More than 75 percent of DHHS employees participated in the Employee Engagement Survey.
April 10, 2018 -- The results of the 2017 Employee Engagement Survey were recently released to the Department, highlighting strengths and areas for improvement.
The survey, done in September 2017, was the first Department-wide employee survey in five years. More than 12,000 employees completed the survey for a participation rate of 76 percent.
The purpose of the survey was to understand the extent to which DHHS employees are engaged in the workplace. Employee engagement reflects the relationship between employees and their jobs. High engagement averages reflect greater employee satisfaction and better work environments. The DHHS overall average employee engagement rate was 3.78 on a 5-point scale.
The survey assessed engagement across seven categories:
- Your Job and the Work You Do;
- Your Work Unit and Processes;
- Your Division/Facility’s Work Area;
- Your Job Growth Opportunities;
- Supervision;
- Leadership and DHHS Culture; and
- Your Personal Viewpoint.
The results highlighted one of the Department’s greatest strengths – a mission to serve the people of North Carolina. The highest-scoring statement in the survey was “The work I do matters,” with employees giving this an average score of 4.52. DHHS employees also indicated that their work contributes to their Division or Facility’s success.
Several opportunities for improvement also surfaced: communication across the Department and within individual teams; providing direct, meaningful feedback from managers to team members; and aligning promotions with performance.
Focus groups are planned within each Division and Facility to solicit further feedback and ensure DHHS is matching up areas for improvement with the right solutions.
While each Division is being asked to develop their own action plan in response to the survey results, Department leadership is making some immediate improvements in how feedback is provided from managers to team members.
Secretary Mandy Cohen has asked for all VIP reviews to include meaningful written feedback – not just numeric feedback. In addition, a new program called “Performance Calibration” will be developed to provide a forum for managers to discuss the individual performance of team members. The goal is to make sure managers Department-wide are applying similar standards and evaluating on the same metrics.