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Employee retention survey: what to ask people who have not left

Eleven questions for everyone who still works for you. Read them below, or open the survey in the editor.

  • 11questions
  • about 3 minto answer
  • 5-pointagree scale
  • anonymousread by group
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Employee Retention Survey · answer to move through it
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Question 1 of 11 Where this is going
I expect to still be working here twelve months from now.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 2 of 11 Where this is going
Which of these is closest to where you are right now?
I am not looking for another job
I am not looking, but I would listen if someone approached me
I have started looking for another job
Question 3 of 11 What would move it
The amount of work I am given fits the hours I am paid for.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 4 of 11 What would move it
I could take a real problem to my own manager.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 5 of 11 What would move it
I have confidence in the decisions senior leaders make about this organization.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 6 of 11 What would move it
My pay here is competitive with what I could earn elsewhere.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 7 of 11 What would move it
There is a job here I could move into that I would want.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 8 of 11 What would move it
Work that goes well here is noticed by the people who decide about my job.
1
2
3
4
5
Strongly disagreeStrongly agree
Question 9 of 11 In your words
Which one of these would most affect whether you are still here in a year?
Pay
How much work there is
My own manager
Where my job can go from here
Hours and flexibility
Senior leadership
Nothing on this list
Question 10 of 11 In your words
What is the one change that would make you more likely to still be here in a year?
Question 11 of 11 Your tenure
How long have you worked here?
Less than a year
1 to 2 years
3 to 5 years
6 to 10 years
More than 10 years

The 11 employee retention survey questions

An employee retention survey, also called an attrition survey, asks the people who still work for you how likely they are to be here in a year and which parts of the job would change that. It carries no names and is read as counts by group. Every question opens in the free form builder.

Plain text, one question per line, with the answer scale.

Are they going

A twelve-month window, so the answer can be ranked and repeated.

  1. I expect to still be working here twelve months from now.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeThe headline. Report the share who disagree or strongly disagree.
  2. Which of these is closest to where you are right now?Pick one of 3, optionalWhat they are doing now, next to what they expect.

What would move it

Six things an employer can change, one idea each, on one scale.

  1. The amount of work I am given fits the hours I am paid for.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeAsked as a ratio: work given against hours paid.
  2. I could take a real problem to my own manager.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeKept apart from senior leaders, which a team can rate very differently.
  3. I have confidence in the decisions senior leaders make about this organization.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeSenior leaders, not the manager. Read it against the item above.
  4. My pay here is competitive with what I could earn elsewhere.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreePay against the outside market, not against colleagues.
  5. There is a job here I could move into that I would want.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeA concrete next job, so the answer names something to plan.
  6. Work that goes well here is noticed by the people who decide about my job.1 to 5, strongly disagree to strongly agreeAbout how the system works, not a count of thank-yous.

In your words

One choice you can count, then one box for what nobody listed.

  1. Which one of these would most affect whether you are still here in a year?Pick one of 7, optionalOne answer ranks the drivers against each other.
  2. What is the one change that would make you more likely to still be here in a year?Open text, optionalRead in full, grouped by the driver picked at item 9.

Your tenure

The one cut that means the same thing everywhere.

  1. How long have you worked here?Pick one of 5, optionalClosed bands mean the same thing everywhere.

How to use the employee retention survey

Send it to everyone who still works for you, from a person rather than a system, and leave it open long enough to catch a week of leave. Only question 1 is required. There is no name on it: say that you report only groups of five or more, and add a team question as a closed list of the groups you already report by.

Read the share who disagree with question 1, for everyone and then for each group. Average items 3 to 8 where that share is highest; the lowest is where to start. Read every answer to question 10, sorted by the driver picked in question 9.

A whole team standing together on one platform while a few arrows curve away from its edge, one of them picked out in orange, beside a short anonymous rating form
Everybody is asked; the form counts groups, not people.

Employee retention survey FAQ

Is an attrition survey the same as a retention survey?

Attrition is the count of people who have left. A retention survey asks the people still here how likely they are to stay and why, so you can act before that count moves. This template does the second.

How often should you run it?

Twice a year, and once about a month after a reorganization, a change of manager or a pay round. Keep questions 1 to 9 word for word between runs so the results compare.

Does saying you will leave predict leaving?

Intention and leaving are strongly related in national data on 102,970 US public school teachers.[1] Of those who intended to leave as soon as possible, 32.5 percent had left teaching the next year, against 6.8 percent of the rest.[1]

How many questions should it have?

Eleven, answered in about three minutes. It asks about one decision, staying, and six things an employer can change about the job.

Related employee survey templates

When the resignation is already in, the exit survey questions collect the reason. One named person and their own manager is what stay interviews are for. The employee morale survey questions report how a team feels now, with no horizon. Worry about the job itself has its own job security questionnaire. The whole job, with nothing about leaving, is the staff satisfaction survey. The rest sit in the employee survey templates.

EmployeeEmployee Engagement SurveyEngagement measured as a standing construct rather than as one decision against a horizon.20 questions, 6 min EmployeeExit Interview SurveyOnce the resignation is in and the only thing left to collect is the account of why.14 questions, 4 min EmployeeStay Interview QuestionsOne named person and their own manager, where an agreement can be made in the room at the end.10 questions, 3 min EmployeeEmployee Pulse SurveyThe short read between one full run and the next, asked of everyone.9 questions, 3 to 4 min EmployeeEmployee Morale SurveyHow a team is feeling right now, reported as a level, with no horizon in the question.12 questions, 3 min

Michael Hodge, survey methodology · Updated 2 October 2026 · How templates are reviewed

Sources (1)
  1. Nguyen, T. D., Bettini, E., Redding, C., and Gilmour, A. F. (2022). Comparing Turnover Intentions and Actual Turnover in the Public Sector Workforce: Evidence from Public School Teachers. EdWorkingPaper 22-537, Annenberg Institute at Brown University. doi.org/10.26300/3aq0-pv52. Analytic sample: 102,970 teacher-year observations of US public school teachers.

Ask the people who have not left yet

Eleven questions, about three minutes, no name on an answer. Put in your own team names and send it when you are ready.

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