Human Resources Office of Guide to Employee Engagement Survey Data and Action Planning © 2013 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved

HumanResourcesOffice of

Guide to Employee Engagement Survey Data and Action Planning

© 2013 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.


© 2013 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved.

NOTE: This is a large document with information to better understand 2014 E2 Employee Engagement Survey data and how to take action.

Parts of the deck can be adapted and used to share survey data.

This Guide is available online at Insight2Action (The Hay Group’s online tool) or the OHR E2 website. (umn.edu/ohr/training/e2)

More information and talking points are in the notes section.

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html



http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/index.html


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Guide Overview

• About employee engagement and E2

• Survey Data• Additional Question Detail • Next Steps: Action Planning & Implementation• Action Planning Resources• How to Use Insight2Action (I2A)• Tips for Sharing Progress


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• What sets great organizations apart? Dedication and commitment to collective excellence and wellbeing.

• Why is this important to the University? The degree to which employee engagement is present profoundly shapes the quality of experiences and outcomes in the workplace.• Recruiting, retaining, and developing top talent• Employee resilience and wellbeing • Collaboration and innovation• Sustaining a high-level of performance

What Engagement Research and Experience Tell Us

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The University’s Engagement Strategy

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• Goal: Support campuses, colleges, and departments/units address local workplace factors that support engagement and enable excellence in research, teaching, and service

• Developed: In consultation with deans, chancellors, vice-presidents, faculty and staff leaders, governance groups and a faculty advisory committee• Combines validated items from Hay Group and customized items

created by the E2 Faculty Advisory Committee• Aligned with U of M published research on drivers of research-

productive facilities (Bland, Weber-Main, Lund, & Finstad, 2005)

http://www1.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/research/index.html


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Survey Administration Summary

When October 13 – 31, 2014

WhatSeparate faculty and staff surveys 36 scored questions in each survey

Assess commitment and dedication plus effective environment

How Externally managed by Hay Group to ensure confidentiality

ParticipationAll benefits-eligible University of Minnesota faculty and staff

• 2,493 faculty responses (52% participation rate)

• 9,599 staff responses (68% participation rate)


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Engagement Process and Timeline

Action Plan

Survey (October)

Review & Share Results(January –March)

Refine Action Plans(February –April)

Implement Action Plans(April–January)

Measure & Share Progress(March–September)


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Employee Engagement Model


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The Three Most Important Things to Know About Employee Engagement

1. A survey alone does not create positive change. Only involving leaders, faculty, and staff in responding to survey results can create positive change in the work environment.

2. Share your results. Disengagement begins when people who take time to respond to a survey don’t hear their results from their leaders.

3. Take action. A few small, simple actions can have a large impact. Be certain to let faculty and staff know when actions were taken based on their survey feedback.


How to Understand Your Report

• This report presents survey results for your work group.

• The survey measures employees’ levels of engagement through the key metrics of commitment & dedication and effective environment. The survey also looks at ten other drivers of employee engagement.

• This guide has general guidelines. However, leaders need to use their understanding of their employees to verify the data against the context of their local environment.

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How to Understand Your Report, cont’d

• The report is divided into four sections:

• Dimension and Engagement Results

• Strengths and Opportunities

• Additional Question Detail

• Next Steps

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Absolute Scores

Comparisons With

Benchmarks

Strengths and Opportunities

Qualitative Information

Review Survey Results Using Multiple Lenses

Survey Data Context-Based Data


Benchmarks• 2014 Total University: results

across all campuses

• 2014 Total Campus: results for your campus only

• 2014 Total College/Unit: results for your college/unit or department only

• 2013 Same Unit Results: Results from your college/unit or department in 2013

Percentage Favorable Scale • Favorable: “Strongly Agree” + “Agree” and “Very Good” + “Good”• Neutral : “Neither Agree nor Disagree”• Unfavorable: “Strongly Disagree” + “Disagree” and “Very Poor” + “Poor”

Percentage Favorable Difference ScaleComparison to benchmarks are expressed as percentage-point differences in percentage favorable scores for the same year (2014): • “+” shows that your score is above the benchmark • “-” shows your score falls below the benchmark• Dashes (“—”) show a comparison is not possible

Survey Scales & Benchmarks

SAMPLE

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The question number from the survey

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Understanding Your Results

Quick Guide to Percent Favorable

Assessment Range

Strength >70% Favorable

Gather more information

<60 % Favorable

Action likely needed

>20% Unfavorable

• Review the percentage favorable bar chart using this quick guide to help assess and prioritize action.

