Unlocking Employee Engagement Insights
Published on January 31, 2023.
Results from the 2023 Employee Engagement Survey are in! 74% of eligible employees responded to the survey last October and many are wondering – what’s next? This newsletter dives into fostering employee engagement within your team or department, whether or not you have a survey report.
During the last 10 years, employee engagement efforts from leaders like you have increased the percentage of faculty and staff who are engaged, while the number of frustrated employees is at an all-time low. The 2023 Executive Summary is now available and includes systemwide insights and a review of key trends from the past ten years.
Get Your Results
If five or more employees reporting to you responded to the survey, you received access to the survey results through the online dashboard. If fewer than five faculty or staff in your team or department completed the survey you cannot access the online dashboard.
That’s okay. Ask your leader for a higher-level report. Those insights are still valuable and include your team or department’s responses. Note that if you supervise students or temporary employees, the survey results do not represent their experiences. A survey is just one tool, but there are many ways to learn about your team’s engagement. The Employee Engagement Guide to Input discusses informal ways to learn about what drives your team’s employee engagement.
Pause and Reflect
When you receive the report, you may be tempted to discuss it with your team right away. While we appreciate your enthusiasm, resist the urge to move to action immediately. There is value in taking the time to reflect on the results before starting those important conversations. The results are a snapshot in time, but you know your team and their work environment. Your day-to-day work experience and the organizational culture provide context to the results:
- What changes has your team had recently?
- What changes are on the horizon, and how do they feel about them?
- What has your team accomplished, and what are they most proud of?
Reflecting on your team’s work climate gives the numbers meaning and guides you as you discuss the results and, eventually, act on them. For a full list of questions see The Interpreting Survey Results Guide.
Prepare for Discussion
Meaningful discussions often include input from a variety of people and that’s why it is critical to connect with your team and colleagues before making an action plan. The next step is to engage in a discussion about the results. This is not a problem-solving session but rather a meeting to gather feedback and collaborate with your team to identify the most important issues to address.
- Get specific - There are ten drivers for employee engagement, and tackling all of them is not realistic. Your goal during the discussion is to identify one to three areas to prioritize. If you gathered the feedback informally, prepare a summary for the meeting and see how the feedback you have received maps to those ten drivers.
- Set Meetings Expectations - Let everyone know that the discussion is not related to their performance and that you are not interested in figuring out who answered positively or negatively. Remind them that you won’t be making decisions or committing to any changes, even if they are within your control.
- Feedback - Critical comments about the workplace may feel personal. Understand what bothers you and go into the meeting with a clear goal of sharing the results and brainstorming which issues to address. This prior issue of Leadership Insights offers guidance on accepting feedback.
Employee engagement is complex, and can’t be resolved with a single meeting. You know your team best and it may be worth hosting informal 1:1s before or after the group meeting.
Resources and support
Once you’re ready for action, we have a library of Employee Engagement resources to support you at every stage. You can learn more about it from the online module, watch a quick video, or a longer webinar. All of the Supervisory Development Programs guides and videos are available in our content Library.
We are here to help. Connect with the Employee Engagement team to request a 30-minute consultation where you can discuss results and experiences managing your team. It’s a great way to get help interpreting your results and begin planning your next steps.