June 11, 2012

Two weeks remain for taking employment engagement survey

The three-week Johns Hopkins Gallup Survey was launched on June 1, and by the end of the first week, nearly half the university staff being surveyed had responded to the questionnaire, which will measure employee engagement.

According to figures reported by Gallup to Johns Hopkins, the Libraries staff had the highest participation rate, at 67.65 percent, followed by Homewood Student Affairs at 56.51 percent and Peabody staff at 56.31 percent. Administration is encouraging staff to keep the numbers rising.

“We realize that university employees are asked to take a lot of surveys, but the engagement survey is a very important one for understanding how we can all create a better place to work,” said Debbie Sampson, senior director of Talent Management and Organization Development, who is overseeing the university’s survey effort. “That is why everyone’s participation is so important.”

To encourage employees to complete the survey, a weekly prize is being offered, the winner to be chosen by Gallup through a random drawing. Week one’s participants were eligible to win an iPad. The second week’s prize is a Kindle, and the winner’s name will be drawn from the first two weeks’ respondents. In week three, which ends June 21, everyone who completed the survey during the allotted time will be entered to win a gift certificate.

For those employees who have not yet participated, Sampson said that there are three important reasons to consider doing so. “It will give you a chance to evaluate your work environment and highlight what is going well and what could be improved. Your feedback matters and can help build a culture of engagement in your department. And employee engagement makes a difference in your workplace and in your personal and team performance,” she said.

After the responses are tallied, management will receive summary data for employees in their work groups, and Gallup will meet with university executives to discuss overall results and priorities. Managers will share survey results with their employees, who will be asked to participate in developing impact plans to change their work environment for the better, Sampson said.

Training to assist managers with conducting impact meetings with their staff will be available in the fall.