• Consider the size of the group (“Valid N” column) in terms of the practical significance of the percentage favorable differences.

• Compare the proportion of neutral and unfavorable responses for more insight:

• A higher proportion of “neutral” than “unfavorable” can be an opportunity to shift employee opinion

• A higher percentage of “unfavorable” than “neutral” may indicate action is needed

SAMPLE


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Absolute Scores

• These focus on the percentage of faculty or staff responding favorably, unfavorably, or in a neutral way

• Here are some broad guidelines when reviewing survey results on an “absolute” basis

Quick Guide to Percent Favorable Absolute Scores

Assessment Range

Strength >70% Favorable

Gather more information <60 % Favorable

Action likely needed >20% Unfavorable


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Absolute Scores, cont’d

• Be sure to look at the complete distribution of responses• Scenario A—half Favorable with a large percentage of the rest

being Unfavorable

• Scenario B—One-half of respondents are Favorable with most of the remaining being Neutral

50 40 10

50 25 25


2013 Same Unit Results

2014 Total University

2014 Total Campus

2014 Total College/Unit

+1 +1 +1 +3-1 +3 +2 +8+1 +1 +1 +14

% Favorable Difference

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Understanding Your Results, cont’d• Results include percentage of favorable responses compared to unit-specific

2013 data (when available), as well as 2014 total campus and University benchmark data.

• Percentage favorable differences between 2013 and 2014 are unit-specific and may indicate areas of change in a more favorable or unfavorable direction.

Quick Guide to Percent Favorable Difference

Likelihood of Meaningful Change Range

Low <5 percentage points above (+) or below (-) the 2013 data

Medium >5–10 percentage points above (+) or below (-) the 2013 data

High >10 percentage points above (+) or below (-) the 2013 data

SAMPLE

• Use the quick guide (right) to assess the range of change between 2013 and 2014.


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Qualitative Information

• The qualitative lens can provide more detailed information about why items or dimensions received particularly high or low scores. Consider:• Are there other sources of information that contextualize the key

messages in the survey data?

• Are there ways to verify the key messages in the survey data against other existing performance measures or metrics?


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Survey Data


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This slide can be replaced with the actual report slide

Summary of Engagement: Key Drivers and Metrics

SAMPLE


Focus: Motivating employee dedication and commitment to excellence. Consists of results from the following survey questions:

Results for Key Metrics: Commitment and Dedication

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This slide can be replaced with the actual report slide

SAMPLE


Results for Key Metric:Effective Environment

Focus: Supporting employees’ success with the tools and resources of an effective work environment. Consists of results from the following survey questions.

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SAMPLEThis slide can be replaced with the actual report slide


Employee Engagement Profile



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• How strengths and opportunities are determined:

• Key factors are considered in identifying your work group’s distinctive strengths and opportunities including: absolute scores on the survey items (percent favorable and unfavorable) and how your work group’s scores compare to internal benchmarks (Total University, Total Campus, and Total College).

Strengths and Opportunities


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• It is best to leverage strengths and identify areas for action:

• While the opportunities present clear areas for action planning, it’s also important not to lose traction in those areas in which your group excels in order to maintain and build upon your group’s key strengths.

Strengths and Opportunities, cont’d


Key StrengthsKey strengths identify areas in which your work group is currently most successful.

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Key OpportunitiesKey opportunities point to areas offering the greatest room for improvement.

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Additional Question Detail:Commitment and Dedication Dimensions


Clear and Promising Direction

Focus: Connecting employees to college/unit strategy and goals

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Key Metric: Commitment and Dedication


Commitment to Excellence

Focus: Encouraging high quality education, research, and services

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Confidence in Leaders

Focus: Inspiring trust through open communications and leadership support

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Development Opportunities

Focus: Supporting employees in developing and achieving career objectives

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Respect & Recognition

Focus: Valuing employees and acknowledging their contributions

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Additional Question Detail:Effective Environment Dimensions


Authority & Empowerment

Focus: Encouraging employee autonomy and innovation to improve work

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Key Metric: Effective Environment


Clear Expectations and Feedback

Focus: Clarifying performance expectations and providing regular feedback

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Collaboration

Focus: Supporting cooperation and sharing of ideas within and across work groups

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Support and Resources

Focus: Ensuring that employees have the skills, information and resources to do their job well

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Work, Structure, & Process

Focus: Promoting innovation and equitable distribution of workload

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Next Steps: Action Planning and Implementation


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Action Planning Overview

• Action Planning Principles and Processes

• Engagement key next steps• Prioritizing opportunities with data

interpretation and understanding common reactions

• Action items, tools and resources• Documenting and tracking action plans• Sample action plans• Sharing results


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Action Planning Principles

• Fully understand the results and underlying issues. Gather additional information until the context is clear or root causes are identified.

