Dear FAS Community,
All UCSF managers have received results from the recent staff engagement survey and have been asked to share results with their teams by May 30th. Trainings (attached schedule) are underway to provide guidance on effective action planning which all UCSF organizations will complete over the summer months. The evidence continues to tell us that making meaningful progress on engagement plans at the local work group level has a strong connection to improving staff engagement.
I have reviewed FAS staff engagement results and would like to share with you the bigger picture. To me, the most striking observation is the dramatic increase in our staff’s engagement over time. Since the survey started in 2011, FAS has more than doubled the percent of engaged staff from 23% to 49% and exceeds external benchmarks (see graph below). It is heartening to see that as an organization we have leveraged the engagement survey and action planning process to create a more positive work environment. This is a worthwhile pursuit and a tremendous accomplishment!
That said, our progress has slowed. The FAS grand mean (the average of 12 engagement questions on a scale of 1 to 5) showed a slight increase of .01 from 3.95 in 2015 to 3.96 in 2017. Although this does not surprise me given the organizational changes we have been digesting over the past year, I believe we are poised to do better. Over the past six months, FAS leaders have worked hard to develop a shared mission and purpose for FAS (our True North). Our mission is to build, support and sustain the workplace to advance the UCSF mission. During your engagement action planning discussions, I encourage you to revisit your team’s purpose and consider what you can do to influence the FAS True North. My hope is that your discussion will reinforce your conviction that all FAS staff has jobs that are important to achieving the mission and purpose of FAS and UCSF.
In addition to reviewing FAS engagement results, I read all of your responses to the open‐ended survey question: What could UCSF do to make this an even better place to work. Some of what I read was expected, some surprising, and some I would like to dig into more. What struck me most is that reading your thoughtful comments every two years is not enough – an ongoing dialog between staff and leadership is essential to creating a culture where FAS employees are engaged to do their best work. I invite each of you to email me directly at [email protected] any time you have comments or concerns.
Finally, I would like to congratulate our organizational units who achieved double‐digit growth in their engagement grand means: Housing Services, Controller’s Office, Supply Chain Management, Real Estate and Asset Development, and Facilities Services. Thank you for your hard work to make UCSF a great place to work.
I am grateful to each one of you for your continued efforts to improve and promote staff engagement. Let us continue working together to make this an even better place to work.
Sincerely,
Paul Jenny
Senior Vice Chancellor
Finance and Administration