Results from a new employee engagement survey indicate that faculty and staff are satisfied and proud to work at Brock — but there’s room for improvement.

Brock’s Office of Human Resources is using feedback from 906 completed surveys to guide focus groups and new professional development opportunities.

Introduced last year as a way to learn more about employee engagement, the inaugural survey was distributed to half of Brock’s on-going staff in May 2017 and the remaining half in October 2017.

Overall, the results were positive. Eighty per cent of faculty and 85 per cent of staff reported overall satisfaction with their current job. Nine out of 10 employees reported positive relations with their colleagues, team members and supervisors. Employees are proud to work at Brock and understand how their role supports Brock’s success.

The highest positive response indicated that 98 per cent of faculty and 99 per cent of staff have opportunities to apply a variety of skills and knowledge on the job.

The survey also highlighted areas of improvement:

• Professional development: 70 per cent of employees said they had formal opportunities to learn and grow over the past year.
• Performance feedback: 58 per cent of faculty and 76 per cent of staff indicated that feedback is regularly provided to help improve performance.
• Resources: 65 per cent of faculty and 70 per cent of staff reported they have resources they need to perform their jobs effectively.
• Participation in decision-making: 70 per cent of faculty and 77 per cent of staff are encouraged to share ideas and participate in decisions affecting their work.

“It is important to get employee feedback,” said Brian Hutchings, Vice-President, Administration. “This will assist Brock to put in place resources and development for our employees to ultimately provide services to our students.”

In response to the survey results, action is being taken to address areas of improvement.

Brock students, faculty and staff now have unlimited access to Lynda.com, an online learning platform that offers more than 5,000 video tutorials that help people learn business, technology, software and creative skills.

A pilot mentorship program that will foster employee connections and knowledge sharing is expected to launch this spring.

Employee focus group sessions planned for the last week of March will help clarify and validate the survey results.

“The conversations generated in the focus groups will help us better understand why employees rated the surveys the way they did,” said Neil Culp, Director of Organizational Development and Effectiveness. “Faculty and staff can dive deeper into the root causes of areas that need improvement, suggest solutions and help prioritize next steps.”

Employees are encouraged to register on the Human Resources website for one of three 90-minute focus groups. Sessions are limited to 25 people.

The focus groups and survey are two opportunities for the Brock community to regularly provide candid feedback.

“We want to continue to hear from our employees,” said Culp. “Brock is an organization built on people, and it is only through continued conversation with staff and faculty that can we continue to make this University a preferred place to work.”

The engagement survey will continue to be an on-going initiative. The inaugural survey included only ongoing employees; future surveys will grow to include temporary and casual employees.

An infographic detailing results of the 2017 survey is available on Sharepoint.