What is an employee benefits survey?

An employee benefit survey is a tool used for gathering feedback from employees about their satisfaction with current benefits offerings, such as health insurance, retirement plans, paid time off and wellness programs.

The survey helps employers understand employee preferences, identify gaps or areas for improvement and make informed decisions to enhance their benefits package. The goal is ultimately to boost employee satisfaction, retention and overall workplace morale.

Reasons to conduct an employee survey on benefits

Your team’s needs may change over time, and new employees might have different needs than your current team. Conducting an employee survey on benefits may help you evaluate what you’re offering.

With employee benefit surveys, you can:

• Understand individual needs: Surveys can help you understand employee preferences and priorities regarding benefits. This allows you to focus on providing the types of benefits that have the greatest impact on employee satisfaction and retention.

• Gauge satisfaction: By asking specific questions about the benefits you offer, you can determine if your options are a good fit for your team. When evaluating the survey results, you may gain insight as to whether your benefits meet your employees’ needs or if you need to update your options.

• Evaluate your current offerings: You can also ask questions about the quality of the benefits you offer and the processes you use for benefits enrollment and administration. This information can help you decide if your current vendor is working or if you should improve your internal processes.

• Give employees a voice: Asking your employees for feedback shows them you value their input.

How to conduct a benefits survey

Consider these steps to conduct an employee survey on benefits effectively.

1. Choose a format

Decide how to pose the questions based on the amount of information you want. You can include a mix of question types and structures for different topics. Some examples include:

• Ranking: This option lets employees rank different options to determine which benefits are priorities.

• Rating scale: Create a scale from one to five or one to 10 to gauge how employees feel about specific topics.

• Multiple choice: If you want employees to pick from a limited number of options, consider multiple choice questions.

• Free response: This option lets employees write details about specific benefits. Provide space for participants to express their thoughts.

2. Write your questions

Develop questions based on the benefits you offer or are considering. Use the format that makes the most sense and gives you actionable data. Write questions clearly and watch for bias in your questions. Have other team members review the questions to ensure they’re fair, clear and thorough based on the goals of the survey.

If you use a Likert scale for your employee benefits survey questions, you might include:

• The company offers sufficient sick leave.

• The benefits are clear and enrollment is easily accessible.

• The company’s paid time off policy is reasonable.

The length of the survey may vary according to the topics you want to cover. Ask enough questions to give yourself adequate data while keeping the surveys a reasonable length.

3. Present the survey to your team

Share the survey with your team with clear instructions and a deadline. Talk about the survey at team meetings to emphasize the importance of completing it and answer questions your employees have.

4. Review the results

Look at the responses for each question, and watch for patterns and common opinions. The results help you identify areas where your benefits excel and where you need to make changes. Work with your HR team to design a benefits program that appeals to your team.

What to include in the survey

The specific topics you cover depend on the benefits you offer and where you want to focus your attention. Benefits include a wide range of offerings, such as:

• Health, vision, dental, disability and life insurance

• Retirement accounts

• Paid time off

• Childcare

• Professional development, learning and tuition reimbursement

• Flexible working options

• Wellness programs

• Reimbursements for commuting, gym memberships and other expenses

• Work-life balance

• Any other work perks you offer

Within each of those areas, you can include different types of questions to get a well-rounded view of how your employees feel, including:

• Satisfaction with existing benefits

• Suggestions for or interest in additional benefits

• Comparisons to benefits offered by previous employers

• Quality of the current benefits

• Feedback on the benefits enrollment and management process

• Value of the benefits offered

Best practices for an employee benefit survey

Consider these best practices when conducting an employee benefits survey:

• Customize the survey: You can use a generic employee survey on benefits as your starting point, but customizing the questions based on your benefits makes it more effective. When you conduct future surveys, review the old questions to ensure they’re still relevant and update them as necessary.

• Communicate about the questionnaire: Let your team know about the upcoming employee benefits survey so they can start thinking about what they want and need. When you distribute the survey, communicate its purpose, whether it’s anonymous and when the responses are due. Follow up with reminders to complete the survey. If you make changes based on the responses, reference the survey when you announce the benefits changes.

• Use tools: Digital surveys are easy to distribute and track and often include customizable analysis options to review the responses efficiently.

• Repeat the process: Conducting the survey at regular intervals helps you compare changing attitudes toward your benefits program. Save the data from year to year and compare the answers to similar questions.

Frequently asked questions about an employee benefit survey

How often should you conduct an employee benefits survey?

Scheduling a survey about benefits once per year helps you track satisfaction over time. When possible, conduct the surveys several months before your annual benefits enrollment to give yourself time to make changes if necessary. For example, if you discover childcare is a main priority of most workers, you might re-evaluate your parental support, such as offering reimbursement for caregivers.

Consider conducting the survey at specific intervals, such as annually or quarterly, to give you time to review the results, decide on changes and arrange for the new benefits.

How do you decide which benefits to add if your survey results show a wide range of needs?

When you have a diverse workforce, you may notice a wide range of needs and preferences for benefits. It’s not always possible to offer every option an employee wants. Look at your benefits budget to determine how much more you can offer. When prioritizing new benefits and perks, consider the cost and demand for different options.

If several people express interest in tuition reimbursement and fewer workers want commuter benefits, tuition reimbursement could be a more beneficial choice. Some perks are easy to add with minimal cost, even if very few people want them. Evaluate the costs and potential outcomes of each option to decide what to add.