tl;dr
AI is changing HR by automating tasks, improving efficiency, and providing data-driven insights. It helps with hiring, employee engagement, predictions, and personalized support. However, AI cannot replace human qualities like empathy, ethical judgment, and leadership. HR professionals are still needed for decision-making, conflict resolution, and shaping company culture. Rather than replacing HR, AI serves as a tool that supports HR professionals in their roles.
Introduction
Employee engagement surveys are one of the most effective ways to understand how people feel at work. But to get meaningful results, you need strong participation. A well-designed survey loses its value if only a fraction of employees respond. That’s why increasing response rates isn’t just a technical task—it’s a strategic one.
Participation tells you how much employees trust the process, believe their input matters, and feel safe enough to share. A low response rate can point to disengagement, skepticism, or survey fatigue. On the other hand, a high response rate signals a culture of openness and collaboration. Getting there takes more than just sending a reminder email. It takes intentional planning, the right tools, and a clear message from leadership all the way to the front line.
Here’s how to increase response rates and build a strong feedback culture in your organization:
1. Executive push: Make it personal, not corporate
Participation starts at the top. When the CEO, board members, or other senior leaders speak directly to employees about the survey, it sets the tone and shows that the feedback truly matters.
Instead of a standard announcement, consider sharing a short video or message where leadership explains why the survey is happening and how the results will be used. Avoid corporate language - focus on people. “We want to understand what’s working for you and what needs to improve,” sends a much stronger message than, “We are conducting our annual engagement survey.”
To help the message land, it should come from multiple sources—like senior leaders, HR, and direct managers—and be shared across different channels such as email, intranet, or team meetings. Repetition from trusted voices makes it more likely people will take it seriously. When leaders show that they’re genuinely listening, employees are more likely to speak up.
2. Manager accountability: Local action matters
While executive support is essential, most employees engage with their managers—not the CEO. That’s why middle managers are often the deciding factor when it comes to survey participation.Giving managers real-time visibility into their team’s response rate helps build a sense of ownership without turning it into a performance metric. In some cases, it can be included as a soft KPI—meant to promote engagement, not create pressure.
Some organizations, for example, set a minimum engagement score each manager is expected to meet. This raises the visibility of engagement as a business priority and encourages more proactive involvement.
But visibility alone often isn’t enough. HR should also keep an eye on participation trends and give managers a nudge when needed, especially if a team is falling behind. Framing it as: “We can’t support your team unless we hear from them,” helps clarify the purpose.
To make things easier, offer templates or suggested talking points they can use to personally encourage their teams. Often, a brief reminder from someone they trust is enough to get people to take part.
3. Visibility and internal communication
Marketing matters—even internally. Create a mini campaign around the survey to give it visibility and a sense of occasion. Use posters, screensavers, intranet banners, or even creative touches like stickers.
Avoid survey titles like “Engagement survey 2025.” Instead, use something engaging and localized like “Your voice week” or “Be the change” to give it meaning. Add countdowns, leaderboards, or team-level shoutouts—“Team London is at 75%! Can Milan catch up?”—to create light, friendly competition. A little creativity can help capture attention and increase participation.
4. Mobile-first and simplicity
In cases where your workforce includes on-site or field-based teams, it’s important to offer mobile-optimized surveys that are easy to access. Use QR codes on posters, SMS invitations, or even personal outreach through team leads.
Just as important: focus on shorter versions of surveys for teams or departments experiencing low response rates. While deep-dive surveys provide valuable insights, their length can make participation more difficult, especially for employees with limited time.
If you're facing low response rates, pairing these longer surveys with shorter pulse surveys—usually just 2–3 minutes long—can be a game-changer. These quick check-ins are easier to complete and often see higher response rates, helping to improve engagement where it's most needed.
For teams that already have strong participation, the deeper, longer surveys should remain the primary tool, but for others, the shorter versions can be a more effective way to boost participation.
5. Feedback loop: Close the loop, build trust
Survey fatigue doesn’t come from too many surveys—it comes from feeling like nothing happens after. If employees don’t see the impact of their input, they’re less likely to participate next time.
Even if large changes take time, sharing a simple summary—“Here’s what you told us, and here’s what we’re doing about it”—builds trust. Highlighting even small actions or early steps can go a long way.
And if some feedback can’t be acted on right away, it’s still worth acknowledging. Explaining why shows transparency and keeps the door open for future improvements.
When people see that feedback leads to real outcomes—or at least honest conversations—they’re more likely to stay engaged.
6. Incentives: Make it feel appreciated
Even when communication is clear and leadership is supportive, participation isn’t always guaranteed. People are busy, distracted, or simply unsure whether their input will make a difference. That’s where thoughtful incentives can help. Incentives don’t have to be expensive or elaborate - a little appreciation can go a long way. Incentives can be divided into three categories based on the budget available:
No budget:
- Personalized recognition: A thank-you note from a manager or public acknowledgment.
- Leaderboard: Display top-performing teams or departments to encourage friendly competition.
Minimal budget:
- Team competitions: Reward the highest participating team with small perks like coffee, pastries, or early leave on a Friday.
- Lottery: Enter all participants into a lottery to win a prize like a lunch voucher, a day off, or a small gift.
Larger budget:
- Grand lottery: Offer a more significant lottery to those selected from the poll of participants with prizes such as gift cards, a cash prize, a weekend trip, a new TV, several days off, tech gadgets, event tickets etc.
- Charity donation: For every survey completed, a fixed amount could be donated to a specific charity, engaging employees by allowing them to feel part of a greater cause.
The goal isn’t to bribe participation—it’s to signal that taking the time to share feedback is recognized and appreciated.
The importance of a control system
When you're actively boosting participation—especially through reminders and incentives—there’s always a small risk: some employees might rush through the survey just to “get it over with.” While well-intentioned efforts drive engagement, they can also lead to rushed or low-effort responses that skew the data.
That’s why it’s important to have a control system in place. A good system can flag inconsistent or careless answers, helping you separate meaningful input from noise. It ensures that high participation doesn’t come at the cost of insight quality.
Want to learn more? read our blog on why having a control system is essential for reliable survey results.
Conclusion
Increasing your employee survey response rate is about more than numbers—it’s about building a culture of ongoing feedback.
With the right support from leadership, involvement from managers, clear communication, easy access, and visible follow-up, employees are more likely to engage. And when more people take part, the insights are deeper—and the path to improvement becomes much clearer.
Want to create a feedback culture where employees feel heard and engaged? Continue reading our blogs to learn more—or contact us to see how Luppa can help you drive participation, track sentiment, and turn insights into action.