2025 Employee Burnout Survey - 35 Example Questions

Employee burnout is a critical challenge that can affect organizations of any size or industry. A well-designed burnout survey helps HR teams and leaders assess staff fatigue and work stress before productivity and morale decline.

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By gathering candid feedback on workplace pressures, companies can identify burnout drivers and implement targeted solutions to improve well-being.

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To encourage honest responses, surveys should be confidential or anonymous, since anonymous feedback often highlights problem areas more openly.

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The template below is organized by key burnout drivers (e.g. workload, recognition, support) and is applicable across various industries.

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Employee Burnout Survey Questionnaire

Unless specified, items are rated on a 5-point Likert scale (e.g. 1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree or Never to Always frequency). Ensure respondents know their answers will be confidential (or anonymous) to promote honesty. Also, consider including a mix of statement ratings, multiple-choice questions, and one or two open-ended questions for detail.

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This example survey is structured into sections addressing common burnout drivers:

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Workload & Time Pressure

Excessive work and time pressure are top causes of employee burnout. These questions gauge if employees feel overloaded or constantly pressed for time.

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• Reasonable Workload: “I feel my workload is manageable within my normal working hours.”
  
  
• Overtime Frequency: “How often do you work past your scheduled hours to meet demands?” (Never/Rarely/Sometimes/Often/Always)
  
  
• Time to Complete Tasks: “I have enough time to complete my tasks without feeling rushed.”
  
  
• Deadline Pressure: “My deadlines are reasonable and achievable.”
  
  

Recognition & Reward

Research shows that a lack of recognition and rewards is strongly correlated with burnout. Employees are more likely to feel burnt out when they feel undervalued. These questions assess whether employees feel seen and rewarded, which is crucial for preventing burnout.

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• Appreciation: “I feel recognized and appreciated for the work I do.”
  
  
• Feedback: “My contributions are acknowledged by my manager or team.”
  
  
• Fair Rewards: “I am satisfied with the rewards or recognition (e.g. praise, bonuses) for my efforts.”
  
  
• Preferred Recognition (Multiple Choice): “What type of recognition is most meaningful to you?” (e.g. public praise, private thanks, opportunities, financial rewards)

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Management Support

Lack of support or poor communication from managers is a major driver of burnout. If employees don’t feel supported by leadership, stress can build quickly. These questions reveal whether managerial practices might be contributing to burnout.

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• Supervisor Support: “I feel supported by my immediate manager when I’m under stress.”
  
  
• Open Communication: “I can approach my manager with work problems or concerns.”
  
  
• Fair Expectations: “My manager sets fair expectations and realistic deadlines for our team.”
  
  
• Resources from Management: “Management provides the necessary resources and guidance for me to do my job well.”

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Role Clarity & Expectations

Role conflict and ambiguity (unclear expectations) can lead to frustration and burnout. High role ambiguity is linked to greater emotional exhaustion and lower sense of accomplishment. These items check if employees feel their role is well-defined and within their control.

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• Clear Responsibilities: “I have clarity on what my job responsibilities and priorities are.”
  
  
• Avoiding Conflict: “I rarely receive conflicting instructions or priorities from different leaders.”
  
  
• Fit and Skills: “My skills and talents are well-utilized in my role.”
  
  
• Control Over Work: “I have adequate control over how I carry out my work tasks.”
  
  

Emotional Exhaustion

Emotional exhaustion–feeling overextended and depleted–is the core dimension of burnout. These questions measure the frequency of fatigue and loss of energy, which signal whether employees are approaching burnout.

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• End-of-Day Exhaustion: “I often feel emotionally drained at the end of the workday.”
  
  
• Starting the Day: “I feel refreshed (not exhausted) when I start my workday.” (Likert scale, reverse-coded)
  
  
• Frequent Fatigue: “How often do you feel too tired to engage at work?” (Never/Rarely/Sometimes/Often/Always)
  
  
• Enthusiasm Loss: “It’s hard for me to stay enthusiastic about my work lately.”

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Cynicism & Detachment

Burnout often leads to depersonalization or cynicism–a detached, negative attitude toward work. These items assess whether employees are emotionally distancing themselves from work or colleagues, which can harm team morale and indicate advanced burnout.

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• Sense of Purpose: “I still find meaning and purpose in my work.” (Likert agreement)
  
  
• Cynical Attitude: “Lately, I’ve become more cynical about the importance of my job.”
  
  
• Detachment: “I feel detached or disconnected from the organization’s mission or my team.”
  
  
• Social Withdrawal: “I have been withdrawing from colleagues or team interactions.”

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Personal Accomplishment & Fulfillment

A reduced sense of personal accomplishment is another hallmark of burnout. If employees no longer feel effective or proud of their work, it can indicate burnout. These questions check whether people still feel fulfilled and successful in their roles.

