Every Total Rewards professional has the desire to improve employee engagement. But sometimes it’s difficult to know where to start. Should you conduct a company-wide survey? What questions should you ask? What do you do with the information?

The key to a successful employee engagement strategy is asking the right questions. Although you can throw out surveys all day long, unless your questions are centered on the right things, they become just one more document to file and a whole lot of useless information. In fact, a recent article by Deloitte states that “among 80 of the most advanced users of engagement surveys, only half believe their executives know how to build a culture of engagement.”

As leaders it’s important to assist others in their professional development, which means asking intentional questions and listening well.

Here are a few of our favorite strategic questions to improve employee engagement:

Questions for Advancing Careers:

• Which projects have you enjoyed working on the most?
• What would others on your team be likely to come to you for help with?
• Are there strengths of yours that you feel are not being utilized?
• What new responsibilities would you like to take on in the next few months?
• What projects would you like to be more involved in?

For more questions about career advancement click here.

Questions for Dealing with Change:

• What do you think about this new change?
• How do you feel about this change? (the key here is to get their honest opinion)
• What is your new role in this change? How does it affect what you’re working on?
• In what way will this new change be challenging for you?
• What would help you most in adapting to this change?

For more questions about dealing with change click here.

Questions for Measuring Motivation:

• Can you see a clear connection between your work and the company’s goals and objectives?
• What makes you proud to be a member of your team?
• When something unexpected comes up, do you know who to ask for help?
• Do you have the appropriate amount of information to make informed decisions?
• Do you have a clear understanding of processes and procedures within the organization?

For more questions about measuring motivation click here.

While asking the right questions is important, it’s also vital that you listen well to the responses. There are so many ways that listening can improve the employee experience, including creating a trustworthy relationship between managers and employees that “are transparent and breed loyalty.” This is the key to success. You can ask questions all day long, but if you don’t actually hear and respond to employees, it is all in vain.

Are there questions you find more effective than others in improving employee satisfaction? What are some ways you’ve seen listening improve the employee experience? Leave us a comment below!

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