When building an employee engagement survey in HR software, the questions about managers often reveal the most actionable insights. These touch how supported, developed, and heard employees truly feel.
This article shares the best questions for manager surveys and how AI-powered follow-ups uncover layers about coaching quality, communication, and team dynamics—going well beyond static forms.
Core questions to assess manager effectiveness
I never underestimate the power of well-chosen manager questions. They’re the heart of any great employee engagement survey—because a team’s energy, growth, and loyalty almost always trace back to their manager. In fact, 70% of a team's engagement is directly linked to the manager [1]. Manager survey questions need to cover trust, clarity, development, feedback, and fairness. Here are the essentials I recommend—and why they matter:
“On a scale of 1–10, how effectively does your manager support your professional growth?”
Growth matters. Most companies’ manager scores here land between 50–70%, exposing just how varied development support can be [6]. High scores mean managers are creating real advancement opportunities; lower scores spotlight critical coaching gaps.“How clearly does your manager communicate expectations and feedback?”
This cuts straight to day-to-day clarity. Teams thrive when expectations are clear, and feedback is regular—not just in annual reviews.“How frequently does your manager check in with you one-on-one?”
According to recent research, regular one-on-one meetings can boost employee engagement by 54% [8]. If these are rare, employees usually feel unseen and disengaged.“Can you share an example of useful coaching or feedback your manager has given you?”
Open-ended stories reveal ‘how’ support happens in practice. They surface authenticity, not corporate platitudes.“How fair is your manager when recognizing contributions or handling conflicts?”
If team members hesitate here, there’s often a deeper issue around trust or bias blocking engagement.“What’s one thing your manager could do to better support you?”
Direct, actionable, and future-focused. This question uncovers the small improvements that shift a manager from good to great.
The real magic comes when these questions are paired with AI follow-ups that probe deeper—adjusting in real-time based on each answer. This turns a checklist into a real conversation and catches context that static forms miss entirely.
How AI follow-ups reveal what traditional surveys miss
Traditional surveys are like snapshots. Conversational surveys use AI to turn these static moments into dynamic back-and-forths—surfacing richer insights in the process. Here’s how it plays out for manager questions:
Initial question: “Can you share an example of useful coaching or feedback your manager has given you?”
AI follow-up:
“What made this feedback helpful for you?”
AI follow-up:
“How did this coaching impact your performance or motivation?”
AI follow-up:
“Was there anything you wish had been handled differently?”
Initial question: “How fair is your manager when recognizing contributions or handling conflicts?”
AI follow-up:
“Can you describe a specific instance that stands out to you?”
AI follow-up:
“Did you feel everyone was treated equally in that situation?”
Initial question: “On a scale of 1–10, how effectively does your manager support your professional growth?”
AI follow-up:
“What kind of support would help you develop faster?”
AI follow-up:
“Has your manager helped you set clear goals for growth?”
Automatic AI follow-ups like these (see how our AI follow-up feature works) don’t just probe for more data—they reveal blockers, high-potential coaches, and frustrations that would’ve stayed hidden. That’s why conversational surveys get conversations flowing, not just ‘checked boxes’.
Target manager surveys by team or department
Not every team needs identical feedback prompts. When we target manager surveys by organizational unit (like team, function, or region), we get more accurate, relevant insights.
For example, a sales org might benefit from questions on coaching around quotas and incentives, while engineering teams need more focus on recognition and development roadblocks. Specific lets you use in-product surveys with precise targeting, so each group gets only the manager questions that matter to their daily context.
This approach also prevents survey fatigue. With relevant targeting, only the right people are asked the right questions—keeping employees engaged and avoiding repeated, irrelevant prompts that destroy trust and participation rates.
Analyze manager feedback themes with GPT
Gathering feedback is only step one. What really moves the needle is how quickly you can spot patterns—across teams, time, or different manager styles. AI-powered analysis tools (like Specific’s AI survey response analysis) make this effortless:
Spot emerging management styles that drive or undermine engagement (such as strengths-based coaching).
Identify common pain points, repeated across different teams (for example, vague expectations or unfair recognition).
Surface coaching gaps or conflict resolution practices that distinguish top-performing managers.
You can even chat directly with the AI about aggregate survey results—like brainstorming with a research partner, but 100x faster. Here are a few helpful analysis prompts to try:
“What are the main reasons employees feel their managers are not supporting their development?”
“Which manager behaviors are linked with high engagement scores in the feedback?”
“What themes emerge about fairness and recognition across different departments?”
Teams can spin up multiple AI analysis chats to explore trends from different perspectives—such as the impact on retention, performance improvement correlations, or department-specific challenges. This is the kind of feedback processing that turns raw insight into real action.
Best practices for rolling out manager effectiveness surveys
Even the sharpest survey questions or the most advanced AI won’t help if you don’t get the basics right. Here are the best practices I swear by:
Timing matters. The worst time for an engagement survey on managers? Right after re-orgs or layoffs when trust is low. Instead, aim for stable periods—or regular, ‘pulse’ surveying.
Choose the right frequency. Few teams need deep-dive manager surveys only once a year. Quick, regular check-ins (“pulse” surveys) often surface issues before they spiral.
Always act on feedback. If employees see no change after sharing honest insight, trust (and future participation) drops. Follow up with clear action steps after sharing results—don’t just file them away.
Survey Type | Annual manager survey | Pulse manager survey |
Frequency | Once per year | Quarterly or monthly |
Benefits | Broad trends, year-over-year change | Rapid feedback, early warning for issues |
Drawbacks | Outdated data, slow to react | Requires tight process to avoid fatigue |
Follow-ups transform surveys into conversations—making every manager effectiveness check-in feel like the start of genuine dialog, not a once-a-year audit.
If you’re not measuring manager effectiveness regularly, you’re missing early warning signs of turnover and disengagement.
Build your manager effectiveness survey with AI
Creating a sharp, relevant manager effectiveness survey is so much faster with AI. With an AI survey generator you simply describe your audience and goal, and the system builds a refined, conversational survey that adapts to your context.
Ready to collect the insights that actually move the needle on engagement and retention? Create your own survey today and see how real conversations uncover what your teams need most.