bevdkbdf.formester.com/f/34f954f4-ff08-462d-81c9-562a1fc28f6c

Employee Favorites Questionnaire

The manager who remembers an employee's favorite coffee gets a different relationship than the one who doesn't. Scale that across 50 people on a distributed team and the math gets impossible without a system. This questionnaire is the system. Capture the recognition + gifting + team-building data once, store it in one place, and the next birthday, work anniversary, or 'thanks for stepping up' moment writes itself. Twenty-plus question categories cover the obvious (favorite snack, favorite coffee, favorite restaurant for lunch) and the less-obvious that actually matter for thoughtful recognition (preferred recognition style: public vs private, gift-card vs handwritten note vs paid lunch out, favorite charity for donation-in-lieu, hobby they wish they had time for). Run it on the new-hire welcome flow, once a year as a refresh, or whenever the team's composition shifts. Customize the questions in the drag-and-drop builder, share the form through a team-wide link, and export the responses to a shared HR dashboard so the data is one-click-away when you need it.

Questionnaire

About this template

An employee favorites questionnaire is the structured way to collect each team member's personal preferences (food, drink, hobbies, gift styles, recognition preferences) so that recognition, gifting, team-building, and welcome moments feel personal rather than generic. It replaces the 'I'll just guess' pattern that means everyone gets the same generic gift card on their work anniversary.

The Formester template covers 20+ question categories across food and drink, entertainment (books, podcasts, shows), hobbies and interests, gift preferences (gift-card vs experience vs handwritten note vs donation), work-style preferences (recognition style, morning vs afternoon work, snacks at desk vs at the kitchen), and celebration preferences (cake vs no-cake birthday, public Slack shoutout vs private DM). Customize the question set for your team's culture and run it whenever new people join.

Creating an employee favorites form with Formester’s Form Builder is quick and easy. You can add questions about favorite foods, movies, hobbies, travel destinations, and even pet preferences. This allows you to understand what makes your employees unique and shows them that you care about their interests.

The conditional logic feature allows the form to ask follow-up questions based on previous answers, such as asking for more details about a favorite vacation spot or a favorite book. This ensures that the questionnaire is personalized and gives you valuable insights.

Once your employees fill out the form, you can export the responses into PDFs to analyze the data or share it with HR or management for team-building purposes. If needed, you can also add e-signatures for verification or agreement on participation.

By using this form, you show your employees that their preferences matter, leading to a more connected and motivated team. Start building your Employee Favorites Questionnaire today with Free Form Templates!

Question categories (20+ covered)

Every category, what it asks, why it matters. Customize for your team's culture in the builder.

  • Food + drink Multiple fields

    Favorite coffee order, tea, soda, juice, savory snack, sweet snack, restaurant for team lunches.

  • Dietary restrictions and preferences Multi-select + Long text

    Vegan, kosher, halal, dairy-free, gluten-free. Allergies. Anything else the team should know.

  • Entertainment Short text x 4

    Favorite book in the last year, favorite podcast, favorite show or movie, favorite music genre.

  • Hobbies + interests Long text + Multi-select

    Hobbies outside work, sports they play or follow, skill they're learning, skill they wish they had time to learn.

  • Gift preferences Radio + Short text

    Gift card / experience / handwritten note / donation in their name. Favorite gift-card retailer or charity.

  • Open to surprises Radio

    Loves a surprise / Prefers to choose / Depends. Respects the boundaries some folks have around surprise gifts.

  • Recognition style Radio

    Public Slack shoutout / private DM / no public recognition. Default to private if the employee doesn't specify.

  • Birthday preferences Radio

    Cake + celebration / low-key / prefer not at all. Some folks genuinely dislike birthday attention; honor it.

  • Work anniversary preferences Radio

    Acknowledgment / prefers not. Aligned with birthday preferences but captured separately.

  • Feedback preferences Radio

    Verbal + immediate / written + in 1:1 / Slack DM. How the employee likes to receive feedback.

  • Work-style preferences Multi-select

    Morning vs afternoon energy, prefers structured 1:1s vs ad-hoc, meetings vs async, snacks at desk.

  • Remote-work setup needs Long text

    Favorite remote coffee shop, home-office needs (monitor, chair, peripherals), preferred timezone for meetings.

Employee favorites questionnaire FAQ

Common questions from HR managers, people-ops teams, and managers running recognition programs.

How often should employees update their favorites?
Once a year is the standard cadence. Tastes change, dietary preferences shift, the favorite restaurant closes. Some teams update quarterly as a low-touch pulse alongside engagement surveys.
Should the questionnaire be anonymous or named?
Named, with the employee's name as a required field. The whole point is to tie preferences to individuals so recognition is personal.
Can I keep some answers private from my manager?
Yes. Set up the form so specific fields (recognition style, feedback preferences) are accessible only to HR, not the direct manager. Configure access in form settings.
Is the data GDPR / CCPA compliant?
Formester is GDPR and CCPA compliant. The data is stored encrypted, with retention controls. Add a consent checkbox at the top of the form referencing the company's privacy notice.
Can the questionnaire integrate with our HR system?
Yes. Use Formester's native integrations or Zapier to push responses into the employee's HR profile in Workday, BambooHR, Rippling, or similar.
How do we use the data without it being weird?
Use it the way a thoughtful manager who has known the person for five years would. Reference favorite coffee on a hard day. Send favorite snack when they ship a big project.
Can the questionnaire trigger automatic gift orders or recognition?
Yes when paired with a gifting service. Caroo, Snappy, Goody, Sendoso connect to form data and trigger gift sends based on triggers like birthday or anniversary.
How do we handle employees who don't want to share preferences?
Make most fields optional. Some employees prefer to keep work and personal life separate; that's their right. The form captures what they choose to share.
Should we share team-wide favorites with the team?
Optional. Some teams publish a team-favorites page on the internal wiki to build connection. Other teams keep it manager-and-HR-only.
Can the questionnaire ask about remote-work preferences?
Yes. Add a 'work setup' section: favorite remote coffee shop, home-office needs, favorite background music for deep work, preferred meeting timezone.