An interesting blog by Andy Leonard today on job satisfaction got me thinking.  A couple of months ago, I researched an interesting poll that Gallup uses to determine "employee engagement", which they call the Q12 Survey.  There are basically twelve questions they ask to gauge employee job satisfaction.  They are:

1. I know what is expected of me at work
2. I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right
3. At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day
4. In the last seven days, I have received recognition or praise for doing good work
5. My supervisor or someone at work seems to care about me as a person
6. There is someone at work who encourages my development
7. At work, my opinions seem to count
8. The mission/purpose of my company makes me feel my job is important
9. My associates (fellow employees) are committed to doing quality work
10. I have a best friend at work
11. In the last six months, someone at work has talked to me about my progress
12. This last year, I have had opportunities at work to learn and grow

(Questions from "A Hard Look at Soft Numbers")

Gallup uses a proprietary formula, which assigns each question a weighted value to determine overall employee engagement and job satisfaction.  Even without the numeric values attached, the questions reveal a lot about an employee's level of engagement on the job.