Employee engagement matters | UK Human Resources

Our progress continues

We know we can only reach our student success goals when our faculty and staff feel supported and engaged in their roles. On campus, we administer our UK @ Work employee engagement survey every two years.

The UK @ Work survey seeks to better understand employee perceptions and experiences about working at UK. There are approximately 60 items on the survey related to communication, leadership, inclusion and belonging, stress and well-being, pay and benefits, and university culture. There are also two open-ended items for employees to provide insights about what makes UK a great place to work and what could be improved.

All campus faculty and staff with a full-time equivalency (FTE) of at least 0.5 who were hired on or before August 8, 2023, are eligible to take the survey.

If you are eligible for the survey, you will receive an email with a survey link from our survey vendor, Willis Towers Watson. Your survey link is unique to you, so please don't share it with anyone else.

Individual survey responses are confidential and will be submitted directly to and analyzed by the survey vendor. No one in the university knows who did or did not respond to the survey or how an individual responded. Reports are only generated for groups that have at least 10 responses.

Comments are summarized and shared as themes at the university and college level; comments are not connected to individuals, and the vendor redacts all personally identifying information that may be shared in a comment.

Enter to win a prize

After completing the survey, employees have an option to fill out a separate form to enter a random drawing for a chance to win one of many prizes. Prizes include airline tickets (up to a $1,000 value), UK football and basketball tickets, a MacBook Air, Apple Watch, AirPods Pro, Nintendo Switch, and more.

Each employee who has completed the survey will receive a follow-up email with a link to enter the prize drawing. This email may come a couple of days after you complete the survey. You must complete this separate form to be entered into the prize drawing.

Drawings are held throughout the survey period, so the earlier you complete your survey and enter, the most chances you will have to win a prize. Employees working in Lexington will be contacted about picking up their prize. Employees working outside of Lexington will be contacted about receiving their prize by mail.

Plus, any survey group with 100% participation will be provided a team meal of choice from a UK-approved restaurant/caterer. HR will be in touch about coordinating these meals beginning in mid-October.

Sept. 11-22

Dates for the 2023 survey

Frequently asked questions

What types of questions are on the survey?

Most survey items are asking about an employee’s experience working at UK, including questions about communication; working relationships; stress, balance and workload; inclusion and belonging, leadership, working environment and university culture.

One open-ended question asks for insights into what could make UK an even better place to work.

Optional, self-selection demographic questions: gender identity, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity, and elder care and child care responsibilities.

How are the responses to demographic questions used?

The intent of asking these questions is simply to expand our understanding of the diverse experiences and perceptions of working at UK.

The results will be used to further support inclusion and belonging efforts on campus and work to address specific areas of concern.

Your responses are confidential. No one within the university will know how you respond to any item on the survey or whether you did or did not respond.

The results of these demographic items will be aggregated and only reported for the university overall. No college, division or department receives a report or has access to this data.

A few items refer to college or unit leadership or supervisor. What does this mean?

University or UK: Refers to the University of Kentucky as a whole.

Department: Refers to your team or local group. If you work in more than one unit, consider the unit where you spend the most time.

College leadership: Refers to the dean’s office in your college. If you work in more than one college, consider the college where you spend the most time.

Unit leadership: Refers to the senior leader (Vice President, Associate Provost, Executive Director or Director) in your unit. If you work in more than one unit, consider the unit where you spend the most time.

Supervisor: Refers to the person to whom you directly report and who has primary responsibility for managing your activities, regardless of their title. This is the person who approves time off requests and provides your year-end performance evaluation.

Are all employees invited to participate in the survey?

The survey is open to all regular, non-UK HealthCare employees who are at least 0.5 FTE and who were in their position as of August 8, 2023. UK HealthCare runs a separate engagement survey.

How long will it take me to complete the survey?

About 20 minutes.

How do I take the survey?

Most employees will receive an email from our external survey vendor, WTW, with a unique link to take the survey online. Your survey link is unique to you, so please do not forward your invitation email or share your survey link with anyone else. Some leaders have asked for a paper version of the survey for their departments.

Are my responses confidential?

Yes. Your individual survey responses are confidential. The survey vendor, WTW, is collecting, analyzing and creating the reports for the aggregated survey results. No one at the university will have access to individual responses during or after the survey.

Are my comments confidential?

Yes. Any comments you provide at the end of the survey are confidential. The vendor will review all comments and provide UK with a summary of comment themes; comments are not connected to individuals.

If I have recently transferred from another department or unit, do I answer the questions based upon my former or current department?

Please answer the questions based on your current position and current department or unit.

Do I have to take the survey?

Participation is voluntary. It gives you an opportunity to confidentially share your perspective about working at UK.

Can I take the survey later if I am out of office during the survey administration period?

All surveys must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, September 22. This will ensure the survey vendor has time to analyze the data and provide UK with the results in a timely manner.

Do I have to complete the survey once I start it, or can I save my responses for later?

You can stop the survey at any point and save your responses. To resume your survey, click on the link in your email from WTW. All responses must be submitted by 11:59 p.m. Eastern on Friday, September 22.

What do I do if I am having issues accessing the survey?

If you experience issues with accessing or completing the survey, please email the survey vendor (WTW) at EmployeeSurveySupport@willistowerswatson.com.

For general questions about the survey, please email Leslie Vega, Senior HR Business Partner, Informatics, at leslie.vega@uky.edu.

How we've responded to your feedback over time

Over the four previous times we've administered the UK @ Work campus employee engagement survey, your feedback has led to many university-wide changes.

More access to paid leave

Policy changes expanded how you can use your sick leave after the birth of a child and created paid parental and elder care leave.

Financial well-being

We have increased our support for your financial well-being.

Mental health and well-being

We have added therapists with more counseling availability and begun allowing the use of two sick days as well-being days for any purpose.

Unconscious bias initiative

University-wide training and guidelines ensure we are a community where all feel secure and welcome.

Physical fitness and well-being

We offer an employee-dedicated fitness facility and more support for your overall health.

Pay

Reliable and consistent pay increases in recent years, including increased flexibility for supervisors to allocate salary increases based on performance, retention and other factors.

Campus employee engagement scores over time

Our scores continue to improve or hold steady since we began administering the UK @ Work survey in 2015.

This improvement affirms the accolades we continue to receive as a workplace. We have been named a Great College to Work for every year since 2018. In 2023, we were ranked No. 6 on the Forbes list of America's Best Large Employers.

An overwhelming majority of our employees believe strongly in our mission, are proud to be associated with UK and feel a greater sense of community here. Those are important measures as we work toward fostering a community where everyone feels they belong.

View our 2021 survey results.

UK HealthCare employee engagement

UK HealthCare conducts a separate employee engagement survey each year.

Updates

April 16, 2024 Annual period for employees to convert temporary disability leave to vacation leave now available through April 30

From our blog

July 9, 2021 How employee engagement and experience insights can be helpful post-pandemic Natalie Vincent

6 min. read

September 7, 2020 Making recognition cards Azetta Beatty, MS

2 min. read

September 2, 2020 Making appreciation personal Olivia Ellis

5 min. read

UK@Work employee engagement survey

The employee engagement survey is administered by an external vendor, WTW.

Contact our office

For questions about accessing or completing the survey, contact EmployeeSurveySupport@willistowerswatson.com.

For general questions about the survey, email humanresources@uky.edu.

Employee engagement matters Your survey feedback impacts policies and benefits and drives college- and division-led action plans