USQ employee engagement surveys
Every organisation needs to employ people who genuinely enjoy their work - those people who not only 'can do' the work required, but actually WANT to do it! Job satisfaction and engagement are integral to individual and organisational success. Engagement is the emotional and intellectual commitment a person brings to an organisation or activity.
‘Climate’ (or ‘engagement’) surveys can be defined as assessing employees’ perceptions of, and satisfaction with, general management practices such as leadership, communication, career development, remuneration and benefits etc, and are a useful tool in measuring the emotional connection that an employee feels for their organisation, that influences him or her to exert greater discretionary effort to their work.
To help understand the health of the University from the perspective of all employees, USQ has committed to conducting regular employee engagement and climate surveys. It provides a valuable channel for "bottom-up" communication for employees, and will help management diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of USQ and its various Faculties and Sections.
Objectives
The objectives of USQ Engagement Surveys are to:
- Obtain feedback on the views of management and staff across the University on areas such as: leadership, teamwork, communication and cooperation, issues that affect job satisfaction, general overall effectiveness etc,
- Establish data “benchmarks” so that the University is be able to compare how it is tracking over time both internally and externally, and
- Identify ways to improve the working environment for all employees.
Desired outcomes
Desired outcomes from USQ Engagement Surveys include:
- Providing insight into management practices, showing strengths, weaknesses and key drivers of organisational outcomes
- Providing scientific discipline to topics that are often misreported on such as generational differences, work/life balance and culture-fit
- Better understanding staff opinions
- Benchmarking against external organisations
- Highlighting key issues and initiatives for improved corporate, work unit and individual satisfaction of University staff, and
- Developing, implementing and monitoring action plans for Faculties/Sections
USQ surveys and results - 2006 and 2010
In July and August 2006, the University conducted its first comprehensive Employee Climate Survey. A range of information relating to results and initiatives from the 2006 survey is available.
In 2010, USQ will be conducting its next survey - the U Count! 2010 employee engagement survey.
All survey results focus on corporate level and work area (ie Faculty or Section) results as opposed to individuals, with a range of measures in place to ensure the confidentiality and anonymity of all employees who complete the survey.
All survey responses are sent directly to the Voice Project at Macquarie University and are collated and analysed by their professional team to produce results that will be distributed to all employees across USQ. Sample results from USQ's 2006 survey are available to assist employees in understanding what the results look like and the level of detail the results are focused on.
Who can you talk to if you want to find out more?
The Workforce Strategy team in Human Resources can assist you if you have any questions that relating to the engagement surveys.