How Many Survey Reminders Are Too Many? WorkBuzz Data Reveals the Optimal Number

Employee engagement surveys are one of the most powerful tools leaders have to understand what’s really going on inside their organisations. But here’s the challenge: getting people to actually complete them.

So how many reminder emails should you send before you risk damaging trust, or your response rate?

At WorkBuzz, we’ve analyzed participation data from employee engagement surveys across a broad range of industries, from retail and manufacturing to finance and healthcare, to find the sweet spot where reminders boost participation without becoming background noise.

What the Data Shows

Each survey we studied sent between 5 and 12 emails: the initial invite, followed by a series of reminders to non-responders. We tracked the total number of completions and mapped when those responses came in, relative to each message sent.

Here’s what stood out:

By the 3rd reminder, more than 83% of the survey’s total respondents had already completed it.
By the 5th, over 90% had responded.
By the 6th, nearly all surveys had reached or exceeded the 95% completion mark.
After that? Diminishing returns. Most surveys saw less than a 1% increase in responses, even with multiple additional emails.

In short: after six reminders, you’ve almost certainly captured the bulk of willing participants. Anything beyond that is just noise.

Why This Matters

Email fatigue is real. Daily reminders, in particular, are more likely to annoy than activate.
Perception matters. Employees who feel pestered may be less likely to engage in future campaigns.
Your internal comms lose impact. If inboxes feel overwhelmed, even the most important messages may be ignored.

Our New Best Practice: A 6-Reminder Cap

Based on this evidence, we’re introducing a cap of six reminders per campaign (plus the original invitation).

Why? Because it works. This approach consistently delivers over 90% of total responses, without overwhelming your people.

We also recommend:

Thoughtful spacing. Avoid sending reminders too close together—give people breathing room.
Targeted messaging. Only email non-responders. Most systems, including ours, support this automatically.
Time-boxed campaigns. Close the survey soon after the final reminder to give a clear, respectful endpoint.

Final Thoughts