UNM seeks staff input on workplace experience and engagement

Staff at The University of New Mexico are encouraged to participate in the 2023 UNM Employee Engagement Survey offered between May 1 and May 15. The short survey allows employees to provide confidential feedback to University leadership on their workplace experience. The survey will help focus efforts toward achieving UNM 2040 goals, specifically the objective of ensuring a sustainable and high-quality workforce.

“To achieve our goal of a sustainable workforce, staff engagement is key,” said Kevin Stevenson, assistant vice president for Human Resources. “We need to hear directly and honestly from staff about what it is like to be employed at UNM so we can reinforce what is working and address what isn’t.”

This is the first of what will become annual surveys to listen and take the pulse of UNM employees. While the initial survey is directed at staff employees, faculty will be invited to participate in future rounds.

“We do not intend this to be a one-and-done project,” Stevenson said. “To be most effective, and to create an environment that increases staff engagement and retention, we need to track sentiment from year to year and benchmark against our UNM 2040 activities and initiatives.”

Confidentiality

UNM Human Resources have contracted with Gallup to conduct the survey to ensure opinions are kept confidential. The University will only receive the aggregated results and will not have access to individual responses.

For small departments, responses will be rolled up within a parent department or division to maintain confidentiality.

Transparency and reporting

At the completion of the survey, results will be shared with staff and a data dashboard will be available for review and analysis to help leaders address more department-level needs.

“It is essential we share the results with the campus community, regardless of the outcome,” Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Teresa Costantinidis said. “UNM is a great place to work with outstanding benefits and opportunities, but we’re not naïve to the fact that improvements can be made. And the first step in developing an engaged and thriving workforce is through frank assessment and open dialogue.”

How to take the survey

• Staff will receive an email invitation directly from Gallup, along with periodic reminders. The messages will come from support@mail.gallup.com with the subject line of “You’re Invited to Take Our Survey” for the invitation and “A Reminder: Have You Shared Your Opinion Yet?” for the reminder messages. Once you’ve taken the survey, reminders will stop.
• If you do not see the survey invitation on May 1, be sure to check Junk and Clutter folders in Outlook.
• For staff who do not have regular access to computers, multiple in-person events will be scheduled with stations to complete the survey.
• The survey should take 10 minutes or less and will be available in both English and Spanish.

For more information, contact engage@unm.edu.

Attention managers and supervisors: There will be recognition and prizes awarded to departments with the greatest response rates. Please make time and encourage your staff to participate.