Measuring Employee Engagement

1. Measuring Employee Engagement City and Borough of Juneau, Alaska Presented by Mila Cosgrove, HR Director

2. City and Borough of JuneauAs an Employer • 910 employees • 525 employees in target group • 62 % Unionized • 38% Non Union • Average years of service: 15.2

3. Services Provided • Police • Fire • Wastewater/Water Utilities • Transit Service • Planning • Engineering • Streets Maintenance • Parks & Recreation • Library • Docks & Harbors • Airport • Ski Area • Finance • Administrative Core services: HR, Risk Mgt, MIS, Emergency Planning

4. CBJ’s Organization Culture • We are a “good” employer • Emphasis on work/life balance • Employees are family • Egalitarian – everyone has an equal voice • Progressive employee relations policies • Domestic partner recognition • Broad antidiscrimination policies • Labor/management cooperation • In house employee wellness program

5. Organization Climate Survey • First survey implemented in 2002, yearly beginning in 2008. • Worked with Glasers & Associates to devise survey tool and analyze results. • Has been in place over the course of two City Manager administrations. • City-wide performance measure. Target is Overall Score of 3.5 or better.

6. Survey Dimensions • Overall Culture Score dimensions: • Teamwork • Morale • Information Flow • Employee Involvement • Supervision • Meetings • Customer Service • Working with others in department & organization

7. Survey Structure • Questions are rated on a 5 point scale from “strongly disagree” to “strongly agree.” • For each question and dimension, a mean score and the standard deviation is provided. • Employees can provide comments. Comments are not distributed beyond the management level. • Survey is broken down by Department and Division/work group if appropriate.

8. Survey Process • Use Internet based survey tool “Survey Monkey.” • Paper surveys are available. • Designate “Survey Champions” in each major work group. • Run at the same time each year. • Data is analyzed in house

9. Follow Through is the Key • Post results of Citywide results on web page. • Department and Division results are distributed as appropriate. • Comments are not provided to employees or first level supervisors to maintain confidentiality. • Meet with employees on a work group by work group basis to discuss results.

10. Follow Through is the Key • Identify 2 – 3 questions to focus on in the upcoming year. • Emphasis on moving from “good” to “excellent.” • Tie survey questions and results into ongoing training initiatives and team working sessions. • Department Directors are evaluated on their follow through.

11. Value • Provides a reality check about the overall wellness of the organization. • Able to easily identify the places in the organization that are trouble spots and where there is smooth sailing. • Quantifies the anecdotal. • If done correctly, helps build trust within the organization.

12. Survey Results Over Time

13. Insight Into a Larger Organization

14. Tale of a Troubled Leader

15. Lessons learned • Executive Support is critical. • Language in survey should match culture. • You have to do something with the information, if you don’t you loose credibility and trust with employees. • Refine your process as needed. • Make sure your communication networks are working.