Questions to Ask Employees About Culture
For an HR lead, founder or manager who needs questions to ask employees about culture in a survey, a focus group or a round of one-on-ones. Four groups of conversation questions follow the order a session usually takes: values as written against values as lived, how decisions and mistakes are handled, speaking up, then recognition, belonging and workload day to day. Rating items to score on an agreement scale and open-ended questions for the end of a survey come after them, and the notes say which answers are reassuring, which should bother you and what to do next.
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The questions
Each question, and why to ask it
Values
How would you describe our culture to someone who has never worked here?
Why ask it
Ask it first, before the word 'values' has come up, so the description is theirs and not the careers page. A good answer describes behavior: how fast people reply, how meetings run, what a manager does when you are stuck. Write down the adjectives and tally them across everyone you speak to.
Which of our stated values do you see people act on most often?
Why ask it
Do not read out the list first. Someone who can name a value and give an example from the past month is telling you it has reached daily work. If most people cannot name one, that is the finding, and it says more about how the values were introduced than about the people you asked.
Which of our values do we talk about more than we practice?
Why ask it
Expect a pause, then the most useful answer of the session. When several people name the same value, leaders have two honest options: close the gap or stop advertising it. A whole focus group saying 'none' usually tells you about the room, so ask it again in private.
What gets someone praised or promoted here that is not written down anywhere?
Why ask it
Whatever is rewarded is the working value system, whatever the posters say. Answers that line up with the written values, such as helping another team or owning a problem, mean the two systems are one. Long hours, being visible to one executive and never saying no mean they are not.
What behavior is put up with here that should not be?
Why ask it
What passes without comment tells staff more about the culture than anything the company praises. Listen for kinds of behavior, not names: a high performer who is rude, deadlines missed with no consequence, meetings that start late. If someone does name a person, do not promise an outcome on the spot. Tell them who will hear about it and when you will come back to them.
Can you think of a time the company gave something up in order to stick to one of its values?
Why ask it
A value that has never cost anything is hard to tell from a slogan. A good answer is a story with a price in it, such as a customer turned away or a launch delayed. If long-serving people have no story, either the values have not been tested or the stories are not being told, and the second is easy to fix.
What did you believe about working here in your first month that turned out not to be true?
Why ask it
This measures the distance between what recruiting promises and what the job delivers. Small surprises in both directions are normal. The same broken expectation from several people, flexibility or growth for instance, belongs with whoever writes the job postings and runs the interviews.
How is the culture on your team different from the rest of the company?
Why ask it
Many companies hold several cultures at once, often one per manager or site. A team that describes itself as an island, whether a happy one or a neglected one, tells you where to look next. Break results out by department before you report a single company-wide picture.
What do senior leaders do that shows you what really matters here?
Why ask it
Staff read leaders' calendars and reactions far more closely than their speeches. Where it is going well, people describe leaders doing what they ask of others: using their vacation days, admitting an error, spending time where the work is done. 'I never see them' is an answer too, and so is a rule leaders are known to skip.
What story do people here tell new hires about how this place works?
Why ask it
Folklore carries culture further than any handbook. A tale about a founder packing boxes on a deadline says one thing; a warning never to email a certain director after four says another. Record the stories as told, because a report with two of them lands harder than a page of scores.
Decisions
Think of a recent decision that changed your work. How did you first hear about it?
Why ask it
Tying it to one real decision stops the answer drifting into generalities. For each person, note who told them, whether that was before or after the change took effect, and whether a reason came with it. Keep a separate count of the people who learned of it through rumor or from a customer.
Who really makes the decisions here, and does that match the org chart?
Why ask it
Where the two match, people know whom to ask and work moves. 'Everything ends up with one person' and 'honestly, nobody knows' are different problems with the same symptom, which is waiting. Ask who they go to when they need a yes, and whether someone in their first month would know to do the same.
How much say do the people closest to the work get before a decision is final?
Why ask it
Staff do not have to hold the vote for this to go well. What counts is being asked early and hearing what became of the input. Take most seriously the person who was consulted after the choice was plainly made, because a show of asking is often resented more than not being asked.
What happened the last time someone on your team made a mistake that other people noticed?
Why ask it
Ask what happened to the person as well as to the problem. What you want is a short story: it was fixed, it was talked about, and the person is still trusted with the same work. A hunt for who did it, a public dressing-down, or silence followed by a quiet exit each explain why later mistakes get hidden.
