--- title: Top 10 Questions About Employee Engagement Surveys description: Answers to the top 10 questions about employee engagement surveys, from anonymity to follow-through, so leaders can drive participation and change. image: https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/iStock-2161559032-1.jpg --- [![Velocity Advisory Group](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Velocity-Logo-2023-Wide-1.png)](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/) ☰ Menu - About - [Meet Our Team](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/about/) - [Meet Our Coaches](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/coaches/) - [Careers](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/careers/) - [Speaking Engagements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/velocity-speakers/) - Solutions - [Culture & Engagement](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/culture-engagement/) - [DISC Assessments & Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/disc-assessments-training/) - [Employee Experience](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/employee-experience/) - [Executive Coaching](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/executive-coaching/) - [Family Business](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/family-business/) - [Leadership Development](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/leadership-development/) - [Sales Training](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/5cs-of-selling/) - [Strategy & Implementation](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/strategy-implementation/) - Resources - [Activating Greatness Podcast](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/podcast/) - [Blog](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/blog/) - [Case Studies](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/case-studies/) - [News and Announcements](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/news-and-events/) - [OrderDisc](https://orderdisc.com/) - [Upcoming Events](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/upcoming-events/) - Industries - [Construction](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/construction/) - [Financial Services](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/financial-services/) - [Life Sciences](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/lifesciences/) - [Contact](https://www.velocityadvisorygroup.com/contact/) Insights & NewsInsights November 11, 2025 # Top 10 Questions About Employee Engagement Surveys Employee feedback surveys are one of the most powerful tools for driving meaningful change within an organization, but they often come with questions and concerns. *Is my feedback really anonymous? Will anything actually change? Why should I even participate?* Below, we’ll answer the top questions about how employee engagement surveys work: from confidentiality and response thresholds to what happens after the survey closes. You’ll learn why your feedback matters, how it shapes company priorities, and what steps leaders take to turn survey insights into real action. ### 1. Is my feedback anonymous? Your feedback is often *confidential*. This means that your demographic information, such as which department you are in, will be collected, but your name will never appear in a results tab or dashboard. There are also confidentiality thresholds in place. It depends on the size of the organization, but most require a group to have five or more responses for anyone to view the results of that group. If a department is fewer than five people, the manager will only see the entire company’s scores rather than their team’s scores. If a third party is conducting your company’s survey, then your company cannot ever go in and see your individual responses. ### 2. Why are we doing this employee engagement survey? Companies use employee experience surveys to gather actionable insights about how employees feel at any given time. The results are analyzed to identify trends, strengths, and pain points in areas such as engagement, leadership effectiveness, culture, and communication. Once the data is collected, organizations ideally: 1. **Analyze and segment results** by department, tenure, or demographics to pinpoint where improvements are needed. 2. **Share key findings** with leadership and employees to build transparency and trust. 3. **Develop targeted action plans** to address issues like low engagement, workload concerns, or manager effectiveness. 4. **Track progress over time** by comparing results across survey cycles to ensure initiatives are driving positive change. 5. **Inform broader people strategies**, like performance management, recognition programs, and learning opportunities. Ultimately, the goal is to improve the overall employee experience, which in turn drives retention, productivity, and business performance. ### 3. Will anything actually change because of this employee engagement survey? Oftentimes, yes! But only if your company is taking action in the right way. We can’t boil the ocean and change a every single thing that comes up in the survey, but we can plan to take action on the high-priority initiatives coming out of the survey. Also, managers need to be responsible for their own action items coming out of the survey feedback, and that way there can be universal change across the company, rather than HR owning the whole plan. ### 4. How long will the employee engagement survey take? It often takes about 10 minutes to complete the survey, but some people choose to take more time writing open-ended feedback. ### 5. Do I have to participate? No, but some companies will include a fun incentive for people to respond to the survey. We always recommend that all questions are optional, so you could skip the survey items and just submit a response, but that won’t give your leaders much direction to go on. When leaders see fewer responses, it can often be a sign of lower engagement within the organization. When this happens, leaders may even get rid of their surveys altogether because they think employees don’t care about them, which really hurts employee opportunities to share feedback. ### 6. Can my manager see who left which comments? Your manager will be able to read the feedback, but they will never know it was you who said it because it’s all reported in aggregate. If a manager wants to see their team’s scores, the department must have at least five people **and** at least five people must have completed the survey, otherwise the manager will only see all of the company’s aggregated comments/scores.  Often, your open-ended comments will only be seen if 10 people or more have left comments (to protect your identity). They will never be able to see your individual response. This can vary by company, and depends on if your survey is run internally or through a third party. ### 7. When will we see the results?  We typically recommend that the leadership team share results after they have determined a high-level action plan. That way, when you see some low scores, you know what is going to be done and when to improve them. This process can often take at least 3-4 weeks, if not longer.  ### 8. What kinds of questions are asked? Usually questions around communication, recognition, growth and develop, manager satisfaction, and more. They are often on a scale from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree (1-5). Most organizations will include at least two open-ended questions for you to leave comments. ### 9. Can I skip questions or leave comments? We recommend that companies make their survey items optional so that employees can answer things that are relevant to them, but skip something they may not be comfortable answering or may not have an opinion on. This will often increase response rate. It is rare that a survey does not include a comment section, so you should be able to write as much as you want when responding!  ### 10. What happens after the employee engagement survey closes? A team, usually a third-party, will analyze the confidential results and present findings to the key stakeholders (leadership, HR) on what is going well, and what needs to improve. Not all results will be shown, but often the most important information. This process takes about 2-3 weeks, and then leadership can begin action planning. Managers will receive results after a company-wide action plan is established, and they can begin working on individual team-specific action plans.  Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/top-10-questions-about-employee-engagement-surveys) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/top-10-questions-about-employee-engagement-surveys) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/top-10-questions-about-employee-engagement-surveys) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/top-10-questions-about-employee-engagement-surveys) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/top-10-questions-about-employee-engagement-surveys) [Employee Engagement](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/tag/employee-engagement) [Insights](https://coaching.velocityadvisorygroup.com/insights/tag/insights) ## Ready to activate greatness on your team? 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