Emory University
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Emory University

Rather than one single employee satisfaction survey, Emory University has utilized a variety of different surveys that target more program-specific engagement and satisfaction information from employees. These include:

The COACHE Survey: COACHE (Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education) is a collaboration of colleges and universities committed to gathering the peer diagnostic and comparative data academic administrators need to recruit, retain, and support faculty members who are critical to the long-term future of their institutions. The COACHE Faculty Satisfaction Survey covers every aspect of a faculty member’s academic life, including facilities and work resources, opportunities for interdisciplinary work, mentoring and recognition, and a range of university policies related to benefits, promotion, and governance. COACHE survey results influence action plans to improve the faculty experience at Emory. The COACHE survey was first launched in 2020 and launched again in the spring of 2023. 

Campus Climate Survey: The National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates (NACCC) is a national survey administered at the University of Southern California (USC) by the USC Race and Equity Center that seeks to assess the campus climate for students, faculty, and staff around racial diversity, equity, and inclusion. Emory partnered with NACCC in the fall of 2021 to administer a campus-wide survey for undergraduate students, graduate and professional students, and full-time faculty and staff. In spring 2022, Emory followed up with a survey of part-time faculty and staff. NACCC has provided Emory with executive reports and benchmarked the undergraduate student data to other participating institutions.

Child Care Survey:  The issue of affordable and accessible childcare is a national concern that affects many of Emory University’s faculty and staff.  To better understand the diverse childcare needs, the Fringe Benefits Committee of the University Senate worked with the Goizueta Business School MBA program and Emory HR, to conduct a survey.  This survey was sent to all benefits-eligible, University faculty and staff and also included questions about satisfaction with overall benefits offerings of the University.

Wellness Program Surveys:  Participants in our wellness initiatives and challenges are surveyed for their engagement level and satisfaction with each major program. Initiatives such as the Move More (Fitbit physical activity challenge), Operation: Eat Right (nutrition challenge), and Refresh from Stress are just a few examples.

Awards & Recognition Program Surveys:  All employees receiving milestone anniversary gifts and recognition are asked to provide feedback through a survey collection tool implemented by our vendor partner, O.C. Tanner. In addition to questions about the awards and gift selection, several questions also address overall employee satisfaction and engagement.

Exit Surveys: All employees leaving Emory are encouraged to participate in an exit survey. The survey asks about their reasons for leaving the university, their overall satisfaction and experience while working at Emory, their relationship with their leaders, and more. The data is assessed regularly by HR leaders on campus to determine what improvements to make to address retention and improve the overall employee experience.

Public Safety Survey: To help foster a safe and inclusive campus for everyone, Emory’s Public Safety Department issues an annual survey on campus safety. Emory’s Office of Institutional Research & Decision Support administers the survey independently. All responses are confidential, and participation is voluntary. Here are a few examples of how EPD has implemented survey feedback: EPD has invited Emory students, faculty, and staff to participate in hiring and promotion assessments; EPD launched a diverse Community Partnership advisory group to address key issues such as data and metrics, emergency response communications, and accreditation. The partnership includes Emory students, faculty, staff, and community members; and EPD expanded departmental training to include Resilience, Duty to Intervene, Procedural Justice, and Civil Rights.

Emory Healthcare

Partner with Press Ganey (vendor) to survey Staff & Providers once a year. In the past two years, we’ve also conducted Pulse surveys quarterly to assess employee satisfaction for our staff (no providers).

Emory University

All University survey data is reported to relevant leadership in the aggregate form only. The survey results are used to better understand employee perceptions, identify trends, and aid in the improvement of program offerings, communication, and utilization. Data are shared for evaluation purposes with those decision-makers who can address any issues raised. In some cases, results are reported out to the entire Emory community (for example, the Benefits and Rewards survey results), Trends and issues are studied with the main purpose of overall improvement. Any serious concerns expressed in the new hire survey are forwarded to Employee Relations where appropriate action is taken to address the concerns.

Emory Healthcare

Our Operating Units will work with lower-performing work groups and create an action plan to increase employee engagement. We also set goals at the Operating Unit level and incentive plans are created with leaders where they’re being held accountable for their scores in the engagement scores.

All data reported in this section are from September 2022-August 2023.