After a project goes badly, what does the review look like, if there is one?
Why ask it
Three answers come up: no review at all, a review that produces a document, and a review that changes how the next project runs. Only the third is a learning habit. Ask what was done differently after the last one, and accept 'nothing' as an honest answer.
How long does it take to get a decision you need, and where does it tend to get stuck?
Why ask it
A named bottleneck, such as a sign-off step or one executive's calendar, is something you can take away and fix. 'It depends who you know' is a different finding: it means influence, not process, moves things, and newer staff will feel that most.
When a decision turns out to be wrong, how does it get undone?
Why ask it
In a healthy place someone with authority says so plainly and the work stops. The warning sign is a project everyone privately considers dead that still gets weekly updates because nobody will be the one to call it. Ask whether they are working on anything like that now.
What happens when your team's priorities clash with another team's?
Why ask it
Listen for how it ends. Two leads sorting it out against a shared goal is the good ending. If whoever escalates first or argues loudest wins, or if nothing is settled and both teams quietly work around each other, the friction between departments is a culture issue and not a personality one.
How straight is the company with you about bad news, such as a lost customer or a missed target?
Why ask it
'We heard it from leadership, quickly, in plain words' is what trust sounds like. Learning it from the press, from a former colleague or from the empty desks is the opposite. How people answer this colors how much they believe every cheerful announcement, so weigh it heavily.
Speaking up
When did you last disagree openly with someone senior to you, and what happened afterward?
Why ask it
You are hoping for a recent example with a dull ending. 'I would not', or a story from years ago, tells you people have stopped trying. Pay attention to the afterward: being left off the next invitation is a consequence even if nobody said a word.
What does everyone here know but nobody says in a meeting?
Why ask it
Keep this for one-on-ones; a group will go quiet. Never attach a name to what you hear. If three people independently give you the same unspoken thing, it should be the first item you bring to leadership, phrased as a theme.
If you saw something that looked wrong, such as a safety shortcut or a number that did not add up, who would you tell?
Why ask it
A quick answer naming a person or a channel, with an expectation that something would happen, shows the route works. 'Nobody' and 'it depends who did it' show it does not. Before you ask, find out what your organization's reporting policy requires of you if the example turns out to be real.
Who gets listened to in meetings here, and who gets talked over?
Why ask it
Where airtime follows knowledge of the subject, things are in decent shape. Where it follows rank, tenure or volume, or where one kind of person is regularly cut off, such as new hires or people dialing in, you have something specific to raise with whoever chairs. Watch for the same pattern in your own focus group.
Have you ever held back an idea or a concern here, and what made you decide not to raise it?
Why ask it
Almost everyone has, so a string of 'never' is not reassuring. Sort the reasons into two piles. 'It was not worth the effort' points at process and slow follow-through; 'I saw what happened to the last person' points at fear, and needs a different response.
What happens to the person who brings bad news?
Why ask it
Ask for a case they witnessed, not what they suppose would happen. If the messenger was thanked and the problem got worked on, bad news will keep arriving early. If the messenger was grilled, or handed the whole problem to fix alone, everyone watching learned to bring it later.
How easy is it to ask for help here without looking as if you cannot do your job?
Why ask it
Look at where the asking happens. Senior people posting questions in open channels make it normal for everyone else. Where help is sought only by private message, or new hires describe struggling alone for weeks, asking carries a cost, so put this to people in their first year especially.
When you have raised a concern in the past, what came of it?
Why ask it
Whether it is safe to speak and whether it is worth it are separate questions, and this is the second. 'Nothing' and 'I never heard back' are the answers to count. They also tell you what this exercise has to do differently: reply, even when the reply is no.
Is there a subject you would be nervous to bring up with leadership?
Why ask it
Pay, workload, a particular leader and job security are the usual candidates. You do not need the detail, so do not push for it; knowing which subjects feel closed is the result. When one subject keeps recurring, the kindest fix is for leaders to raise it themselves first.
Day to day
When someone does great work here, what usually happens next?
Why ask it
The thanks people remember is specific, prompt and from someone who understood what was hard about the work. 'Nothing happens' is a problem, and so is 'they get given more work'. Ask whether it would be the same on a different team, since recognition often depends on the manager unless the company has made it a habit.
Whose work goes unnoticed here?
Why ask it
The replies tend to name kinds of work more than individuals: support roles, night shifts, remote staff, the people who prevent problems quietly. That makes it one of the few culture findings a leader can act on within a week. Pass the list on without saying who supplied it.
