Finding the right employee wellness survey questions can make the difference between superficial feedback and actionable insights that transform your workplace.
We’ve curated 30 best questions for wellness surveys that get to the heart of mental health, physical wellbeing, workload balance, and manager support.
Each question comes with example AI follow-ups designed to dig deeper, helping you uncover not just the “what” but the “why” behind employee wellness challenges.
30 best questions for employee wellness surveys
With so much riding on workplace wellbeing (87% of companies now prioritize wellness programs [1]), these questions help you collect feedback that drives meaningful change. Here’s how I’d organize them:
Mental Health & Stress
On a scale of 1-10, how supported do you feel with your mental health at work?
AI follow-up: “What would make you feel more supported or less stressed on difficult days?”How often do you feel overwhelmed by work-related stress?
AI follow-up: “Can you describe a recent situation that felt overwhelming? What would have helped?”Do you feel comfortable talking about mental health concerns with your manager?
AI follow-up: “If not, what’s stopping you—or what would make these conversations easier?”Have you used any mental health resources provided by the company?
AI follow-up: “If yes, what was helpful or lacking? If not, what kept you from using them?”What aspects of your job contribute most to your stress levels?
AI follow-up: “Which of these stressors feels most urgent to address right now?”How confident are you that the company genuinely cares about employee wellbeing?
AI follow-up: “What actions or changes would help build this confidence?”What helps you recharge during the workday?
AI follow-up: “Could the company support or enable these recharge moments better?”When you experience anxiety or burnout, do you know who to turn to at work?
AI follow-up: “If not, what would help you find the right support?”
Physical Wellbeing
How satisfied are you with the company’s physical wellness resources (e.g., gym, standing desks, healthy snacks)?
AI follow-up: “What would you add or improve to better support physical health?”How often do you participate in workplace wellness activities or challenges?
AI follow-up: “What encourages (or discourages) you from participating?”Do you feel encouraged to take regular breaks to move or stretch?
AI follow-up: “What could help you take more active breaks during your day?”Has remote or hybrid work affected your physical health positively or negatively?
AI follow-up: “In what specific ways has this impacted your wellness?”How easy is it to maintain healthy habits during your workday (eating, hydration, movement)?
AI follow-up: “What gets in the way of these habits most often?”What health and fitness benefits would make you feel more energized at work?
AI follow-up: “Is there anything from a past employer or other company you wish we offered?”Have you ever taken a sick day when you felt you should have powered through?
AI follow-up: “What circumstances lead you to work when unwell?”What’s one thing the company could do to make working here healthier for everyone?
AI follow-up: “What small change would make the biggest difference?”
Workload & Work-Life Balance
How manageable is your current workload?
AI follow-up: “When you feel overloaded, what support or changes would help?”Do you feel able to fully disconnect from work outside business hours?
AI follow-up: “If not, what prevents you from unplugging, and what would help?”How often do your job demands interfere with your personal responsibilities?
AI follow-up: “Can you share an example or a recurring challenge?”Do you feel you have enough flexibility in your schedule to manage life’s needs?
AI follow-up: “What kinds of flexibility would make things easier?”How often do you use vacation or paid time off?
AI follow-up: “What stops you from using more, or how could we encourage you to?”What one change would most improve your work-life balance?
AI follow-up: “Why is this change important for your wellbeing?”Has the shift to remote or hybrid work affected your stress levels?
AI follow-up: “Are there policies or tools that would further reduce your stress?”Are there times of year when your workload becomes overwhelming?
AI follow-up: “What support would make these periods more manageable?”
Manager & Team Support
How well does your manager recognize your workload and support your wellness?
AI follow-up: “What action would show better support from your manager?”Do you feel your team supports each other’s wellbeing?
AI follow-up: “What does effective team support look like to you?”Can you give an example of when a manager or coworker helped you with stress?
AI follow-up: “What made their support most helpful?”How easy is it for you to request accommodations or adjustments for your wellbeing?
AI follow-up: “What makes this process easy or difficult here?”Do you feel comfortable giving feedback on workload and support needs?
