Empowerment Deep Dive Survey

Use the Empowerment Deep Dive survey to understand whether people are empowered, in terms of feeling trusted to carry out their responsibilities and having control over their work. From this survey, you’ll get a clear view of whether employees are aligned with the organisation’s direction and how to give them the freedom to play their part.

When to use this survey

• If another survey showed this as an area for improvement

• When preparing for fast growth

• If you want to know how to build high-performing teams

• If you have encountered a low Empowerment Score in your Organisational Fitness matrix or you are noticing a downward trend in the Empowerment indicator

How the survey is scored

This Deep Dive survey addresses four criteria of Empowerment indicator:

Autonomy,
Boundaries,
Goals and
Ownership

By listening to your employees along these key dimensions, you will understand if people feel they are in the position to take appropriate actions.

Asking 12 questions on a 5-point Likert scale, from strongly agree to strongly disagree, this Deep Dive first finds each survey respondents’ total score. This is based on the proportion of positive answers (‘agree’ and ‘strongly agree’). Accordingly, by combining these scores, the average over all respondents is calculated, deriving the overall Empowerment score.

This survey also contains four open-text questions, to understand and add context to the scores and support your findings.

Introductory Text

At {our organisation}, we want to know how empowered employees feel. Do you feel as though you have autonomy and ownership in your role, are there appropriate boundaries in place, and do you feel connected to our goals?

Autonomy

The Autonomy dimension of Empowerment explores if your employees have the freedom to make decisions in their roles, and if there is a good balance between autonomy and guidance in the organisation.

The Autonomy dimension is made up of the indicators: Freedom, Guidance, Trust and an open-text question.

Indicator	Question	Rationale
Freedom	I feel like I am given enough freedom to decide how best to do my daily work.	Employees feel they have the freedom to make their own decisions.
Guidance	Guidance is available at work when I need it.	Employees feel they can ask for help when needed.
Trust	My manager trusts me to do a good job.	Employees feel trusted by their managers to be successful in their roles.
Open Text	What more can we do as an organisation to help you work more independently?	Asked to understand what changes would allow employees to work more independently.

Boundaries

The Boundaries dimension informs you about the boundaries your employees are aware of in their day-to-day roles. This indicator measures the confidence in making decisions, and if employees know who to check in with when needed.

The Boundaries dimension is made up of the indicators: Check-ins, Limits, Safety to Act and an open-text question.

Indicator	Question	Rationale
Check-ins	I know when I need to check with someone more senior and confirm a decision I have made at work.	Employees can identify when they should check in with a senior member of staff to confirm any actions or decisions.
Limits	I do not get asked to make decisions that I feel uncomfortable making because they exceed my authority.	Employees are never asked to participate in decision-making that isn’t appropriate to their role.
Safety to Act	I feel confident making a decision for the right reasons, even if something goes wrong as a result.	Employees are comfortable making decisions based on what they think is right, regardless of any unintended consequences.
Open Text	Please describe the last time you asked a team member/manager for help, what happened?	Asked to understand what guidance employees have received from their colleagues or managers.

Goals

The Goals dimension helps you to understand your organisation’s goals, and the impact they have on them. This metric helps define if employees are clear about expectations, and if your goals give your teams confidence when it comes to decision-making.

The Goals dimension is made up of the indicators: Expectations, Confidence, Contribution and an open-text question.

Indicator	Question	Rationale
Expectations	At work, I know what is expected of me everyday.	Employees understand what they are expected to do in their day-to-day role.
Confidence	Our goals help me make decisions with confidence.	Employees feel that the organisation’s goals help guide their decision-making.
Contribution	I know how my work contributes to the goals of {our organisation}.	Employees understand how their role fits into the bigger picture, particularly when it comes to achieving the organisation’s goals.
Open Text	What more can we do to help you feel more connected to {our organisation’s} goals and mission?	Asked to understand how the organisation can help employees feel more connected to its goals and mission.

Ownership

The Ownership dimension helps you understand how your employees take ownership outside of their role. Do they report any unethical behaviour, help to resolve problems and hold themselves accountable?

The Ownership dimension is made up of the indicators: Whistleblowing, Resolution, Accountability, and an open-text question.

Indicator	Question	Rationale
Whistleblowing	I can report instances of unethical behaviour without fear of retribution from anyone.	Employees feel confident in reporting any unethical behaviour within the organisation.
Resolution	If I notice something is wrong, I try my best to help resolve it.	Employees actively try to resolve problems within the organisation, even if it involves colleagues outside of their immediate team.
Accountability	As an organisation we hold ourselves accountable for results.	The organisation encourages employees to take responsibility for their actions, and their results.
Open Text	Please describe the last time you took ownership of something outside of your role (e.g. reported unethical behaviour or helped someone in need).	Asked to understand the ways your employees ‘go above and beyond’.