Employee engagement surveys that go beyond the data.

In broad terms, the Trust Index™ Survey measures the level of trust in your organization and the consistency of the employee experience — how often employees can count on things like clear and honest leadership, fair treatment, and recognition in their workplace.

More specifically, it measures individual employee experiences across five focus areas of a high-trust culture through 60 statements and two open-ended questions. Three focus areas reflect the actions of leaders and how trust is built: credibility, respect, and fairness. The other two measure the workplace experience of employees in relation to their colleagues and the wider organization: pride and a sense of belonging.

These five focus areas create a culture where employees feel empowered to do their most meaningful work. High-trust cultures have been shown to outperform competitors in recruitment and retention, productivity and innovation, and financial performance.

Survey answers are assessed on a five-point scale, revealing the most common experience of employees across the organization. Individual scores are then averaged to produce an organization-wide assessment of workplace culture: the Trust Index™ score.

Employees answer 14 demographic questions and respond to 60 statements across a five-point consistency scale, as well as two open-ended questions. Employees generally take 10 to 20 minutes to complete the survey.

Yes, completely. We take our ethical obligation to survey takers very seriously. Employees can rest assured that their participation is completely confidential and voluntary. Survey responses come directly to Great Place To Work. Employers cannot see who has or has not completed the survey while it is live. Individual identifiers are removed once the survey closes.

For employers, company participation in the Certification program and all survey results are completely confidential. We do not disclose client names, information, or scores publicly until they are Great Place To Work Certified™.

Yes. Once your survey is closed, you will immediately receive an overview of your scores showing how your employee experience measures against our key evaluation areas and how you compare against Canada's Best Workplaces™ benchmarks.

This is exclusive benchmark data available only through the Great Place To Work survey platform. If you would like more in-depth reporting and benchmarking, contact our team to learn about upgrade options.

Yes. The Trust Index™ survey is available in over 70 languages — all available to use at no additional cost. This makes it especially valuable for Canadian organizations with bilingual or multilingual workforces.

The Trust Index™ Survey platform supports a wide range of feedback collection needs. You can gather insights from various groups across your organization — whether running engagement surveys, onboarding feedback, pulse checks, or other internal assessments. This flexibility allows you to include different types of workers depending on your goals, such as contractors, interns, or franchise employees in some contexts.

However, the criteria for Certification eligibility are more specific and must be followed closely. If you are unsure how to best capture feedback from various employee populations within your organization, our team is happy to guide you.

To be eligible for Certification, you must include all individuals who are legally employed by your company, paid directly by your company, and classified under one or more of the following at the time of survey launch:

• Employment status: All part-time and full-time employees
• Job roles: Including the CEO and all levels of staff
• Locations: All company locations
• Union status: Both union and non-union employees
• New hires: Including those from mergers or acquisitions
• Remote workers: Telecommuters and those working from home
• Employment type: Seasonal, casual/per diem employees, interns
• Age: Employees under 18, as permitted by local laws

Important: Failure to include any eligible group — whether intentionally or inadvertently — or failure to invite the required number of employees will result in disqualification from Certification and Best Workplaces™ list eligibility.

Do not include individuals who are not legally employed by your organization at the time of survey launch, such as:

• Contractors: Employed by another company or self-employed. These individuals should be surveyed by their legal employer.
• Furloughed employees: Temporarily not working and not expected to perform any duties during the furlough period.
• Franchise workers: Typically employed by the franchisee, not the franchisor. Only include them if they are legally employed by your company.

Your results can be benchmarked against our proprietary database — including the Best Workplaces™ in Canada list, industry lists, and organizations of comparable size. This context helps you understand not just where you stand, but what it would take to reach the next level.

Yes. The core Trust Index™ statements remain unchanged for Certification eligibility, but depending on your subscription tier you can add custom open-ended questions, demographic fields, and additional statements specific to your organization. Any additional statements not required for a specific Best Workplaces™ list will not impact your Certification result.