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The Q12®: The World's Leading Employee Engagement Survey

Gallup's engagement survey helps leaders drive clarity and high performance, even when the workplace evolves. When disruption leads to disengagement, burnout and turnover, the Q12 identifies and reinforces the core conditions high-performing teams need to thrive.

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Business Outcomes of Engagement

The Results of Using the Q12 Engagement Questions to Lead Teams

Gallup has studied over 3.3 million workers across 100,000+ teams to understand the effects of engagement on essential business metrics.

This research has examined teams in the top quartile of engagement, comparing their results to those in the bottom quartile. Gallup finds that highly engaged teams consistently outperform their peers in key business outcomes.

What highly engaged employees achieve more of:

10% higher customer loyalty/engagement

14% higher productivity (production records and evaluations)

18% higher productivity (sales)

23% higher profitability

70% higher wellbeing (net thriving employees)

22% higher organizational citizenship (participation)

What highly engaged employees achieve less of:

78% less absenteeism

21% less turnover for high-turnover organizations

51% less turnover for low-turnover organizations

28% less shrinkage (theft)

63% fewer safety incidents (accidents)

32% fewer quality defects

*The above figures are median percent differences across companies in Gallup's database. High-turnover organizations are those with more than 40% annualized turnover. Low-turnover organizations are those with 40% or lower annualized turnover.

The 12 Elements of Great Management

What Are the Gallup Q12 Questions?

The Q12 is much more than 12 employee engagement survey questions that are highly predictive of team performance. It's also an employee engagement tool that simplifies employee needs and guides managers and leaders to more effective coaching.

This Gallup survey measures four levels of employee needs, from basic clarity to personal growth. When these needs are met in sequence, they create a workplace where individuals and teams can thrive.

Each level builds on the last, creating a road map for managers to motivate and develop their teams.

Pyramid with Growth in at the top followed by Teamwork, Individual Contribution and Basic Needs at the base.
  1. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
  2. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress.
  3. I have a best friend at work.
  4. My associates or fellow employees are committed to doing quality work.
  5. The mission or purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important.
  6. At work, my opinions seem to count.
  7. There is someone at work who encourages my development.
  8. My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person.
  9. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work.
  10. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
  11. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right.
  12. I know what is expected of me at work.
  13. How satisfied are you with your company as a place to work?
Expand Your Survey

Q12+: The Next Step in Engagement Intelligence

Get Greater Predictive Clarity With the Q12+

To address today's evolving workplace, Gallup has added four employee survey questions that help leaders better understand respect, wellbeing, feedback and brand integrity.

Known as the Q12+, this expanded survey represents four employee needs that leaders in today's dynamic workplaces must understand and enhance.

13. At work, I am treated with respect.

14. My organization cares about my overall wellbeing.

15. I have received meaningful feedback in the last week.

16. My organization always delivers on the promise we make to customers.

Customize Your Survey to Meet Your Unique Circumstances

The 12 elements make up the core Q¹² survey. Gallup also offers more than 150 tested and validated items to supplement them. Other survey question topics include:

  • leadership
  • employee experience
  • culture
  • inclusion
  • remote work
  • and more
Design a Survey That Fits Your Teams
Questions You Can Count On

Each Q12 Survey Item Is:

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rigorously tested and scientifically validated

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proven to link to performance outcomes

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paired with actionable advice to guide managers

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extensively benchmarked for meaningful comparisons

Connect With an Engagement Expert
Begin Engaging Today

How to Get Started With an Engagement Survey

Four easy steps can start you on the journey to better engagement:

1
Partner with Gallup.
2
Deploy your survey.
3
Analyze the results.
4
Take action.
Launch Your Engagement Survey
Using Gallup Engagement Survey Data

Survey Insights You Can Customize and Apply Immediately

Sample of survey data broken up by department and scores color coded by value range.

Gallup gives you the power to tailor how you view and analyze your survey data. For instance:

  • Compare results to industry, competitor and top-quartile benchmarks.
  • Segment by role, region, team and more.
  • Equip managers with the data to guide real-world decisions.
Going Beyond The Survey

We Help You Turn Your Data Into Performance

Overview of score trend and results

Many engagement survey vendors provide measurement but no proven path to action. Gallup helps clients connect engagement to the actions that drive outcomes like productivity and profitability.

We equip you with:

  • Benchmark data from Gallup's proprietary employee engagement questions, comparing your results to top-performing organizations in your industry
  • Platform-driven guidance based on your survey results and decades of research into the most successful teams
  • Expert consultation to design and implement a high-impact engagement strategy
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Your Top Inquiries

Frequently Asked Questions

Gallup recommends that organizations invest in employee engagement surveys because they directly link to better business outcomes, including higher productivity, profitability and customer loyalty and lower turnover.

Tools like Gallup's Q12 survey help leaders measure what matters most: clear expectations, recognition, development and purpose. These insights enable targeted action, improve team performance and strengthen workplace culture, even in times of disruption. Engagement surveys are not just diagnostics; they're strategic tools for driving measurable, sustained success.

Gallup's Q12 survey is the industry standard for measuring employee engagement, backed by decades of research and used by leading organizations worldwide. These 12 questions are scientifically validated to reveal the core conditions employees need to succeed: clear expectations, the right resources, meaningful recognition, development opportunities and a strong sense of purpose.

The Q12 turns abstract concepts like engagement into measurable data leaders can act on and has been proven to link directly to performance, retention and profitability.

Yes. For starters, you can include the four additional questions that were created as part of the Q12+:

  • At work, I am treated with respect.
  • My organization cares about my overall wellbeing.
  • I have received meaningful feedback in the last week.
  • My organization always delivers on the promise we make to customers.

You can also ask additional questions from a bank of more than 150 other tested and validated questions. With a subscription to Gallup Access, you can create custom questions to ask in pulse surveys.

Administer surveys through Gallup Access, our online workplace platform.

It is best practice to make engagement a core part of a broader employee experience strategy, conducting an initial survey to create your benchmarks and then surveying every six months to ensure you are making progress toward your goals.

Gallup recommends that organizations drive higher employee participation in engagement surveys by fostering trust before the survey, setting clear expectations and showing that feedback leads to action. Leaders should actively endorse the survey process and explain its purpose, emphasizing how results will be used to improve the workplace.

Ensuring anonymity is critical to gathering honest input, and managers must be trained to discuss results with their teams. When employees see that their voices lead to real change, surveys become a trusted part of the organization's culture.

Yes. Visit our store for a one-time engagement survey, which is our recommended option for organizations with fewer than 100 employees.

If you have more than 100 employees, talk to a Gallup consultant to explore your engagement needs.

Still have questions?

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