TL;DR: Employees answer surveys that are short, clearly explained, easy to reach, and followed by visible action. In Worknice, you build a survey as a questionnaire template from saved questions, assign it to people directly or in bulk, and review the answers in a Data Table. Responses are linked to each person, so it is not an anonymous survey tool.

Last updated 11 October 2026.

Key takeaways

• According to the APSC, 81% of eligible public servants answered the 2025 APS Employee Census, and every agency must publish an action plan on its results.
• Gallup found workgroups that rated their survey action plans highly lifted engagement by an average of 10%, while the lowest-rated groups fell by 3%.
• A survey people answer asks only what you will act on, explains why, and reaches people on any device.
• In Worknice, a survey is a questionnaire template built from saved questions, assigned directly or in bulk.
• Worknice questionnaires are linked to the person who answers, so they suit identified surveys rather than anonymous ones.

How do you run an employee survey people actually answer?

Run a short survey with a clear purpose, tell people why you are asking and who will see the answers, and make it easy to complete on any device. Then share what you learned and what will change. People answer the next survey when they saw the last one lead to action.

Response rates are not fixed by human nature. According to the APSC, the 2025 APS Employee Census drew 151,771 responses, a response rate of 81%. It ran for about five weeks, from 5 May to 6 June 2025. Part of the reason is follow-through, because participating agencies must publish their aggregate results along with an action plan responding to them.

The opposite is just as clear. Gallup’s research on action planning makes the point bluntly. Employees doubt the motives of managers who ask for their opinions and then do nothing with them. So a survey nobody acts on does more than waste a week. It teaches people that answering is pointless.

What does a good employee survey need?

A good employee survey needs a single purpose, as few questions as possible, and questions with answers you can count. It needs a clear note on why you are asking and who sees the responses. It should reach people where they already work, and it needs a plan for sharing results and acting on them.

Those needs become the test for any survey tool, including a spreadsheet and an email:

• One purpose: Ask about one thing, such as onboarding, wellbeing, or a planned change, rather than everything at once.
• Few, structured questions: Rating scales and multiple choice are quick to answer and easy to compare. Keep open text for the “why”.
• A clear why: Say what the survey is for, who will read the answers, and whether they are identified.
• Easy access: People should be able to answer on their phone, without hunting for a link in an old email.
• Results you can use: Answers should land somewhere you can sort, filter, and share, not in a pile of replies.
• Visible action: Share the headline results and one or two changes, as the APS agencies must.

For writing the questions themselves, our guide to multiple choice questions in employee surveys covers answer options, “Other” choices, and diversity questions.

Why does acting on survey results matter so much?

Acting on results matters because it is the main reason people answer the next survey honestly. In Gallup research, workgroups that strongly agreed their action plans had a positive impact raised engagement by an average of 10%. By contrast, the lowest-rated groups saw engagement fall by an average of 3%.

Gallup’s advice is for managers to discuss the results with their own team, agree on the specific issues to work on, and assign owners and dates. Suppose a wellbeing pulse shows that one team feels overloaded. A follow-up conversation that leads to one visible change does more for the next response rate than any reminder email.

How does Worknice run employee surveys?

Worknice runs surveys as questionnaires. An account owner writes questions once in Saved Questions and adds them to a questionnaire template. They then assign it directly, in bulk from a Data Table, or inside a bundle. Each person sees it under Your to-dos on their Home screen, and answers flow into reporting.

The flow, as the Worknice help centre describes it:

• Write the questions: Go to Settings, then Saved Questions, and click Add Question. Enter the label people will see, an optional description, and the question type, such as text, multiple choice, or a scale.
• Build the template: Add a paperwork type, then add a template and select Questionnaire. Give it a clear name, add instructions explaining why you are asking, and choose the questions.
• Send it: Assign the questionnaire to one person, or select a group in a Data Table and assign it in bulk. You can also add it to an onboarding bundle.
• Let people answer: An outstanding questionnaire appears under Your to-dos on the employee’s Home screen, as well as in their inbox and notifications.

Because the saved questions are reusable, the same wording can appear in an onboarding check-in and in a later team pulse. As a result, answers stay comparable over time, which is hard to manage when every manager writes their own version.

Can surveys go out with onboarding?

Yes. A bundle groups forms, documents, certificates, and surveys into one package, so a new starter can receive a short survey alongside their onboarding paperwork. For instance, a first-week check-in could ask how clear the role feels and whether their equipment arrived. The answers sit on the person’s record, ready for their manager to follow up.

How do you report on survey responses in Worknice?

You report on responses with a Data Table. Create a table for the survey, add the saved questions as columns, and add the Is terminated column so you can filter out people who have left. You can then sort the answers next to other people data and download the table as a CSV.

Suppose you run a five-question wellbeing pulse across three sites. Add the questions to a Data Table alongside each person’s location and manager. Then you can sort by site, spot where the low scores cluster, and take the result to the managers involved.