When you look at who was promoted in the past year, does it make sense to you?
Why ask it
'Yes, they were the ones who' followed by a reason means the criteria are visible. A shrug, or 'you have to be seen by the right people', means they are not. Do not get drawn into debating individual cases; record what people think the criteria are and set that beside the real ones.
When did you last feel that you really belonged here, and what was going on?
Why ask it
The more recent and ordinary the moment, the better: being asked for a view, being missed when out sick. If the only example is an offsite from two years ago, or there is a long silence, belonging is not being renewed in the daily work. The settings people mention are a ready list of what to do more often.
Is there anyone here who seems to be on the outside, and what puts them there?
Why ask it
People describe exclusion more readily when it is not their own. Do not ask for names. Listen for what the outsiders have in common, such as a site, a shift, a contract type, a first language or leaving at five for school pickup, because a shared cause is something the company can change.
Can you be yourself at work here, or is there a version of you that stays at home?
Why ask it
An easy 'mostly, yes' with an example is fine. A careful answer about what goes unmentioned at work, whether family, faith, health or background, deserves respect and no probing. Ask one thing only: what would make it easier.
How were you welcomed in your first weeks, and who made the difference?
Why ask it
Most people can name the colleague who showed them around or answered the small questions, and those names are your informal culture carriers, worth thanking. 'I found my own way' means the welcome was left to chance. Check whether it comes mostly from remote staff or from people who joined during a hiring rush.
How do people here treat colleagues who are junior to them or in support roles?
Why ask it
Respect is easiest to check by looking downward. Listen for small specifics: whether interns are introduced by name, how the front desk or the warehouse is spoken to, who gets thanked after a late night. An answer that begins 'most people are fine, but' is pointing somewhere, so ask what kind of situation brings it out, not who.
What is the unwritten rule here about answering messages after hours?
Why ask it
The policy may say one thing; what leaders send at eleven at night sets the real rule. Compare 'nobody expects it, and my boss schedules messages for the morning' with 'you do not have to, but the people who get ahead do'. Record the second kind word for word, because that sentence is the unwritten rule.
When there is more work than the team can carry, what gives?
Why ask it
In a healthy team something is dropped or delayed on purpose, by someone with the authority to say so. When the answer is that nothing gives, people are absorbing it, and quality or health slips quietly. Follow up by asking who decides what gets cut.
How do people react when someone takes all of their vacation or leaves on time?
Why ask it
The best answer is that nobody notices. Jokes such as 'half day?' or 'must be nice' are data, so note them as said. Ask too whether senior people use their own time off, because staff tend to copy what they see more than what they are told.
How does the pace here compare with other places you have worked, and can you keep it up?
Why ask it
The second half is the real question. Fast is not a problem in itself, and plenty of people choose it. 'Not for another year' is an early warning with a date attached, and several of those from one team should reach that team's leader soon.
Rating items
I can describe what this company stands for in my own words.
Why ask it
Score this on an agreement scale, like every statement in this group. A low result means the other values items are measuring guesses. Pair it with the three-words question to see whether the words people choose resemble each other.
The values we publish match how people here actually behave.
Why ask it
This is the headline item for values as lived against values as written. Cut it by level as well as by department. If senior staff agree and frontline staff do not, the values are being lived where they were written and not much further.
Leaders here act the way they ask the rest of us to act.
Why ask it
Low agreement here drags down belief in whatever leaders announce next. Before anyone guesses at the cause, use the conversation question about what senior leaders do to learn which behavior people have in mind.
I trust what senior leaders tell us about how the company is doing.
Why ask it
The subject is honesty, which is separate from whether leaders are liked. Read it beside the conversation question on bad news. A low score often has one remembered event behind it, such as job cuts that followed a reassuring all-hands, and leaders will need to speak about that event by name.
I understand why major decisions are made, even when I disagree with them.
Why ask it
The second clause matters: it separates explaining from persuading. A low score calls for reasons to be shared, which is quick. It does not call for more consultation, which is a different and slower fix.
When something goes wrong here, we focus on fixing it more than on finding someone to blame.
Why ask it
Read this one team by team, because it reflects how each manager reacts on a bad day. One low team among high ones is a coaching matter for that manager. Low everywhere is a habit that starts at the top.
I can disagree with someone senior to me without it counting against me.
