In the coming weeks, AU will be launching its 2020 Employee Engagement Survey.
2019 Results
Last year’s response rate was 55% (610 respondents), well below the 80% target. In presenting the results, the consultant AU hired asserted that there was likely no difference between respondents and non-respondents.
This explanation seems improbable. Given that the survey purported to measure engagement, probably there were systematic differences in the level of engagement between those who engaged with the survey and those who didn’t.
Overall, AU consistently scored below industry benchmarks on all dimensions of engagement. Orange is bad in the figures below. The bottom half for Figure 1 shows significantly lower results on communication, student focus, teamwork and senior leadership.
Support for the university’s leadership was low. Only 39% of respondents believed that senior leaders acted consistently (13% below the industry benchmark). Only 43% of staff had trust and confidence in the exec’s ability to achieve the goals of the university (15% below benchmark)
This Year’s Survey
This survey will reprise the questions asked during last year’s survey to track change over time. I would encourage all AUFA members to complete the survey this year to provide the executive and the Board with the clearest possible picture of employee engagement. A high response rate also forecloses any argument that respondents represent only the dissatisfied.
In responding to the survey questions (including the open-ended questions), you may wish to give some thought to:
AU’s behaviour in collective bargaining last year,
AU’s current proposal to de-designate 67% of AUFA members,
the ongoing loss of jobs in the Athabasca area, and
the executive’s approach to communicating with staff.
Jolene Armstrong, President