What To Ask In Your Employee Benefits Survey

When providing benefits to employees, you should customize your offerings to align with their actual wants and needs. This is especially true for small to medium-sized business owners with more limited budgets for benefits.

To ensure you’re putting your dollars in the right place, you need to gather employee feedback. With an employee benefits survey, you can ask your workers how they feel about your current offerings. It also provides an opportunity for employees to share their benefits preferences for the future. This can help you gain valuable insight into how to make the most of your benefits budget to better attract and retain top talent.

In this article, we’ll cover what employee surveys are, provide sample questions you should ask, and explain how often you should reevaluate your benefits offerings.

In this blog post, you’ll learn:

• How the right benefits improve the employee experience.
• Which benefits categories matter most to employees.
• How to craft the perfect employee benefits survey.

What are employee benefits surveys?

An employee benefits survey contains questions regarding your benefits package. It allows you to collect valuable feedback from your employees so you can make informed decisions in the future. These are generally anonymous surveys to encourage your employees to give honest responses.

The most common way to send these surveys is through email using a third-party survey tool, such as:

• Google Forms
• SurveyMonkey
• Qualtrics

Your questions should address the quality of the specific benefits you provide, how they compare to other organizations, and what your employees would like to see added or removed in the future.

For example, your survey could address:

Why should you do an employee benefits survey?

There are several reasons why you should gather feedback from your employees.

Make sure you’re investing in benefits that your employees use

Sending out an employee benefits survey is a smart way to ensure you spend your benefits budget on perks that your employees actually want and use.

For example, let’s say you’re spending a large portion of your benefits budget on an on-site gym membership. If hardly any of your employees are using it because they have their own gym memberships, your survey will tell you that.

While your employees may not use that particular benefit, they may be more excited about a tuition reimbursement program, for example, that allows them to get essential professional development training. Based on your survey results, you can optimize your benefits offerings.

Ensure your employees understand their benefit offerings

Another advantage of sending out a survey is that it can check your employees’ understanding of the benefits you’re currently offering and how to use them.

For example, suppose you’re offering a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA). In that case, your employees may need more education on how to get their healthcare costs reimbursed than they would if you were offering a traditional group health insurance plan.

Benchmark your retention efforts

Conducting a benefits survey will help you determine whether the benefits you currently provide are enough to improve employee satisfaction and retention. If your employees aren’t satisfied with your offerings, they’ll be more likely to leave your organization when they receive a better offer.

You can use your survey results to improve and expand your current benefits program. That way, your employees remain with your organization, helping you save on recruitment costs.

Do right by your employees

Asking employee benefits survey questions about all aspects of your benefits will help your employees get the most out of your current offerings. This allows you to do right by your employees and create a positive culture where they want to come to work.

Our 2024 Employee Benefits Survey found that 81% of employees said an employer’s benefits package is an important factor in whether they accept a job.

Conducting a benefits survey and taking action based on the results is one way to involve your employees in their benefits selections, helping to keep them happy at work and paving the way for happier future employees.

What types of questions should you ask in a benefits survey?

To create an effective employee benefits survey, consider the following categories for a good balance of questions.

Demographic questions

Basic demographic questions, such as marital status or parental status, will help you understand which of your employees are benefiting from your current benefits the most. It also highlights employee groups that may require additional perks or different benefits to ensure their job satisfaction.

This is particularly important if you offer different benefits to different classes of employees, such as if you’re offering an individual coverage HRA (ICHRA) to some employees and group health plan coverage to others.

Questions that assess employee understanding

If you’re worried your employees aren’t utilizing your current benefits to the fullest, it could be because they don’t understand how they work. You can include comprehension questions to see if your employees have everything they need to start using their benefits.

Current benefit questions

Including questions about your current benefits package will help you evaluate if you’re offering the perks your employees care about most. This will help you decide which benefits to keep and which to drop as you restructure your package.