AI follow-up: “What would make it safer or easier to raise wellness concerns?”How could leadership demonstrate more commitment to employee wellness?
AI follow-up: “What specific action would feel most genuine or impactful?”What team rituals or meetings support your wellbeing—or add to stress?
AI follow-up: “How would you redesign these rituals?”If you could change one thing about our culture to better support wellness, what would it be?
AI follow-up: “How would this change improve your day-to-day experience?”
Wellness programs drive both satisfaction and retention—85% of employees say these initiatives make them more likely to stay at their job. [2]
Making wellness surveys conversational
Traditional wellness surveys often miss nuanced feedback because they aren’t adaptive. Employees fill in boxes, but real stories get lost between the lines. Conversational surveys flip this experience—your survey feels like a supportive check-in, not a static form.
Follow-ups make the survey a true conversation, turning forms into real dialogue.
Employees are more honest and thoughtful when the survey responds to what matters most, asking follow-ups that sound like a trusted colleague rather than a checklist. With tools like dynamic AI follow-up questions, you can probe for root causes in a way that flows naturally.
Response rates: Average online surveys see response rates of 10-15%—but conversational surveys keep participation higher by making the process feel less like a chore and more like a meaningful exchange. [3]
Psychological safety: Sharing with AI can feel less intimidating than talking to a manager face-to-face. Conversational surveys provide a sense of privacy that fosters greater candor and depth.
Using AI to analyze employee wellness responses
Let’s face it: analyzing hundreds of open-ended wellness survey responses is time consuming, and the best feedback is often buried in text walls. AI analysis steps in here. By using GPT-based survey analysis, you can instantly spot key themes, recurring phrases, and hidden pain points—no spreadsheet sleuthing needed.
Here are some powerful prompts you could use with AI to distill actionable themes and trends:
Identify burnout patterns across departments:
Which teams or roles most frequently mention burnout in their wellness survey responses? What warning signs are emerging?
Spot issues specific to remote or hybrid employees:
Summarize challenges with work-life balance among remote and in-office employees. How do needs or stress triggers differ?
Discover support employees need most urgently:
What practical suggestions do employees offer for improving mental health support, based on open-ended responses?
Track wellness trends over multiple survey rounds:
How have employees’ feelings about wellness resources changed since the last survey? What new concerns or positive changes are emerging?
You can run multiple analysis chats in parallel—one to track burnout, another to understand physical health needs, and yet another for manager support. AI summaries transform qualitative data into actionable takeaways, making it easy to share findings with leadership and prioritize next steps.
Best practices for employee wellness surveys
To make the most of your wellness surveys:
Frequency: Run surveys quarterly if possible, but at least annually—wellness is dynamic, and needs shift fast.
Anonymity: Ensure anonymity for honest feedback, especially on sensitive topics.
Multilingual support: Use surveys that adapt to your team’s languages, making everyone feel included. (See how the AI survey generator handles localization.)
Feature | Traditional Surveys | Conversational AI Surveys |
|---|---|---|
Format | Static forms | Interactive chat |
Response rate | 10-15% | Higher (more engaging) |
Follow-ups | Rare, manual | Dynamic, AI-driven |
Language | Often one language | Multilingual option |
Data analysis | Manual review | Instant, AI-powered |
Follow-up actions: Don’t let feedback fall into a black hole. Let people know what’s changing as a result—this builds trust in future surveys and shows wellness is a top priority.
Communication: Share results and your action plan with the team. Celebrate wins, acknowledge challenges, and invite ongoing feedback to show you take responses seriously.
If you’re not running regular wellness checks, you’re missing early warning signs of burnout and disengagement. Prioritizing real, ongoing conversations about employee wellness is one of the most powerful things you can do for team health and retention.
Start gathering meaningful wellness insights today
Ready to ditch generic forms and capture what really matters? Conversational wellness surveys transform check-the-box exercises into real understanding—so you can create a thriving, resilient team people want to stay with.
Specific delivers a best-in-class, user-friendly experience for conversational surveys, making feedback effortless and engaging for both survey creators and respondents. AI-powered survey creation gets you