University of California, Los Angeles
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Multiple assessments are used to evaluate UCLA employee satisfaction and engagement. Systemwide surveys assess both academic and non-academic staff through the UC Faculty Survey and Employee Engagement Survey, respectively. The administrative division of UCLA ("UCLA Administration") also conducts a survey of employees.

The UC Faculty Survey is conducted by the Systemwide Academic Senate. The survey is distributed to all instructors of record. The 2022 edition of the survey continued a focus on pandemic-related impacts to instruction, as well as well-being and career plans.

The Employee Engagement Survey (https://www.ucop.edu/human-resources/units/employee-and-labor-relations/employee-relations/engagement-survey.html) is developed jointly by the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) and the systemwide Employee Relations unit. The survey helps university leaders, managers, and supervisors better understand the views, experiences and needs of policy covered staff on a range of topics related to working at UC, including career development, performance management, staff engagement and workplace interactions.

UCLA Administration conducts a comprehensive survey (full-length) every other year supplemented with a brief “Pulse” survey offered in the off years. This approach allows the organization to identify areas of development, receive feedback on priority areas within the organization, implement changes over a two year time period to maximize planning improvement processes, check in on the progress resulting from actions taken since the last Work Environment Survey, and obtain insights that can help management drive organizational improvement efforts before the full-length Work Environment Survey.

The UC Faculty Survey enables the Academic Senate to assess the teaching and learning environment at the UC and make recommendations for both the University Administration and the Academic Senate on pathways forward. The Chair of the UC Academic Senate submitted a memo with a survey report and recommendations to the UC President: https://senate.universityofcalifornia.edu/_files/reports/sc-md-2022-uc-faculty-survey.pdf.

For the Employee Engagement Survey, UC senior leadership receive results, which are then communicated through subsequent layers of the organization. This gives each level of leadership a chance to consider how they might address concerns or celebrate achievements. By comparing the results of the past surveys, campuses and locations receive insight into areas where progress has been made, as well as areas that need further effort and focus. Each leadership team in the UC system is encouraged to review the data for their location with members of their local staff assembly, communicate results with their community, and lay out a plan to affect positive change: https://cucsa.ucla.edu/current-projects/engagement-materials/. At UCLA, in April 2020, UCLA Staff Assembly held a UC Employee Engagement Survey Forum to share results, address questions and provide further clarification. After a successful engagement program , Staff Assembly and Campus Human Resources continue to build upon previous recommendations, as well as explore new opportunities to engage staff across the UCLA campus and health system: https://staffassembly.ucla.edu/employee-engagement/.

In February 2022, Administration staff completed the Work Environment Survey (WES) to get insight into the current state of the organization, as it transitioned through changes brought on by the pandemic. From the results of the WES, primary actions in these areas are currently in progress: resilience and employee engagement (addressing burnout/workload, work-life balance, and in-person/hybrid/remote personnel), communication (addressing employee concerns and achieving results), and talent retention (addressing competitive pay/performance and career growth/mobility). Department-specific actions in these priority areas are also in process, or have been completed.