NC State employees who responded to a survey earlier this year gave their jobs a good report card overall, with at least three-fourths of respondents giving the university high marks for meaningful work, a welcoming atmosphere, effective supervisors and favorable work-life balance. 

The UNC System Employee Engagement Survey was administered to all full-time, permanent faculty and staff in March and April of 2024. This was the fourth time the UNC System has administered the biennial survey to employees at all of its 17 institutions. 

The survey asked employees to react to 41 statements organized in 10 topic areas ranging from performance management and supervisor effectiveness to institutional pride. Participants responded to each statement using a five-point scale. Positive responses included “strongly agree” and “agree,” while negative responses included “disagree” and “strongly disagree.” For a neutral response, participants could choose the middle rating, “sometimes agree and sometimes disagree.”

The survey also asked respondents one multiple-choice question about why they would consider leaving NC State, and it gave them the opportunity to answer two open-ended questions:

1. What do you appreciate most about working at this institution?

2. What would make this institution a better place to work?

The university’s survey participation rate of 46% exceeded the average rate for the UNC System, and it represented an increase over NC State’s 2022 survey participation rate. 

A Good Place To Work

In previous surveys, employees reported high levels of agreement with statements related to job satisfaction, and that trend continued in 2024. Eighty percent of respondents said their department is a good place to work, and 81% said they’re proud to be part of this institution.

Most employees also said NC State is a great place to work (74%) and that they would recommend working at NC State to others (74%). In addition, 85% said the work they do is meaningful to them; 89% said they understand how their work contributes to the university’s mission; and 79% said their job makes good use of their skills and abilities. 

Continuing another trend from prior surveys, employees expressed confidence in their supervisors and department chairs. Eighty-one percent said their supervisor shows genuine interest in their well-being; 75% said their supervisors are consistent and fair; 75% said they have clear expectations; and 70% said their supervisors give useful feedback. 

Room For Improvement

The lowest-rated areas in the survey results are related to issues of performance management. Between 20% and 29% of employees overall said they “strongly disagree” or “disagree” with these statements:

• Our recognition and rewards programs are meaningful to me.
• Promotions in my department are based on a person’s performance.
• Issues of low performance are addressed in my department.

Another area with room for improvement is communication. While 56% of employees agreed or strongly agreed that “At this institution, we discuss and debate issues respectfully to get better results,” 14% disagreed or disagreed strongly. This statement also generated a high proportion of neutral responses, with 31% saying they neither agreed nor disagreed with it.

University staffers have given detailed presentations on the survey’s results to college and division leaders across the university so they can use the information to make needed improvements.

You can learn more about the UNC System Employee Engagement Survey and review the data for NC State on the survey website. For a deeper dive into the data, visit a site maintained by Institutional Strategy and Analysis.

As in previous years, the 2022 survey was administered by ModernThink, an independent research and consulting firm.

This post was originally published in NC State News.