Trinity launched its first-ever Gallup Employee Engagement Survey in November 2018 for all faculty and staff. The initiative marks a first step in an ongoing effort to solidify and strengthen Trinity’s workplace culture. The survey, administered by Gallup, served as a measurement tool for engagement and provided data necessary to create actionable plans for improvement.
Results obtained in spring 2019 showed that overall, faculty and staff are incredibly proud to work at Trinity University, and they find meaning and purpose in their work. However, the University identified two specific areas in which it needs to show improvement: finding new and better ways to reward and recognize hard work and dedication, and identifying opportunities for growth.
“The executive leadership team is setting smart, measurable goals for improvement in these areas,” says Tess Coody-Anders ’93, vice president for Strategic Communications and Marketing. Coody-Anders notes that quantitatively, the University should strive for a substantial increase in the percentage of employees who consider themselves engaged in the workplace. Qualitative success will be measured by a feeling of value from employees who are excited to come to work every day. “The University incorporated specific questions from the survey in our University-wide dashboard to measure progress for the Trinity Tomorrow plan. As we receive divisional updates on a semester-by-semester basis, we will begin to see where we are making progress.”
It is well-documented that the result of having a highly engaged workforce yields dividends: Employees are more productive, there is greater employee retention, and employees are invested Trinity’s mission and vision. But, Coody-Anders clarifies, the Gallup process is about more than just this survey. “We are using survey results as a way to be intentional about engagement,” she says, “but Gallup is a movement on campus. As a long-range initiative, we will use Gallup to understand where both opportunities and challenges are. Beginning conversations about change that you and your team feel would meaningfully make a difference—what you do going forward is what really matters.”
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