• Involve faculty and staff where appropriate. Faculty and staff can help leaders understand the underlying issues and opportunities and find appropriate solutions.

• Keep it simple by concentrating on one or two issue areas instead of tackling too many areas at once.


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Action Planning Principles, cont’d

• Focus on issues within your control. Spend time on those areas where you can have the most impact.

• Provide regular updates on progress. Ensure that faculty and staff know that changes are being made based on their survey feedback.


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Action Planning Principles, cont’d

• The most effective action plans are: • Clear and specific

• Link to unit objectives

• Focus on a manageable number of action priorities (1-3)

• Focus on action areas that can have an impact

• Clearly assign accountability

• Existing action plans will only need to be refined to ensure they are relevant.


Action Planning Process

Criteria for selecting issues:

• The issue is widespread and/or is having a significant impact

• Leadership has the ability to improve the issue

• Improvement will likely result in more engaged faculty and staff

• Each issue is aligned with the college/unit’s mission and goals

Insights to gather:

• Driving force(s) behind the issues identified

• Groups affected by the issues (e.g., job level, tenure)

Important considerations:

• Specific actions to be taken

• Resources and support needed

• Assignment of accountabilities

• Clear measures of success

Key success factors:

• Ongoing support of those implementing action plans

• Tracking of progress on implementation over time

• Sharing progress regularly

Analyze survey results

Collect faculty/staff feedback through team meetings, focus groups

Use Hay Group’s online action planning tool

(Insight2Action)

Track progress on a regular basis

(monthly or quarterly)

Identifythe Issues

UnderstandContext

Build DetailedAction Plan

Implementthe Plan


Engagement Key Next Steps

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Review &

Share ResultsJanuary–March

RefineAction PlansFebruary–April

Implement Action PlansApril–January

Measure & Share ProgressMarch–September

All Leaders • Share results with the unit/department; lead discussion of results to further understand possible areas for action

• Share data with next-level leader if no report is available.

• Set expectations that all leaders share results with the unit/department including roll-up data

• Share and refine current plans; if a plan does not exist, lead creation of an action plan for 1–2 actions to improve engagement

• Set expectations that all leaders take 1–2 actions to improve engagement

• Ensure that meaningful actions are taken and communicated

• Hold all leaders accountable for taking action and incorporate engagement in goal setting

• Comparison on “percent favorable survey responses” for metrics and key drivers from 2013 (when available) to 2014

• Communicate and celebrate progress to-date

• Encourage 2015 survey participation

Local HR Leads and HR Staff

• Provide consultation on individual leader report data when requested

• Provide context for data with key issues, goals, and initiatives as needed

• Provide guidance where needed for individual leaders on action planning

• Support leaders as requested with action planning and communicating progress

• Implement local communications plan for 2015 survey participation


Engagement Key Next Steps, cont’d

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Review &

Share ResultsJanuary–March

Refine Action PlansFebruary–April



Employee Relations Consultants

• Provide consultation on data in executive report in collaboration with HR Lead

• Consult as needed on data in the context of key issues, goals, and initiatives

• Support units with HR Leads in developing Communities of Practice locally, with groups of leaders such as faculty groups, department chairs, and administrators

• Support HR Leads in executive-level action planning

• Advise HR Leads as needed on local Communities of Practice

• Provide units with communications to support 2015 survey participation

Leadership & Talent Development Consultants

• Create and roll out reports, deliver executive presentations and provide action-planning tools and resources

• Conduct additional data analysis; provide information and guidance for using reports to better understand the data and inform action-planning

• Provide consultation as requested to senior leaders and OHR leads and Employee Relations Consultants

• Identify enhancements/changes to the survey process for fall of 2015

• Implement system-wide 2015 survey promotion and administration


Key Accountabilities in Next StepsEveryone has a role to play in the action planning process

Key accountabilities

All leaders • Communicate results; create and implement action plans in partnership with local HR as needed

• Support managers and supervisors within span of control in also taking action

• Involve faculty and staff in the process and keep them well informed

• Monitor action planning efforts and hold managers accountable for taking action

Faculty and Staff

• Provide input into the action planning process including more detail around results

• Participate in the implementation of action plans

Human Resources

• OHR consultation and collaboration are supporting local HR efforts

• Share best practices and identify common issues and solutions

• Assist units in action planning to support engagement as requested


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• Are there key strengths or opportunities that catch your attention?

