The Examiner U-46 News Feed

Engagement still lagging for U-46 staff per survey

By Seth Hancock
  Over two-thirds of School District U-46 employees are either not engaged or actively disengaged from work according to an employee engagement survey presented at the Monday, Nov. 20 Board of Education meeting.
  The results showed that 50 percent of the 2,934 respondents were not engaged and 18 percent were actively disengaged while 32 percent were engaged.
  Brian Lindholm, chief of staff, said this was the second year the district has used Gallup to conduct an engagement survey.
  This year’s results were better than last year’s, including in number of respondents which saw 2,897 in 2022. Last year’s numbers were 23 percent engaged, 54 percent not engaged and 23 percent actively disengaged.
  According to Gallup: “Employee engagement is the involvement and enthusiasm of employees in their work and workplace. Employees can become engaged when their basic needs are met and when they have a chance to contribute, a sense of belonging, and opportunities to learn and grow.”
  “Engaged employees know the scope of their job, thrill in the challenge of their work every day, are in roles that use their talents and always look for new and different ways of achieving the outcomes of their role,” the Gallup survey results added.
  Gallup stated that organizations in the top quartile of engaged staff have 59 percent lower turnover, 17 percent higher productivity, 70 percent fewer safety incidents, the wellbeing of staff is 66 percent higher, absenteeism is 41 percent lower and organizational citizenship is 13 percent higher.
  This year’s results put the district in the 25th percentile, up from the 13th percentile last year.
  The survey had 12 categories of questions. Lindholm said there was growth in all categories, significant in 10 categories and slight growth in two.
  The district is now sharing results with teams and determining action plans, and it will consider a possible “pulse survey” (a few questions) for the spring and creating an “accountability index.”