Why ask it
The survey version of the speaking-up questions. Look at how many people skipped it or chose the neutral middle. On this item a pile of neutral answers can mean people did not trust the survey enough to disagree.
Good work here gets noticed, whoever does it.
Why ask it
Compare this one by role, shift and location before you read the average. If office staff agree and field, night or remote staff do not, good work is being appreciated only where leaders can see it, and the fix is about visibility.
I feel like I belong here.
Why ask it
One overall number hides the answer. Where groups are large enough that nobody can be identified, compare by tenure, location and the demographic groups your organization already tracks. Ask your own HR or legal contact how that data may be collected and reported where you are.
People here treat each other with respect, including when they disagree.
Why ask it
Expect this to score higher than most items, so the result to look for is one team sitting well below the rest. The clause about disagreement stops people answering only for the calm days. If comments beside it describe shouting or humiliation, do not wait for the report: take them to whoever handles conduct where you work.
People here are treated fairly regardless of who they are or who they know.
Why ask it
'Who they know' catches favoritism, which staff tend to feel before leaders see it. A low score needs a focus group to ask the next question: fair in what? Pay, promotion, schedules and discipline each lead to a different fix.
My workload lets me do good work without wearing myself out.
Why ask it
Disagreement concentrated in one team is a staffing question for that team. Disagreement everywhere is about what the company treats as normal, and a wellness perk does not answer it.
I would recommend this company to a friend as a place to work.
Why ask it
Keep the wording identical every round, because this is the number leaders will ask to see as a trend. It cannot explain itself, so place the written question about what they would tell a friend directly after it.
I believe something will change as a result of this survey.
Why ask it
Include it every time. A low score helps explain a poor response rate and guarded answers elsewhere. It is also the one result that depends entirely on what you did after the previous round.
Open-ended
What three words would you use to describe what it is like to work here?
Why ask it
Quick to answer and easy to tally into a word list. Set the result beside the three words leadership would pick and look at the distance. Treat 'family' with care: it can mean warmth or it can mean no boundaries, and only the other comments will tell you which.
What would you tell a close friend who was thinking of applying here?
Why ask it
Place it straight after the recommend item so the score comes with reasons. The honest version usually contains a 'but', and the buts are the report: 'great people, but do not expect a raise'. Advice to pick a certain team or avoid one is worth tallying separately.
What is the one thing about how we work that you would never want us to lose?
Why ask it
Culture surveys lean toward problems, and this is the list of what to protect. Companies going through growth, a reorganization or a change in where people work can lose these things by accident. Put the top answers in front of leaders before the next big change is designed.
If you could change one thing about the culture here, what would it be?
Why ask it
Group the replies into themes, and the three largest are the outline of your action plan. A one-word reply such as 'communication' needs unpacking in a focus group: about what, from whom, and how late. Read the answers that fit no theme as well, since a rare problem can still be a serious one.
What is one thing senior leaders could do in the next three months that would make this a better place to work?
Why ask it
The time limit keeps answers practical. Requests are often small and visible, like visiting a site or taking unscripted questions. Do one of them publicly and say that it came from this survey.
What makes you proud to work here, and what makes you wince?
Why ask it
Given both halves in one box, people write about the one they feel more strongly, which is information in itself. The wince answers are usually concrete: how a departure was handled, how a customer was treated. They make strong quotes for the report once identifying detail is removed.
What is the hardest thing for a new person to figure out about how things work here?
Why ask it
This collects the unwritten rules. Harmless ones go into onboarding. The ones to worry about contradict the written rules, such as flexible hours in the handbook and an expectation to be at your desk by nine.
What did we not ask about that affects what it is like to work here?
Why ask it
Put it second to last. Pay, tools and a particular site or leader are the kinds of subject that surface here, often because the survey steered around them. Report these as a theme of their own, so the people who wrote them can see the gap was noticed.
What would make you believe this feedback was taken seriously?
Why ask it
End on it. The replies describe the follow-up people are waiting for, whether a summary shared with everyone, one visible change, or a leader naming the hardest finding aloud. It is the cheapest instruction you will get, so follow it.
How to run a culture survey, focus group or one-on-one
Practical guidance for the conversation itself
Before you ask
Pick the format for what you need to learn
A survey tells you how widespread a view is and lets you compare teams and track change, so it suits the Rating items and two or three Open-ended questions. A focus group shows how people talk about the culture with each other and is good for Values and Day to day. One-on-ones are where the hardest questions under Decisions and Speaking up get honest answers. If you have time for more than one format, run the survey first and use the conversations to ask about its lowest and most divided scores.
