Employee Motivation Questionnaire: 20+ Questions and Free Template

What’s the point of an employee motivation questionnaire?

Well, wouldn’t it be great if motivation was a mental button that we could switch on or off at will? But it doesn’t come that easy. Even the most driven of us can sometimes feel like our motivation has gone on an unapproved vacation.

But when entire teams stop caring about their work, it shows. Employee motivation surveys are a helpful tool to find out the reasons why your employees are losing steam at work. And more importantly, do something about it.

• Employee motivation questions: Internal factors
• Employee motivation questions: External factors

Employee Motivation Questionnaire: Top 24 Questions + Free Template

We have three goals for the employee motivation questionnaire.

1. Measure the employees’ interest toward their work.
2. Discover the factors that are affecting their work performance.
3. Use this feedback to move toward your end goal – a lively work environment with happier teams and improved morale.

Now, let’s dive into the items that make up the employee motivation questionnaire format. First, we will break down the questions by the two types of motivation that they measure.

• Internal motivation
• External motivation

Here’s an employee motivation survey template created using ThriveSparrow. You can customize it the way you like.

ThriveSparrow also lets you dive deep into the reports section and lets you understand which departments are most motivated and which aren’t. When paired with qualitative techniques such as AI sentiment analysis in HR, these insights can reveal not just what employees say, but how they truly feel.

This lets you extract meaningful insights from your employee motivation survey and drive positive organizational changes.

Sign up below to get started for free! 

Now, let’s go through the questions you need to consider when crafting your employee motivation survey.

Employee motivation questionnaire – Internal motivators

1. What do you do in the workplace/What is your role?
2. How many years have you been working in this industry?
3. You’re doing a fantastic job! But, are you happy with what you do?
4. On a scale of 1-5, how excited are you usually to go to work?
5. What’s your biggest challenge with motivation in the workplace?
6. On a scale of 1-5, how strongly does your motivation level affect your performance?
7. How would you rate the current motivation program in our organisation?
8. What thing would motivate you to be more productive? A new coffee machine, 4-day workweek – feel free to speak your mind!
9. Are you motivated by our organisation’s vision and mission?
10. What is your prime motivator at work right now?
11. How likely are you to recommend this company as a place to work?
12. Rate your agreement with the following statements:

• I feel driven to do my best each day.
• I’m motivated to go the extra mile on my projects.
• My job is interesting and challenging.
• I get opportunities to develop new skills.
• I feel that I’m contributing to the overall goals of my company.
• My manager/lead has shown sincere interest in my career goals.
• I feel that my work is seen and appreciated within my team/company.
• The recognition I receive from my direct manager/lead/coworkers motivates me to do my best.
• My direct manager entrusts me with a high level of responsibility.

Employee motivation questionnaire – External motivators

1. Do seniors and colleagues appreciate you for your work?
2. Do you think your current role lets you grow and develop new skills?
3. Rate your level of satisfaction with the work culture.
4. What type of incentives motivates you more?
5. How far are you satisfied with the incentives provided by our organization?
6. Are you happy with the management style of your leader?
7. Do you feel that the leadership sufficiently motivates you?
8. Do you think your views and opinions are considered when making a decision that could affect the team?
9. Are you encouraged to develop new and better ways of doing things?
10. Have you been promoted at work in the last six months?
11. Have you been nominated for training development programs for the previous six months?
12. Please rank the following workplace factors based on how important they are to you.

• Good pay
• Job security
• Growth opportunities
• Favorable working conditions
• Interesting work
• Loyalty to employees
• Constructive management
• Organizational appreciation for work done
• Understanding/helping with personal issues
• Being involved in things

How to motivate an unmotivated employee?

You don’t have to see demotivated employees as a lost cause! Instead, here are some actions you can take to tackle the issue:

1. Just ask what the problem is. Sometimes, it takes a face-to-face conversation to get to the root cause. E.g., frustration at not being able to tackle a pet project, or an inability to meet deadlines due to unplanned tasks.

2. Make sure your employee knows the ‘why’ of their work. Let them know that their work is contributing to the bigger picture.

3. Set clear goals, and give the employee the tools to work towards them. That can include access to resources, career development programs, bonuses, etc.

4. Communicate about what’s going on at the company with remote work surveys. One of the challenges of going remote is the lack of organic, free-flowing work chatter. So sometimes, a remote employee’s understanding of their work situation may not match reality.

5. Take a good, long look at your compensation and incentive schemes. Are they sufficient to motivate staff?For example, does it make sense to have a free lunch scheme for remote employees?

6. Don’t let good deeds go unpublished. Here are pointers for setting up a budget-friendly employee recognition scheme.

Wrapping Up

That’s all in this! In this blog, we’ve talked about the top 24 questions that make up an employee motivation questionnaire, and how a timely survey on employee motivation can help you build a happier, more productive workforce.

Think of your company as an orchard, and motivation as one of the fertilizers. You need to keep adding it, even when the impact is not immediately obvious. The net result are long-term gains in client and employee growth.