Hope College
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction is gauged in multiple ways. First would be during the annual performance evaluation process. Second would be during the formal exit interview process where exiting employees have an opportunity to share their employment experience.
Perhaps the best way however, is the annual survey for 101 Best and Brightest companies to work - West Michigan Region.
Hope College has again been selected in 2022 as one of "West Michigan's 101 Best & Brightest Companies to Work For"! This will be the 17th year that Hope College has been honored with this award. For a press release from May 2022 visit:
https://hope.edu/news/2022/campus-life/hope-named-an-outstanding-employer-for-the-17th-consecutive-year.html
Annually, this non-profit group randomly selects 300 of our full time employees and surveys them on the following areas:
-Compensation and Benefits
-Employee Enrichment, Engagement, and Retention
-Employee Education and Development
-Recruitment, Selection, and Orientation
-Employee Achievement and Recognition
-Communication and Shared Vision
-Diversity and Inclusion
-Work Life Balance
-Community Initiatives
-Strategic Company Performance.

As part of Hope's Strategic Plan Goal Four Objective 2: Recruitment, retention and vendor strategies will employ best practices in developing a diverse and inclusive community.
KPI 1: Near Term. Hiring managers will be trained and equipped to recruit diverse applicant pools. All search committee members take training prior to reviewing candidates. In addition, all searches are required to have a trained Equity Advisor on the committee to ensure a fair and equitable hiring process.
KPI 2: Longer Term. Five-year average rates of retention, promotion, advancement, and job-satisfaction among underrepresented faculty and staff groups will be consistent with those of the majority.

Hope College has also developed a 14-item Culture and Inclusion question set that was administered to faculty and staff members in 2015 and 2017 along with The Great Place to Work survey. The Hope-developed item set was again administered in 2019 by the Hope College Culture Task Force as a stand-alone Pulse Survey with four additional questions and a progress scale for each item.
In May 2021 Frost Center for Data and Research again administered the Pulse Survey to full- and part-time faculty and staff members with a 49% response rate (n=430). Results point to four key findings:
Overall survey responses suggest that Hope’s culture and sense of inclusion have improved from 2015 to 2021 and that our organization is moving in the right direction.
Understanding of and working to achieve the college’s mission and Hope employee’s sense of being treated fairly are areas that scored highest for all demographic groups.
While there are differences between staff and faculty responses, disparity in item scores for campus culture and sense of inclusion are most pronounced when comparing responses from our staff and faculty of color with those of their white colleagues.
Areas where we have the greatest room for growth are demonstrating we value diversity and different worldviews; sensitivity and understanding in interactions with people of different races, ethnicities and cultures; and a sense of inclusion. While items in these areas were scored low across all groups, responses from our staff and faculty members of color are much lower.
Additionally, staff and faculty of color do not see the organization moving in the right direction in these areas and are most likely to feel like an outsider at Hope.

We use the Great Place to Work Institute Trust Index Employee Survey as one way to gain information and insight about the experience faculty and staff have working at Hope College.
We invite input from every employee to gain an understanding of our strengths and to know where we need to invest to create a supportive, inclusive and meaningful work experience for all of our employees.
The college first conducted the trust survey in spring 2015 at the onset of the Hope for the Future: 2025 Strategic Plan. This survey provided a baseline of data to understand our work environment, and the college dedicated time and resources to responding to many of the needs expressed in the survey responses.
Because we know that there is still work to be done, we are conducting the survey again. This second assessment will help us understand the ways in which we’re living into our goal of creating an environment in which our faculty and staff can flourish.
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INSTITUTIONAL RESPONSE TO SURVEY RESULTS
Helping supervisors and administrators provide environments in which employees can flourish
Sharing back of the Trust Index Survey (TIS) data (with opportunities for voices to be heard)
Sharing TIS data at divisional/departmental sessions

Development of workplace culture statement and values
Cabinet Commitment

Cabinet focus on TIS results and Strategic Plan priorities
Stand alone space for the Center for Diversity and Inclusion
GROW sponsorship of several educational opportunities to develop cultural proficiencies
Providing training on diverse hiring practices and implicit bias
Investing in employees’ professional development
Staff Pro-Dev Day (hosted by Human Resources)
Safe Colleges online professional development resources (available through Human Resources)

Developing policies that support safe, positive work environments

Title IX and other mandatory trainings offered to employees
Addressing fairness and equity concerns
Appointing a VP for Culture and Inclusion who also serves as a member of the President’s Cabinet

Establishing the Faculty Compensation Benchmarking Task Force and their concluding report
Creating opportunities for shared value and respect for employees’ unique roles on campus
How the College Works college-wide informational sessions
Status of Women at Hope collaboration
Annual All-Employee Family Picnic
Continuation of the Staff Town Hall meetings and the Staff Advisory Council
The addition of staff on the President's Advisory Committee (part of campus governance structure)

Hope College Named as an Outstanding Employer for the 17th Year.
https://hope.edu/news/2022/campus-life/hope-named-an-outstanding-employer-for-the-17th-consecutive-year.html

CULTURE STATEMENT AND VALUES
https://hope.edu/offices/culture-inclusion/previous-culture-work/trust-index/culture-statement-values.html
We are empowered and flourish when we invest in and value one another in our inclusive learning community where all members are grounded in dignity, engaged in diversity and invited by Christ’s love.

EXCELLENCE WITH GRACE
We grow through giving and receiving constructive feedback.
We encourage, support, and celebrate achievement while respecting and affirming the gifts and wellbeing of all employees.
We invest in opportunities for continuous learning.
INCLUSION WITH PURPOSE
We engage difference because it makes us better and stronger.
We include by acting: listening, inviting, valuing, encouraging, and receiving.
COMPASSION WITH DISCERNMENT
We care for each other and hold each other accountable.
We listen and understand before we take action.
We make courageous decisions with openness, generosity, honesty, transparency, and consistency.
DIGNITY THROUGH EMPOWERMENT
We support each other in being recognized and compensated for the work we do.
We empower every employee to grow and flourish, speak and be heard, and plan and act.
We remind each other that faith calls us to treat others as we would like to be treated.
INNOVATION AND INHERITANCE
We achieve true hope and innovation through diversity, growth, risk, and imagination.
We encourage multiple views of Hope’s heritage and the development of new traditions.
ENCOURAGED BY FAITH
We are free to live out our faith in our work and service to others.
We support and respect a range of expressions of faith.
We draw on faith during times of personal crisis or communal loss.