Unlocking Employee Engagement: How the Gallup Q12 Survey Can Help
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Table Of Contents
Gallup takes pride in measuring employee engagement with scientific methods and decades of experience. Their Q12 Survey is one of the tools they’ve built to help companies improve employee engagement. In this article, we’ll go through the survey and explain what is it, what’s its purpose, and how to approach the key 12 questions that measure employee engagement.
Source: gallup.com
What is the Gallup Q12 Survey?
Gallup Q12® Survey is an employee engagement survey that consists of 12 core needs that managers need to cater to so that employee productivity and satisfaction remain high.
How does Gallup Q12 Survey work?
When a company purchases Gallup Q12 Survey, employees get a hold of an exhaustive employee engagement measuring platform. There, the staff answers these questions — ideally, without hesitation and honestly, so that the results reflect the real situation.
There are two pricing plans for Gallup Access at your disposal:
For Departments and Organizations — This option is suitable for 100+ employees, and it connects you to a Gallup expert that will walk you through the platform and the best way to use it to achieve your employee engagement goals.
For Smaller Teams and Organizations — Best suited for up to 100 employees, this option provides 12-month-long limited access to the Gallup platform.
In addition to these 12 questions, Gallup recommends deeper research with 150+ other questions that are available to those who purchase the platform access.
What’s the purpose of Gallup Q12?
The purpose of the Gallup Q12 Survey is to measure employee engagement on 4 levels:
- Basic needs:
- Individual contribution;
- Teamwork;
- Growth.
Source: gallup.com
Gallup Q12® Survey questions breakdown
Gallup generously provided a thorough look into 12 science-backed questions essential for employee engagement assessment.
We have grouped them into 4 categories key to “deciphering” solid employee engagement levels, and what amounts to them. Here we will go through each question and briefly elaborate on why they matter.
Enabling good work conditions
To create a productive and pleasant work environment, managers need to ensure all of the workers’ professional needs are met.
“I know what is expected of me at work.” Employees need to have their tasks and duties precisely outlined: it is a “fundamental employee need”, according to Gallup. Companies who do so achieve higher productivity levels, and successfully reduce employee turnover and a number of various safety incidents.
“I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.” Having the right tools, software, and other (non)material resources is critical to achieving good productivity levels in a low-stress environment.
“At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.” Recognizing knowledge, skills, and talents that make employees unique won’t be useful without letting them actualize their potential in the workplace.
Growth opportunities and personal development
Growth and development mean more than a promotion — a pay raise and increasing responsibilities accompanied by a covetable new title. Managers encourage professional growth by assessing employees’ strengths and weaknesses, working on improving them, and letting them create a career path for themselves.
“There is someone at work who encourages my development.” Employees have a mentor to rely on, who sincerely cheers for them and helps them improve daily.
“In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.” Managers should schedule regular discussions and performance reviews to discuss employees’ development and progress and decide upon following career steps.
“This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.” Managers assign employees with challenging tasks that require learning and developing new skills and result in professional growth.
Showing employee appreciation
Employee recognition and appreciation stats imply that the staff remains faithful to companies that value them as humans and professionals.
“In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.” Employees’ efforts never go unnoticed, and they are awarded praise, bonuses, or other means of appreciation.
“My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.” Managers, supervisors, and other coworkers extend their courtesy and show interest in employees’ needs, affinities, and career dreams. Workplace relations are friendly, pleasant, and humanized.
“At work, my opinions seem to count.” Employees’ opinions are valued and their advice/suggestions are applied. Their expertise makes a difference and their opinion is sought out in matters that concern them.
Encouraging healthy relationships and work atmosphere
The majority of the workforce spends as much as half of their waking hours at work. Employers should create teams where people get along well, inspire each other, and, ideally, connect on a deeper level.
“My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.” You are who you spend time with; having good role models in the workplace will boost the overall team performance. In a professional surrounding where everyone works hard, it is quite obvious when someone’s slacking.
“I have a best friend at work.” “Work besties” and “work spouses” make the workdays easier. Not having one is perfectly fine, but forming strong bonds with coworkers ties positive feelings toward the job, and presents one more reason to stick around longer.
“The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.” Employees feel like they contribute to something big and important, and they feel content working in unison with the whole collective. They feel they personally amount to an important cause.
Bottom line
Gallup Q12® Survey takes a holistic approach to employee engagement, assessing multiple key points that amount to high satisfaction levels at work:
- Good working conditions;
- Growth and career development opportunities;
- Employee recognition and appreciation;
- Healthy interpersonal relationships in a professional setting.
It is a rock-solid base that may uncover important pain points in your employee engagement strategy.
However, you should use it as a starting point, not as an end-all, be-all employee engagement tool. Each industry and company carry specifics only familiar to its employees; HRs and managers at the best position to dive deep into their staff’s wants and needs, and keep them on board.
Anja Milovanovic
A journalist turned content writer – Anja uses her investigative skills to produce high-quality SaaS, Marketing, and HR content.