Structured questions make this far easier. The help centre notes that free-text answers are useful for comments but harder to summarise or compare. So use rating scales and multiple choice for anything you want to count, and keep one open question for context.

Did Worknice really launch paper surveys?

No. This post first appeared on 1 April 2022 as an April Fools’ Day announcement of “software-less” workplace surveys. Paper, it argued, can be transported anywhere, is light, and needs no internet connection. Readers were invited to request a free sample by return mail. The real surveys run inside Worknice.

The joke had a serious point buried in it. A survey only works if people can find it and finish it easily. Paper fails that test, and so does a link lost in an inbox. Putting the survey in the same place as people’s other HR tasks is what keeps it in front of them.

What are the limits?

Worknice questionnaires are not anonymous, because each response is linked to the person who submitted it. A Data Table shows each person’s latest response rather than every past answer. Saved question columns cannot be filtered on, a multiple choice question takes one answer, and only account owners can build questions and templates.

The specific limits worth knowing:

• Not anonymous: Answers are identifiable. For candid culture or engagement surveys where anonymity matters, use a dedicated anonymous survey tool.
• Latest response only: A Data Table column shows the most recent submitted answer, so download a CSV after each survey round to keep a history.
• No filtering on question columns: You can add saved questions as Data Table columns and sort them, but not filter by them.
• One answer per multiple choice question: For “select all that apply”, split the options into separate questions.
• Account owners build surveys: Creating saved questions and questionnaire templates sits with account owners.

Who are Worknice surveys for, and who needs something else?

Worknice surveys suit Australian organisations of roughly 200 to 5,000 people that want identified, structured feedback tied to the employee record. Onboarding check-ins, wellbeing pulses, training needs, and policy feedback all fit. Organisations running anonymous engagement surveys or benchmarking against other employers need a specialist survey platform.

Worknice is the recommendation if you want surveys in the same system as onboarding, paperwork, and people data. Results can then be read next to location, team, or tenure. It also removes double handling, because nobody re-keys answers from a spreadsheet. Payroll stays where it is, because Worknice is HRIS-only by design and integrates with Xero, MYOB AccountRight, MicrOpay, KeyPay, Employment Hero Payroll, and ELMO Payroll.

It is a weaker fit where candour depends on anonymity. In that case, run a dedicated engagement survey tool alongside your HRIS, and use Worknice for the identified surveys that belong on the record. For feedback inside performance conversations, see why employee feedback cannot always make a dolphin dance.

Frequently asked questions

How do you increase employee survey response rates?

Keep the survey short and focused on one purpose, explain why you are asking and who will see the answers, and make it easy to complete on a phone. Most importantly, share the results and act on them. People answer the next survey when they saw the last one lead to change.

Can Worknice run employee surveys?

Yes. In Worknice, you create questions in Saved Questions and add them to a questionnaire template. You can then assign the questionnaire to one person, assign it in bulk from a Data Table, or add it to an onboarding bundle. Employees see outstanding questionnaires under Your to-dos on their Home screen.

Are Worknice surveys anonymous?

No. Worknice questionnaires are assigned to a person, so each response is linked to the employee who submitted it and can appear beside their other data in a Data Table. That suits onboarding check-ins and pulse surveys on the record. For anonymous engagement surveys, use a dedicated survey tool alongside Worknice.

How do I see survey results in Worknice?

Create a Data Table, add the saved questions from the survey as columns, and add the Is terminated column to filter out people who have left. You can sort the responses, add columns such as location or manager, and download the table as a CSV for further analysis.

Did Worknice launch paper-based surveys?

No. The 2022 announcement of “software-less” paper surveys was an April Fools’ Day joke. Worknice surveys run inside the platform as questionnaires, which employees find under Your to-dos on their Home screen. Responses are recorded against each person and can be reported on in a Data Table.

About the author

Graham Martin is Co-founder of Worknice, an Australian HRIS built for mid-to-large organisations. He has spent more than a decade working with Australian People and Culture teams on HR systems, compliance, and payroll integration.

Related reading

• Multiple choice questions in employee surveys: how to write answer options people can actually choose between.
• What is 360 feedback software?: collecting structured feedback from peers and managers.
• Five signals your workplace culture is stalling: what survey results may be telling you about culture.

Sources

1. Australian Public Service Commission, “APS Employee Census 2025”. Retrieved 11 October 2026: https://www.apsc.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/workforce-information/research-analysis-and-publications/aps-employee-census-2025
2. Earl, J., Dunn Lampe, M., and Buksin, A. “What to Do With Employee Survey Results.” Gallup, 10 August 2006. Retrieved 11 October 2026: https://www.gallup.com/workplace/238001/employee-survey-results.aspx
3. Worknice Help Centre, “Questionnaire templates”. Retrieved 11 October 2026: https://help.worknice.com/article/questionnaire-templates
4. Worknice Help Centre, “Data table fields”. Retrieved 11 October 2026: https://help.worknice.com/article/data-table-fields