Employee engagement reflects employee experience.
Employee engagement is important for everyone who works at UO, including faculty, officers of administration, classified employees, graduate employees, and student employees. It represents an employee’s emotional commitment to an organization; it is reflected in an individual's effort and actions within the workplace. The degree to which someone is engaged at work directly impacts their employment experience, their individual effort and actions, and their overall sense of belonging.
Engagement is about the culture that we want. It is the exceptional experience we seek to provide to our students and their families and seek to create for everyone who works at the UO. Active engagement and exceptional employee experience gets us there.
When individual goals are aligned with the organization’s strategic goals and when every member of the UO community works towards a standard of job performance excellence and are engaged, the university is able to create an exceptional experience for the UO community and all who work here.
Engagement is a shared responsibility.
Engagement is the responsibility of every member of the UO community from leaders to individual contributors. Here is how responsibility for engagement breaks down, and some steps you can take to ensure engagement not only within yourself, but among your team(s).*
|
Organization |
|
|
Leadership |
|
|
Managers & Supervisors |
|
|
Teams |
|
|
Individual |
|
Engagement makes a difference.
Engaged employees are proven to be more productive, are absent less often, and have fewer safety incidents, among other benefits. Here are just some of the ways that engagement makes a difference.*
41% less absenteeism
70% fewer safety incidents
17% higher productivity
10% higher customer satisfaction
Lower levels of stress
Lower levels of anxiety and depression
*Adapted from resources provided by Gallup, Inc.
Guide to Employee Engagement
Managers & Supervisors Strategies
Employee engagement is critical to our success and requires proactive planning and outreach. Employee engagement is not about pushing for more productivity, it is about quality of experience. Academic and administrative managers and supervisors play a key role in developing and encouraging a culture of engagement. Their direct connection and relationships at the individual level places them in a uniquely-situated role to impact employee engagement and the employee experience.
The manager's toolkit support supervisors in their unique role by providing strategies and action items they can incorporate into their existing work as they seek to develop and maintain strong working relationships with the people they supervise and support.
Engagement Spotlight - Finding Connection at Work
The antidote to workplace disconnection is promoting friendship and meaningful connection at work. Studies have shown that building close relationships with colleagues is one of the most important factors in determining job satisfaction. Many articles and studies in recent years have taken a closer look at connection in the workplace, especially with the growing number of remote and hybrid workers. The strategies and insights are applicable regardless of work modality. We spend a considerable amount of time each week working, so we should not underestimate the importance of having friendships at work and the impact that social connection has on our well-being.
Feeling connected to one another is a key component of fostering a caring and productive workplace, a pillar of employee engagement. Information, resources, and suggested actions for promoting a caring and productive workplace are included in the UO Employee Engagement Guide
Employee Tip:
Seek out connection at work to build trust, leverage support, and beat loneliness.
Manager Tip:
Build a connected workplace to help your team gain trust, show support, celebrate the highs, and bounce back from any lows.
