What is an employee survey, and how should it be used?

What is an employee survey?

In an employee survey, employees respond to statements about their own working day – workload, role clarity, support from their manager and colleagues, influence over their own work and how people treat each other. Answers are combined for groups, so the organisation sees patterns rather than individuals.

The name covers a lot. Some employee surveys measure satisfaction and engagement; others measure working environment factors in a way that can be used in a risk assessment. The difference matters, because the factors are what the rules require you to map. Read more about the difference in the article on job satisfaction surveys.

The Norwegian encyclopaedia Store norske leksikon describes what such a survey can and cannot do: the results will not give a complete picture of the conditions examined, but can be a good starting point for looking further.

One source among several

The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority (Arbeidstilsynet) writes that to get a good picture of the psychosocial working environment, an organisation should use several sources in the mapping, such as working environment surveys, safety inspections, incident reports, appraisal conversations or informal conversations.

A questionnaire is good at showing where a problem is and how large it is, and it gives everyone a voice at the same time. It is less good at explaining why. That comes out in the conversations afterwards – in the review with employees, with the safety representative and in appraisal conversations.

What does the law require?

The duty to map the working environment is not new. It is part of the provision on systematic health, environment and safety work in the Working Environment Act, and from 1 January 2026 it has been made explicit for the psychosocial working environment in a chapter of its own in the regulation on the performance of work.

The rules do not say that the mapping must be done with a questionnaire. Arbeidstilsynet writes that the scope, methods and content of the mapping and risk assessment are to be adapted to the nature, activities and size of the undertaking. An anonymous survey is a practical way to hear from everyone at once, but it should be supplemented with conversations. Read more about the requirements for mapping.

What should the survey measure?

Section 1A-1 of the regulation says that psychosocial working environment factors include, among others (our translation):

• unclear or conflicting demands and expectations in the work
• emotional demands and strain in work with people
• workload and time pressure that involve an imbalance between the work to be done and the time available
• support and help in the work
• the opportunity for contact and communication with other employees in the undertaking
• harassment, including sexual harassment
• violence and threats
• autonomy and influence in the work

The list is not exhaustive. Arbeidstilsynet writes that the words «among others» mark that the provision does not give an exhaustive list of psychosocial working environment factors. Which factors you must map depends on the organisation’s nature, activities and risk profile.

Measure what protects as well. Arbeidstilsynet writes that such factors can act both as strains and as protection, and that protective factors may therefore also be relevant to include in the mapping. Support from managers and colleagues, influence over one’s own work and a sense of meaning are examples.

An established starting point is questionnaires in the QPS Nordic tradition, a Nordic questionnaire on psychological and social factors at work. The Norwegian National Institute of Occupational Health (STAMI) describes it as developed for mapping in connection with development work and measures, and for research, and intended for a survey-feedback process: the results go back to those who answered. See which questions belong in an employee survey.

Anonymity in practice

The Norwegian Data Protection Authority (Datatilsynet) writes that the purpose of a working environment survey can normally be achieved by collecting anonymous information. Not storing names is still not enough. Datatilsynet points out that combining details such as position, age and gender can quite easily identify individuals, especially in small organisations – and adds that another common problem is the use of open comment fields.

• Show no group with fewer than five answers. The Norwegian central government’s employee survey (MUST), run by STAMI, uses the same threshold: units with at least five answers get a report.
• Ask for as few background details as possible. Every extra detail splits the answers into smaller groups.
• Be careful with free text. STAMI writes of MUST that, out of regard for privacy, employees cannot answer freely with text or comments.
• Stop anyone working it out. If you show the figure for the whole organisation and for every group but one, the hidden group can be calculated. Then another group must be hidden too.

Read more about what an anonymous employee survey means.

Employees and the safety representative are involved from the start

Arbeidstilsynet writes that the employer cannot do this work alone, but must actively involve employees and the safety representative in the mapping, the risk assessment, and the planning and follow-up of measures. For an employee survey, this means the safety representative helps choose topics and groups, knows the timetable and takes part when the results are reviewed. Read more about the safety representative’s role in the mapping.

From results to measures

A survey without follow-up achieves little. Arbeidstilsynet’s own survey of systematic health and safety work shows that most organisations map and assess the risks in their working environment at least once a year. Yet fewer than half do so systematically, and even fewer follow up with concrete measures based on the assessments.

Feedback appears to be an important part of the effect. In a study STAMI described in 2023, covering 30 units in seven companies, some units received feedback meetings with a presentation and interpretation of the results, and help to develop concrete measures. They had lower long-term sickness absence than units that received only the mapping and general advice. The researchers did, however, find few direct effects on the working environment factors and health complaints that were mapped.

Arbeidstilsynet describes what an action plan should contain:

Two more principles from Arbeidstilsynet: measures should as far as possible address the causes of the risk, for example organisational or work-related conditions; and collective measures should be considered before individual ones. See how to review the results with employees and from results to measures.

Repeat, document and evaluate

Arbeidstilsynet writes that mapping and risk assessment are not to be a one-off activity. One approach is a thorough survey once a year and shorter surveys on the topics where measures are under way, a so-called pulse survey. The mapping, the assessments and the measures are documented as part of the systematic health and safety work. See also how often to measure the working environment.

Checklist

1. Agree the purpose, topics, groups and timetable with the safety representative before sending.
2. Measure the factors the regulation points to, and what protects.
3. Show no group with fewer than five answers, and keep background questions few.
4. Review the results with employees, and ask what lies behind the figures.
5. Make an action plan with goals, measures, owners and a time frame.
6. Evaluate the measures, and document the mapping, assessment and measures.