Dear Campus Community,
When we released our State of the Workplace survey results a few months ago, we said we would follow up as we further developed the survey data capturing your experiences as an employee of UC Berkeley and, in particular, how you are engaging with your colleagues. We worked with campus partners, Professor Niemeyer and data scientist George McIntire, to analyze the many topics and sentiments of your written responses using AI and it confirmed what we knew in terms of factors impacting belonging and equal opportunity.
However, we also discovered a reporting error in our Clarity engagement response. Only 49% of our employees (instead of the previously reported 90%) know what their supervisor expects of them to perform their responsibilities effectively. We apologize for this mistake and have corrected the full survey reportSetting clear performance expectations is a critical component of the communication between employees and their managers/supervisors, and is a key reason why the three Achieve Together conversations are so important. In addition, in support of improved communication and management skills more broadly, all managers and supervisors are required (and we strongly encourage everyone) to take Berkeley People Management’s Grow Today online course (BPM 101).
Moving forward, we have begun to meet with Division Leaders to share customized reports from the survey, and continue to consult with them as they look for ways to improve your employee experience. We are also exploring conducting focus groups to gain a better sense of our survey findings. You can find more information on actions you can take to improve the employee experience for yourself and others on our employee engagement web page, such as the Dos and Don’ts of Engagement and the Employee Engagement model
Thanks,
Eugene & Shirley
Eugene Whitlock, Chief People & Culture OfficerShirley Giraldo, Employee Engagement Consultant
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