The University of Iowa employs a highly engaged workforce, one that is therefore effective and productive, according to the recently published results of the Working at Iowa Survey 2016.

“The results show that the vast majority of employees respond positively on questions that measure engagement,” says Cheryl Reardon, chief human resources officer. “In addition to other indicators, they report that they understand their job expectations, how their contribution helps the university’s mission, and that they feel their job unit supports their work and personal life balance.”

University Human Resources, which conducts the survey about every two years, broadly defines engagement as an employee’s investment of energy, attention, and emotion into their work. Research in worker engagement shows that engaged employees are more satisfied with their work, more productive, less absent, and less likely to leave for another job.

This year’s results also show long-term improvement in several areas compared to results from 2006:

• 92 percent of employees say they would recommend the UI to a friend seeking employment, up 4 percent in the last 10 years.
• 77 percent say work-related conflicts are managed constructively, up 13 percent in the last 10 years.
• 91 percent say their supervisor treats them with respect.

About 60 percent of eligible UI employees participated, or 10,606 of 17,831, which provides a reliable representation of the overall employee population, Reardon says.

“While these responses are encouraging, the survey also helped to identify areas for improvement,” Reardon says.

University leaders have identified work-related conflict management as an area for improvement, though they acknowledge the UI has made significant progress in that area. Other areas targeted for improvement include recognition for staff and faculty accomplishments, opportunities for promotion, and improving workload distribution. University HR plans to work with the Faculty Senate, Staff Council, and the Office of the Provost to initiate and execute work on these issues.

“Emphasizing a culture of employee engagement is important for the success of the university’s teaching, research, and patient care missions,” says Kevin Kregel, associate provost. “Examining how to strengthen these areas will be a focus for the Office of the Provost as we pursue a collaborative process to drive continual improvement.”

University-wide results of the Working at Iowa survey are available at the University HR website and each college, division, or campus unit that had 10 or more employees participate in the survey has received their results for use in gaining local perspective, celebrating successes, and driving area specific improvement efforts.

HR representatives will present on the results to Staff Council, the Faculty Senate, and other shared governance bodies this winter.