Discovery questions

Discovery questions help you discover what new perks your employees would like to see added to your benefits package. If you have perks that you’re considering offering but aren’t sure they’d be worth the investment, this is your time to find out.

Types of benefits you may want to ask about include:

• Health benefits
• Mental health benefits
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Retirement plans
• PTO and sick time
• Paid parental leave
• Childcare benefits
• Wellness benefits
• Education benefits
• Stock options
• Transportation and commuter benefits
• Disability insurance
• Flexible work benefits

Free response questions

Finally, your survey should include a free response section that gives your employees a chance to express their ideas and opinions that they may not have had the chance to in other parts of the survey. You may find that many of your employees have a specific perk in mind that you hadn’t considered offering.

What specific questions can you ask?

There are many different types of questions you can ask in your survey:

• Comparison questions, such as: “Are the benefits you’re being offered better or worse than other employers?”
• Rating questions, such as asking employees to rate each benefit on a scale of one to ten or from not important to very important.
• Satisfaction level questions, such as asking employees to rate each benefit on a scale from extremely dissatisfied to extremely satisfied.
• Open-ended questions for benefit recommendations, such as: “Are there any additional perks you wish we offered?”
• True or false statements, such as: “My employer offers the kind of benefits I want.”
• Multiple choice questions. You can list a few different benefits and have your employees select their most preferred.
• Questions about employee comprehension of their benefits, such as whether they know how to use them or get reimbursed.

If your organization is large enough, you may also want to ask for optional demographic information, such as age groups or the departments that respondents work in.

Reviewing your employee benefits survey results

Once your employee surveys are complete, it’s time to analyze the results. If there are offerings your employees rate poorly in terms of importance, you might consider replacing them with other benefits your employees said would work better for them.

If survey responses highlight certain perks your employees wish you offered, consider how you can work those additional benefits into your compensation package.

How frequently should you review your benefits?

How often you send out an employee benefit survey is up to you and your organization’s needs. If you’re just starting with a brand new benefits package, you may want to send out a survey more frequently, such as every quarter. If you’ve gotten into a good groove with your benefits package, you may only need to evaluate your company benefits annually. It’s a good idea to conduct a survey before your benefits’ annual open enrollment period, if applicable.

Employee turnover also influences how often you should review your benefits. For example, if you’re experiencing an increase in turnover, you may want to look at your benefit plans more often to see if they play a role in your retention.

Which benefits do employees generally prefer?

If you’re just starting to offer benefits to your employees, it might be a good idea to look at the benefits that employees generally want in the workplace. This will give you a good starting point for crafting the perfect employee benefits package while ensuring you provide the most important benefits.

Health benefits are at the top of the list. Based on our survey findings, 92% of employees consider health benefits important. Other popular benefits include PTO, retirement savings, dental insurance, and vision insurance. Employees also desire remote work and flexible hours.

Personalized benefits

Whether you’re offering your first benefit or improving your existing compensation package, personalized employee benefits can help. They empower your employees to use their benefits the way they want to, rather than forcing them into a one-size-fits-all model.

HRAs are great alternatives to group health insurance. They allow you to reimburse your employees tax-free for qualifying healthcare costs like individual health insurance premiums up to their set allowance amount. This way, you can control the cost of your health benefit. Plus, your employees get to choose the health plans that best fit their needs.

Employee stipends are another excellent personalized benefit that allows you to give employees allowances for various expenses of your choice, including health, wellness, professional development, remote work, and transportation costs.

Conclusion

Tailoring your benefits to your employees’ specific needs is an essential part of recruiting and retaining top talent. Without a quality employee benefits program, your employees will inevitably leave for another organization that offers one.

By putting together an employee benefits survey, you can gain actionable insight into your current and future offerings. This demonstrates to your employees that you’re committed to making sure their needs are met.

If you’re ready to expand your employee benefits, PeopleKeep by Remodel Health can help! Our HRA administration software allows small and midsize businesses to set up and manage their HRAs in minutes each month.

This blog article was originally published on December 8, 2021. It was last updated on June 24, 2025.