How many questions does the annual employee survey have?

The full questionnaire has 72 questions in four topic blocks: workplace climate and HR practices, resources and demands, engagement and job satisfaction, and intention to leave and commitment. Take it unchanged, drop individual blocks, or add your own questions.

How does it differ from a pulse survey?

The annual survey gives you the complete picture including the causes - hence 72 questions. A pulse survey uses 15 questions to show whether anything is moving and can be repeated monthly. Running both is the normal case: once a year in depth, the trend in between. A side-by-side of all survey types is in the overview.

Is employee anonymity guaranteed?

Results only become visible once enough answers are in. The anonymity threshold is five answers per group by default and can be adjusted per survey; a higher threshold can be set for open-text answers. Personal details in open answers - names, email addresses, phone numbers - are detected and masked automatically. This applies to administrators as well. Honestly is ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant and hosted in Germany.

What does the anonymity threshold mean for small departments?

If a group has fewer answers than the threshold requires, its results are not shown separately but only within the next larger unit. The level at which results are evaluated is agreed before the launch - one of the points settled during preparation.

How long does a survey project take?

The survey itself is ready in minutes using a template. Two to three weeks in the field is typical. Before that come goal setting, questionnaire and communication; afterwards analysis and planning of measures. Where a works council exists, its involvement shapes the overall timeline considerably. On request our experts guide the project, see Full-Service.

Can we add our own questions?

Yes. You can extend the validated questionnaire with your own questions, rephrase individual items or leave out blocks. For the validated questions the rule is: the less you change them, the more reliable comparison and benchmarking stay.

Can we compare ourselves with other companies?

Yes. Alongside internal comparison across departments, locations and time periods, external benchmarks from the DACH region are available. That lets you judge whether a score is unusual for your industry and size.

Can Honestly connect to our HR system?

Yes. Employee data comes in via a connector for more than 100 HR systems such as SAP, Workday or Personio, via our REST API, or by automated SFTP import. More under Integrations.

Annual Employee Survey: 72 validated questions

Trusted by dozens of HR leaders and managers

Get a clear picture of your workplace health

Honestly's annual employee survey helps you take a step back and see the big picture. It's your once-a-year opportunity to check the pulse of your organization and make informed decisions instead of using outdated spreadsheets or clunky tools.

Strengths and action fields with impact rating and direct initiative start

The questionnaire

72 validated questions in four topic blocks

The questionnaire implements the Job-Demands-Resources model and was validated in two studies together with the diagnostics department of Freie Universität Berlin. Take it as it is, shorten it, or add your own questions.

Workplace climate and HR practices

How employee-focused the organisation feels: clarity of goals, onboarding, respect in day-to-day work, fairness of processes.
Resources and demands

What supports and what strains: autonomy, support and recognition on one side, workload, time pressure and emotional strain on the other.
Engagement and job satisfaction

How strong the emotional connection to the work is - and how satisfied people are with what they do.
Intention to leave and commitment

Whether people want to stay, feel connected to the organisation and would recommend it as an employer.

How the questionnaire is built

The chain of effects behind the questions

HR practices Clarity of goals, onboarding, fair processes
Workplace climate Respect and fairness day to day
Job resources Autonomy, support, recognition
Job demands Workload, time pressure, emotional strain
Work engagement The emotional connection to the work
Outcomes Satisfaction, commitment, intention to leave

The four topic blocks follow this chain: block one measures the drivers, block two resources and demands, block three engagement, block four the outcomes. That is why a low score tells you not just that something is wrong, but where in the chain it starts.

Benefits of annual employee surveys

Understand engagement levels: across teams and departments
Identify areas for improvement: in communication, leadership, and culture
Track progress: of initiatives and measure the impact of changes over time

Recognition score over time, split by department

How it runs

What an annual survey project looks like

The software is ready in minutes. The timeline is set by preparation, communication and - where one exists - the works council.

Set goals and scope

What do you want to learn, who takes part, at what level will results be evaluated? This is also where the anonymity threshold is decided.
Assemble the questionnaire

Take the validated template, shorten it or add your own questions. Multilingual surveys are translated right inside the survey.
Bring stakeholders on board

Involve the works council, managers and internal communications early - this is what decides your response rate later.
Run the survey

Two to three weeks in the field is typical. Reminders go out automatically; people take part by email, app, Teams, Slack or QR code.
Analyse the results

Dashboards are ready in real time, the AI clusters open answers, and benchmarks put the scores in context.
Derive and track measures

Action fields turn into initiatives with owners and deadlines. The next survey measures the effect.

Customer stories

What companies did with their annual survey

Investing on evidence rather than assumption

Without a prior survey, we would have introduced something into the company that had no resonance among the workforce. With 1,800 employees, that is a huge cost factor. The survey with Honestly told us which of the investments would pay off.

Lysann Nikolopoulos Head of HR | WBS Gruppe
First results in under 24 hours

It took less than 24 hours to get the product up and running and receive the first results. That was truly a success. We had found the solution that was a perfect fit for us.

Paul Kittel CHRO | ROM AG
Continuous employee listening

The tool enables continuous employee listening on core topics such as employee engagement and strengthening our performance culture.

Dr. Daniel Bartl Head of Leadership & Corporate Culture | Helvetia

Common questions about the annual employee survey

How many questions does the annual employee survey have?

The full questionnaire has 72 questions in four topic blocks: workplace climate and HR practices, resources and demands, engagement and job satisfaction, and intention to leave and commitment. Take it unchanged, drop individual blocks, or add your own questions.
How does it differ from a pulse survey?

The annual survey gives you the complete picture including the causes - hence 72 questions. A pulse survey uses 15 questions to show whether anything is moving and can be repeated monthly. Running both is the normal case: once a year in depth, the trend in between. A side-by-side of all survey types is in the overview.
Is employee anonymity guaranteed?

Results only become visible once enough answers are in. The anonymity threshold is five answers per group by default and can be adjusted per survey; a higher threshold can be set for open-text answers. Personal details in open answers - names, email addresses, phone numbers - are detected and masked automatically. This applies to administrators as well. Honestly is ISO 27001 certified, GDPR compliant and hosted in Germany.
What does the anonymity threshold mean for small departments?

If a group has fewer answers than the threshold requires, its results are not shown separately but only within the next larger unit. The level at which results are evaluated is agreed before the launch - one of the points settled during preparation.
How long does a survey project take?

The survey itself is ready in minutes using a template. Two to three weeks in the field is typical. Before that come goal setting, questionnaire and communication; afterwards analysis and planning of measures. Where a works council exists, its involvement shapes the overall timeline considerably. On request our experts guide the project, see Full-Service.
Can we add our own questions?

Yes. You can extend the validated questionnaire with your own questions, rephrase individual items or leave out blocks. For the validated questions the rule is: the less you change them, the more reliable comparison and benchmarking stay.
Can we compare ourselves with other companies?

Yes. Alongside internal comparison across departments, locations and time periods, external benchmarks from the DACH region are available. That lets you judge whether a score is unusual for your industry and size.
Can Honestly connect to our HR system?

Yes. Employee data comes in via a connector for more than 100 HR systems such as SAP, Workday or Personio, via our REST API, or by automated SFTP import. More under Integrations.