This article will guide you step-by-step on how to create an employee survey about performance feedback. With Specific, you can build a survey like this in seconds, leveraging AI expertise. Let's get right to it.
Steps to create a survey for employees about performance feedback
If you want to save time, just generate a survey with Specific. Here are the actual steps:
Tell what survey you want.
Done.
You honestly don’t even need to read further. With an AI survey builder like Specific, the survey is generated using expert knowledge and tailored for your needs. Plus, the AI goes a step further: it asks smart follow-ups, making it a true conversational survey that uncovers deeper insights from your employees.
Why running employee feedback surveys matters
Performance feedback surveys aren’t just a checkbox for HR—they’re organizational game-changers. We’ve seen firsthand that companies with engaged employees experience a 202% increase in revenue growth compared to those with disengaged employees. [1] That’s not just a small uplift; it’s a real impact on your bottom line.
Without regular feedback, you risk high turnover, low morale, and missed opportunities for growth. Employees who get feedback regularly see a 15% lower turnover rate—and turnover is expensive. [1]
If you’re not running these, you’re missing out on powerful benefits like higher productivity (up by 17%) and improved company profitability (on average up 21%). [1]
Capturing the voice of your employees through targeted performance feedback isn’t just nice; it’s essential for measurable progress, effective recognition, and long-term success. The more you tap into honest, actionable feedback, the more you unlock the true value of your team. For a deeper dive into the importance of employee recognition surveys and the benefits of employee feedback, we have a detailed guide as well.
What makes a good survey on performance feedback
No matter how quick or easy your survey tool is, quality matters. The best employee feedback surveys are built around a few simple principles:
Clear, unbiased questions that focus on actionable insights instead of leading or confusing phrasing.
A conversational tone, encouraging honesty and lowering the barriers to candid responses.
What’s the real measure of a great employee survey? It’s the quantity (enough people participate) and the quality (the responses actually help you take action). If you get both, your survey is doing its job.
Bad practices | Good practices |
|---|---|
Loaded or leading questions (“Don’t you think the new review process is an improvement?”) | Neutral, open-ended prompts (“What’s your experience with our current feedback process?”) |
Anonymous results with no follow-ups | Follow-up questions that dig deeper |
Dry, rigid language | Conversational, friendly tone |
It’s a matter of asking, listening, and probing enough to get to the “why” behind every answer.
Question types and examples for employee survey about performance feedback
You have several question types at your disposal, and the smartest surveys combine them. If you want more inspiration or templates, check out our curated list of best employee survey questions about performance feedback.
Open-ended questions let employees express themselves in their own words and reveal issues or bright spots you never even thought to address. Use these when you want context or nuance, or are exploring new changes.
“What’s the most helpful feedback you received this year?”
“How could our performance review process be improved?”
Single-select multiple-choice questions are ideal when you need structured, quantifiable data—especially if you plan to track trends over time.
How clear are you about what’s expected from you at work?
Very clear
Somewhat clear
Not clear
NPS (Net Promoter Score) question is the gold standard for overall sentiment, and works well if you want to benchmark loyalty or satisfaction. Try it with an AI-generated NPS survey tailored for employee feedback:
“How likely are you to recommend our company as a great place to work to a friend or colleague? (0–10)”
Followup questions to uncover "the why" are crucial for getting to the heart of the matter. Specific uses AI to trigger followups automatically, in the same conversation, based on the employee’s last answer. For example:
Initial reply: “It’s okay, but feedback is often vague.”
Follow-up: “What about the feedback process do you feel is vague, and how could it be clearer?”
Digging into the “why” reveals what you need to fix, and helps explain the number-driven results.
What is a conversational survey?
A conversational survey feels like a human chat: it flows naturally, asks relevant follow-ups, and creates a safe space for employees to share honestly. This is where AI shines compared to traditional survey forms.
Manual surveys | AI-generated surveys |
|---|---|
Static, one-way forms | Dynamic, real-time follow-ups |
Respondent fatigue and drop-off | Engaging, chat-like experience |
Manual analysis | Instant AI insights |
If you’ve ever built a survey by hand, you know it’s tedious—choosing question types, writing intros, formatting logic. With a Conversational AI survey generator, you just describe what you want to learn, and it’s instantly composed with best practices baked-in. And if you want to tweak questions or tone, you can do that with Specific’s AI survey editor—no need to muck about with forms.
Why use AI for employee surveys? You tap into research-grade question logic and real-time adaptability. The experience is as friendly and interactive for respondents as it is for creators. When you use an AI survey example from Specific, you’re guaranteed a best-in-class user experience: surveys that feel personal, reduce drop-off, and create richer insights. If you’re curious about building your AI survey from scratch, here’s our guide on how to create a conversational survey step by step.
The power of follow-up questions
Follow-up questions are where conversational surveys really shine. Instead of static forms, you get real conversations—each reply tailored to what was just said. At Specific, we use AI to trigger automatic follow-up questions, in real time, based on the context of the user’s response. This leads to richer, clearer insights without you (or your managers) having to chase clarifications via email.
Employee: “The feedback is okay.”
AI follow-up: “Can you share an example of when you found the feedback particularly helpful or unhelpful?”
See how an unclear initial reply quickly turns into valuable, actionable information?
How many followups to ask? Generally, 2–3 follow-ups are enough to gather the context you need, while still being respectful of your respondents’ time. With Specific, you can even configure a skip-to-next setting once the AI senses it’s got a complete answer.
This makes it a conversational survey—a format that encourages employees to open up and provide detail, not just a click in a form.
AI survey response analysis is simple. Even though you get tons of open-text, AI can synthesize these into easy-to-act-on summaries. See our guide on how AI helps analyze employee performance feedback responses.
Automated follow-ups are a game-changer—try building a survey (read more about automated follow-up questions) and experience the difference for yourself.
See this performance feedback survey example now
Create your own survey and instantly see how real conversational AI-powered feedback makes a difference for your team. You get better insights, less hassle, and a smarter way to listen to your employees.