measure engagement" but "understand why people are leaving the sales teams".
- Setting goals takes 5 steps: define the business question, choose the scope, plan the breakdowns, set success criteria and decide who will see the results and when.
Why start with the goal?
Most organizations start preparing a survey with a list of questions. But which questions to ask depends on why the survey is being run. When the goal is unclear, these problems follow:
- The survey grows long because everyone adds the topic they are curious about.
- The results are interesting but do not answer "what do we do now?"
- Leadership does not take ownership because it cannot connect the report to its own agenda.
- Comparing results with the next survey becomes harder.
Examples of vague and clear goals
| Vague goal | Clear goal |
|---|---|
| Measure employee engagement | Measure engagement and identify the 3 areas that affect it most |
| Find out what employees think | Understand the reasons behind high turnover in the sales teams |
| Get feedback on the reorganization | Measure how teams are experiencing the post-merger change process |
| Evaluate managers | Identify development needs in management practices and plan the training program around them |
A good goal states which decision the data will support. If you cannot answer "what will we do once we know this?", the goal is not yet clear enough.
5 steps to setting survey goals
1. Define the business question
Hold a short conversation with senior leadership and ask: "Which decisions about our people are we struggling with this year?" A unit with rising turnover, a new hybrid working model, pay policy or a transformation project can all become the survey's focus.
2. Choose the scope
The goal also determines the type of survey. A comprehensive annual engagement survey suits a view of the whole organization; a short pulse survey suits tracking change on a specific topic. We explain when to use each in our article on how often to run employee surveys.
In a comprehensive survey, choose no more than 2–3 focus topics on top of the general engagement measure.
3. Plan the breakdowns you need
If you want to see results by unit, location, tenure, age group or blue-collar and white-collar roles, you need to plan for that before the survey starts. Adding breakdowns afterwards is often impossible. Make sure every reported group has at least 10 people. For details, see our article on segmentation in employee surveys.
4. Set success criteria
Decide in advance how you will judge whether the survey succeeded:
- Participation: The target response rate company-wide and in each main group.
- Use: How many weeks after closing the results will be shared, and how many units will prepare action plans.
- Impact: The change you expect in the focus areas at the next measurement.
5. Decide on stakeholders and timing
Decide up front who will see the results, at what level and when. Will managers see their own team's results? On what date will employees hear back? These decisions also shape the promise you make to employees in the invitation.
How to explain the goal to employees
The survey's goal should be clear not only to HR and leadership but also to employees. Answer three questions in the invitation:
- Why are we running this survey?
- How will we use the results?
- When and how will we get back to you?
Employees who know the purpose are more likely to take part and answer honestly. We cover the other factors that affect participation in our article on how to increase employee survey response rates.
Once the goal is set
With a clear goal, choosing questions gets easier: write down which goal each question serves and remove any question that is not linked to a goal. You can find the remaining preparation steps in our guide on how to create an employee engagement survey.
Frequently asked questions
Who should set the goals for an employee survey?
HR usually runs the process, but goals should be set together with senior leadership. If the questions leadership wants answered are not in the survey, the results will not be used in decision-making.
How many goals should a survey have?
In a comprehensive annual survey, 2–3 focus topics on top of the general engagement measure are enough. The more goals you add, the longer the survey gets, the lower participation falls and the more scattered the results become.
Can the response rate be a survey goal?
The response rate can be a success criterion, but not the purpose of the survey. The real goal is the decision the data will support. When you set a participation target, take care not to put pressure on managers.
Should the goals change every year?
The core questions used for the general engagement measure and trend tracking should stay the same every year. Focus topics can change with the organization's agenda for that year.