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• Feeling Effective: “I feel a sense of personal accomplishment in my work.”
  
  
• Proud of Work: “I am proud of the work I do for this organization.”
  
  
• Progress: “I feel that my work makes a positive difference (for the team, company, or clients).”
  
  
• Growth Satisfaction: “I am satisfied with my professional growth and development here.”
  
  

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Remote/Hybrid Work Challenges (if applicable)

Remote and hybrid work can introduce unique burnout risks, such as isolation or blurred work-life boundaries. These questions help identify if the remote work setup is contributing to stress (e.g. feeling “always on” or disconnected from coworkers).

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• Isolation: “When working remotely, I feel isolated from my team.”
  
  
• Work-Life Boundaries: “Working from home makes it hard to unplug at the end of the day.”
  
  
• Remote Support: “I have the communication tools and support I need to do my job remotely.”
  
  
• Hybrid Balance: “Our hybrid work arrangements balance well between remote and in-office demands.”
  
  

Additional Open-Ended Feedback

Open-ended questions let employees elaborate on issues or suggest solutions in their own words. This can uncover root causes or ideas that rating-scale questions might miss. Ensure anonymity so employees feel safe to speak freely about sensitive topics.

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• Stressors: “What is the biggest source of stress in your work life right now?”
  
  
• Support Suggestions: “What could the company do to better support you and prevent burnout?”
  
  
• Other Comments: “Any additional comments or suggestions regarding your workload, well-being, or burnout?”
  
  

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Widely Accepted Burnout Frameworks and Insights

Understanding established burnout frameworks can guide how you design survey questions and interpret results:

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Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI)

The MBI is a gold-standard research tool that measures burnout across three dimensions: Emotional Exhaustion, Depersonalization, and Reduced Personal Accomplishment.

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For example, it reveals if an employee is emotionally overextended (exhaustion), has developed a cynical, impersonal attitude toward work (depersonalization), or feels ineffective in their role (low accomplishment). High scores in Exhaustion and Depersonalization, coupled with low Accomplishment, indicate a high level of burnout.

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The MBI’s insights help organizations pinpoint which aspect of burnout is most pronounced–fatigue, cynicism, or diminished efficacy–so they can tailor interventions (e.g. workload adjustments, mentoring, recognition programs).

Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI)

The CBI is a 19-item survey that breaks burnout into three domains: Personal burnout, Work-related burnout, and Client-related burnout. This framework provides insight into the source of burnout.

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For instance, high personal burnout scores reflect an individual’s overall physical and emotional fatigue (whether work-related or not), while high work-related burnout points to fatigue specifically caused by work factors (workload, work environment). Client-related burnout applies to roles serving customers or patients, measuring exhaustion tied to client interactions.

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Using the CBI can show whether burnout is primarily due to general overwork, workplace issues, or intensive client demands, helping leaders target the right area (e.g. improving job design vs. giving client-facing teams more support).

Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI)

Another widely used tool, the OLBI is a 16-item survey covering two core aspects: Exhaustion (physical, cognitive, and emotional) and Disengagement (distancing oneself from work).

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Unlike the MBI, it doesn’t focus on personal accomplishment, but it mixes positively and negatively worded items to assess how drained employees feel and how detached they’ve become. A high exhaustion score combined with high disengagement is a red flag for burnout. 

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The OLBI’s focus on energy and engagement provides quick insight into overall burnout levels. For example, an employee might report feeling used-up every day and no longer interested in their work, signaling a need for immediate intervention.

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Implementing the Survey with PerformYard

PerformYard’s HR platform includes an employee engagement survey tool that can be leveraged to run your burnout survey. To implement, you can input the above questions into PerformYard’s survey module, either by using their out-of-the-box engagement survey template or by creating a custom survey.

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PerformYard supports various question types (Likert scale, multiple-choice, open text), so you can replicate the template structure easily. Be sure to enable the anonymous response option within PerformYard when configuring the survey, so employees feel safe to provide honest feedback.

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PerformYard’s engagement toolkit even comes with validated question sets, dashboards, and cohort filtering to help you get started quickly.

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Once your survey is set up, use PerformYard to distribute it to all employees (or a target group) via email links or the platform’s portal, making it clear that responses are confidential. The platform will automatically collect responses and provide real-time analytics.

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Finally, leverage PerformYard’s built-in reports to identify trends. For example, you can filter results by department or tenure to spot if certain groups are at higher risk of burnout.

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After the survey, share a high-level summary of findings with leadership and employees, along with an action plan.

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Using a dedicated system like PerformYard ensures the process is smooth – from design and deployment to analysis – so your organization can act on the feedback and proactively reduce employee burnout.

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