Taking Action on Survey Results

The Workplace Experiences Survey is a comprehensive survey; it includes about 80 questions organized in 11 common themes and 4 faculty-specific themes. As a result, before taking action, there is an abundance of data and insights to share and discuss. Here is an overview of the progress since the survey was last offered.

  • Ask: November 2017
  • Share: February – May 2018
  • Plan: May – July 2018
  • Do: August 2018 – September 2020

Ask: November 2017

More than 6,000 faculty and staff participated in the WES.

Participation

  • Achieved overall UBC response rate of 40%.
  • Overall response rates were 47% for staff and 27% for faculty (and 46% for tenure-stream faculty).
  • 14 units had response rates of 80% or higher.

Resources

Share: February – May 2018

Human Resources engaged with Faculty and unit leaders throughout the university to assist in understanding the results, to share and congratulate on the positive trends, and to address areas where faculty and staff experiences can be improved.

Sharing and Reflecting

  • Campus-wide WES results were shared with faculty & staff in Vancouver and the Okanagan in early February.
  • Over 500 people attended or watched the Open Session live webcast.
  • 250 unit reports were shared with faculties and departments across the university; every Faculty and mid-sized unit at the Vancouver campus received a report.
  • An additional 200 reports were prepared based on requests for additional data cuts.
  • Every VP portfolio held sessions with HR to review and discuss results.
  • HR provided sessions and consultations for various Faculties and large units.

Resources

  • HR Advisors are your strategic partners in working with your WES results.
  • UBC Organizational Development consultants are available to support leaders and their teams as they begin to explore and address the WES results, particularly when there is a need for expertise in facilitation and coaching.
  • Additional data cuts can be helpful in further understanding specific themes. For example, you may wish to see if experiences related to professional growth may differ in your unit according to a demographic such as length of service. To request additional data cuts, please connect with your HR Advisor.

Plan: May – July 2018

Moving from what we we’ve heard to what we are going to do about it can be difficult. To remain accountable, HR supported the UBC Executive Team in creating an action plan at the university-wide level and monitoring progress. Every VP portfolio has created an action plan, with many faculties, departments, and units also contributing to these actions and holding a focus on local experiences.

Taking Action

  • Based on the university-wide WES results, the UBC Executive team has created an action plan. The plan outlines actions for areas identified in the WES as key drivers of engagement for both faculty and staff, professional growth and senior leadership, which are also areas of focus in the UBC Strategic Plan.
  • Based on VP portfolio WES results, HR Directors in VP portfolios are supporting portfolio action planning. Action planning might look different for some VP portfolios, as there can be multiple plans where units are being held accountable for local actions.

Resources

Do: August 2018 – September 2020

Actions are being taken at the university-wide, portfolio and local levels. To gain insight into the areas that were identified as the top drivers of engagement in the 2017 WES, and that align with the priorities woven into Focus on People 2025: inclusion, leadership, professional growth, and wellbeing; we are offering a Workplace Experiences Survey (WES) Pulse. The pulse survey window is November 12-25.

Resources

  • Pulse surveys.