Choose who does the asking
People tell their own manager what is safe to tell their own manager. For culture questions the asker should sit outside the person's reporting line: HR, a manager from another department, or an outside facilitator. A founder asking in person will hear a politer version than anyone else would, so founders are better off reading the themes afterward.
Say exactly who will see what
Before the first question, tell people whether answers are anonymous or only confidential, who reads the raw comments, and how small a group you will report on. Do not call a survey anonymous if a team of three can be broken out by tenure. Rules on employee data, and on what an employer must do with certain disclosures, differ by country, state and organization, so ask your own HR or legal contact how it works where you are before you promise anything.
Agree beforehand what leaders are willing to change
Asking about pay, workload or a senior person's conduct and then doing nothing leaves people more cynical than not asking. Sit down with the leadership team first and find out what is on the table. Leave out questions about anything that is not, or say plainly that it is being asked for understanding only.
Cut the list down
This page is a menu. A forty-five minute one-on-one has room for perhaps six to eight questions once follow-ups are counted. For a survey, a dozen statements to rate and two or three boxes to write in is about as much as people will finish with care. Take at least one from each group so that no part of the culture goes unasked.
In the room
Open with Values and work toward the harder groups
Describing the culture in their own words costs people nothing and gets them talking. Decisions and Speaking up ask for stories that could embarrass someone, so they belong in the middle, once you have shown you are listening and not arguing. Finish with Day to day or an Open-ended question so the session ends on something people can answer freely.
Ask about last week, not about the culture
Asked whether the culture is open, most people give a verdict, and a polite one. Asked what happened the last time someone told a director they were wrong, they describe an afternoon. Most conversation questions on this page are already worded around an event. When an answer still comes back as a generality, ask when it last happened and what followed.
In a group, have people write before they speak
The first person to answer a focus group question tends to set the answer for everyone else. Hand out cards, give a minute to write, then collect them or go around the table. You get the quiet people's views, and you can see how far the spoken discussion drifts from what was written.
Do not defend the company
The moment the asker explains why a decision was made or why a complaint is unfair, the session is over in all but name. Ask what it was like from their side and write the answer down as given. Corrections of fact can wait for the report back.
Know what you would have to act on
A question about tolerated behavior or about being nervous to speak can bring out an account of harassment, a safety breach or something unlawful. You may not be free to keep that to yourself. Check your organization's policy and the rules that apply where you are before the first session, and tell people at the start what you could not keep confidential.
Reading the answers
Compare groups before you average
A company-wide score of 'mostly agree' can be one content head office and one unhappy warehouse. Break rating items out by team, site, tenure and level wherever the groups are large enough to keep individuals hidden. The gaps between groups are usually the finding.
Set leaders' answers beside everyone else's
Have the leadership team answer the same rating items, separately. Where they score an item well above their staff, such as leaders acting on the values or decisions being explained, you have found a place where the people in charge believe something the rest do not.
Read every score with its comments
A number says how many; it never says why. Pair each rating item with the conversation question from the matching group, and quote two or three comments under each result when you report it. Remove job titles, dates and turns of phrase that would point to one person.
Be careful with 'everything is fine'
Uniformly high scores, short answers and no examples can mean a healthy culture or a cautious one. Check the item about disagreeing with someone senior, the item about believing anything will change, and the response rate. If those are low, the rosy results elsewhere are partly politeness.
After you ask
Report back fast, including the uncomfortable part
Share the main themes with everyone who took part within a few weeks, in plain words, and include at least one finding leadership did not enjoy reading. People recognize their own answers, and seeing the hard ones repeated back is what tells them the exercise was real.
Choose two or three things and name an owner
A list of fifteen actions is a list nobody will finish. Pick the few that came up most, give each to a named leader with a date, and say what you are not going to tackle this time and why.
Refuse to identify anyone
Sooner or later a leader reads a sharp comment and asks who wrote it. Settle the answer with the leadership team before the results exist: nobody will be identified, and nobody will be asked to guess. Word of a single attempt travels, and the next round's answers will be careful and short.
Ask again with the same wording
Keep the rating items word for word from one round to the next so the scores can be compared, and change the conversation questions to follow up on what you learned. How often to repeat it depends on your size and how much is changing. Whatever the rhythm, do not run the next round until you have reported on the last.