We recently completed an internal Leadership Development Survey. The goal was to assess our leaders. This included managers and supervisors as well as ARS senior leadership.
Our Manager of Recruitment and Retention, Glenn Davis, ran the survey.
The goal of this survey is to provide positive and constructive feedback to ARS leaders. Our team values are Humility, Kindness, and Commitment. These values begin with our leaders. Sometimes leaders may not be aware of how their team experiences them. Your feedback will be shared with your leader in a supportive way with an eye on helping them to set personal goals to improve their leadership skills.
Glenn reports that 53% of our organization completed the survey (41 of 78 employees). This is a pretty good return. Workplace surveys get returned at a rate of 25% to 60%. So ARS staff is landing at the higher end of performance.
The survey invited ARS staff to express the degree to which they respond to their leadership between 1-Low and 5-High. Here are the results.
To what degree do you. . . .
Feel calm and confident in the presents of the leader.
90.3% returned a score of 4 or higher. 2% returned a score below 2.
Look to the leader guidance on challenging issues in your job?
83.1% returned a score of 4 or higher. 9.8% returned a score below 2.
Look forward to being with your leader for training?
85.3% returned a score of 4 or higher. 4.8% returned a score below 2.
Have confidence in your leaders ability to deescalate a situation?
85.4% returned a score of 4 or higher. 7.3% returned a score below 2.
Experience receiving challenging feedback as a positive experience?
80.5% returned a score of 4 or higher. 7.3% returned a score below 2.
Feel confident giving feedback to your leader?
82.8% returned a score of 4 or higher. 14.2% returned a score below 2.
Reviewing these scores suggests that ARS may be developing a rather healthy leadership team. We also note that 47% of our employees did not respond to the survey at all. This too is feedback.
Every year Gallup publishes a report on the State of the Global Workplace that surveys the quality of employee engagement at work. It categorizes three types of employees. Those who are:
Thriving at Work: These employees find their work meaningful and feel connected to the team and their organization. They feel proud of the work they do and take ownership of their performance.
Quiet Quitting: These employees are filling a seat and watching the clock. They put in the minimum effort.
Loud quitting: These employees take actions that directly harm the organization, undercutting its goals and opposing their team.
In the Gallup survey, only 23% of employees around the world are "thriving at work". How does this compare to our recent survey? 85% of ARS staff who completed the survey are engaged in their work and have a positive relationship with their leader. So far so good.
But 47% of ARS staff did not complete the survey at all. Some may have simply overlooked the survey, or maybe they intended to get to it but forgot. Frankly, that is understandable. The ARS staff is focused on our mission.
Good leaders remain open to feedback so let's dig into the numbers.
Those responding to Glenn's survey returned an 85% favorable rating in relationship with their leader. This represents 53% of all ARS staff.
When we adjust this score to account for those who did not complete the survey, we see that 45% of our employees are engaged at work and have a generally positive relationship with their leader. About 6% of our employees would like to see improvement in their relationship with their leader.
How does this compare to other organizations?
According to Gallop, only 23% of employees worldwide are engaged employees. When we focus in on the USA, American workers return a score of 31% for engaged employees. This compares to 45.5% of ARS staff.
Before we blow up the balloons and bake the celebratory cake (we beat the national average by 14.5%), let us ask: Are we satisfied with having 45.5% (or even 85%) of employees who are engaged and have a positive relationship with their leader? Our hope and our intent is that 100% of our employees would be engaged at work and have a positive relationship with their leader.
There is much to celebrate in the results of this survey. And, as we commonly say, "Progress, not Perfection."
As well as we are doing, we want to do better. We touch the lives of people who come to us during a most vulnerable time in their lives. We owe it to them to give the best that we have, and to be the best that we are.
We are grateful for our ARS team. So many are doing so much and doing it so well. The outcomes we are seeing in our patients is a testament to that. Feedback, whether in the form of surveys or direct communication, helps us all to grow.
Supportive leaders build motivated teams. Thanks to the ARS team for all you do!