• Which of the 10 dimensions should get your focus and why?

• What survey item may be an additional area of focus or action planning?

• Consider the following in addition to the data:

• Consider qualitative data to deepen and connect the survey data

• Your expectations based on your experience and knowledge

• What steps would you recommend to gather further information and

how might you go about this?

Data Interpretation Considerations


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Range of Leader Reactions to Results

• Shock—“How can faculty/staff have

the audacity to respond this way?”

• Anger—“We’ve spent a lot of time on

this but no one sees it?”

• Resistance—“This can’t be! The

data is invalid.”

• Acceptance—“OK...we really

might have to address this.”

• Help—“What can we do to change?”

Be aware of your response to the data and seek to work with others to find solutions.

Leaders can unintentionally derail engagement through their own reactions to the data.


Personal Power—What can I do?• Ask your supervisor, manager, or leaders about

your group’s survey results.• Offer to participate in action planning (focus

groups, employee-led workgroups, etc.)• Support taking action on engagement survey

results to foster a positive culture.• Check out the engagement web page resources.• Ask leadership about action plans.• Give your feedback in the next survey.



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Action Planning Resources


Helpful Tools & Resources

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Review & Share ResultsJanuary–March

RefineAction PlansFebruary–April



Technology- Based Support for All Leaders

• Insight2Action (I2A) website (Hay Group)*

• “Interpreting your Engagement Survey Report Quick Course” (ULearn) and customizable PowerPoint


• E2 website action ideas and resource library (www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html)


• Track action plan implementation on the I2A website (optional)

• E2 website

action ideas and resource library (www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html)

•

• Comparison on “percent favorable survey responses” for metrics and key drivers from 2013 when available to 2014

• Communications Toolkit on the E2 website

All University of Minnesota Employees

• Engage in survey data sharing and ask your supervisor about your unit/team report

• Engage in action planning with support of E2 website action ideas and resource library (www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html)

• Support action plan implementation with resources on the E2

website action ideas and resource library (www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html)

• Inquire about progress on action planning and stay up-to-date on employee engagement communications

*Leaders will receive a report, and access to the Insight2Action website, if they have 10 faculty or 10 staff members who completed the 2014 surveys.

http://www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.htm


http://www.umn.edu/ohr/training/e2/consulting/index.html















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How to Use Insight2Action (I2A) to Document Actions and Track Progress


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Insight2Action Website

• Insight2Action website


Possible Faculty Action PlanDevelopment Opportunities

• Leader considerations: How can we leverage internal skills to help mentor and coach faculty?

• Information to gather: How could mentoring and coaching assist your professional development?

• Possible Action Plans: Support a faculty work group in suggesting resources and a process for a pilot mentoring program. Document results and adjust as needed.

My department offers effective mentoring and coaching to support my development.

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Possible Staff Action PlanClear Expectations and Feedback

• Leader considerations: How are performance expectations communicated to staff? How clear and specific are these expectations? How often are these discussions occurring?

• Information to gather: How do you ask leaders for feedback and guidance on job performance, especially when you encounter challenges?

• Possible Action Plans: Ensure performance goals define criteria for minimum, acceptable, and superior performance. Have solid feedback processes and monitor results.

My manager/supervisor provides clear and regular feedback on how well I do my work.

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Communicating and Sharing Best Practices

• The top communication priority is to share results within the college/unit

• Encourage leaders to document and track action plans in the Hay Group’s I2A system or another system

• Encourage partnerships with local communications teams to promote actions taken as a result of survey feedback

• Identify if a local Community of Practice would be helpful to support action planning and best practices


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Review: The Three Most Important Things About Employee Engagement

1. A survey alone does not create positive change. Only involving leaders, faculty, and staff in responding to survey results can create positive change in the work environment.

2. Share your results. Disengagement begins when people who take time to respond to a survey don’t hear their results from their leaders.

3. Take action. A few small, simple actions can have a large impact. Be certain to let faculty and staff know when actions were taken based on their survey feedback.

Documents

Human Resources Office of Guide to Employee Engagement Survey Data and Action Planning © 2013 Regents of the University of Minnesota. All rights reserved