An All-Staff Town Hall is scheduled from 10:30 a.m. to noon Thursday, Dec. 14, to discuss the UC Davis-specific results from the systemwide staff engagement survey administered earlier this year.

Besides the survey results, the agenda includes response and next steps, and a question-and-answer session.

Ralph J. Hexter, provost and executive vice chancellor, and Staff Assembly and Human Resources representatives will discuss the efforts made over the last two years — and still to come — to improve staff engagement at UC Davis.

The Council of University of California Staff Assemblies, or CUCSA, developed the staff engagement survey five years ago in collaboration with systemwide Human Resources’ Employee Relations department and Willis Towers Watson, a national firm specializing in work force opinion survey research.

The 2017 survey went to 20,000 staff members selected at random (not including union-represented employees, because UC receives their feedback through their union representatives during the collective bargaining process). The survey this year drew 10,539 responses, or 51 percent, the largest return since the survey began.

A UCnet article in September reported on the systemwide results, saying the survey “demonstrated significant improvements from 2015 in a number of areas, including supervision and performance management, and an increase in overall engagement.”

Areas in which respondents noted improvement included supervision, communication and performance management. For example, respondents indicated they were significantly more likely to:

• Feel that their personal contributions had been recognized, compared with 2015.
• Credit their supervisors with helping the respondents make time for development activities.

ProShare: It’s all about networking

Registration is underway for a new session of ProShare, a program that aims to help Davis and Sacramento campus staff members develop and build connections with their colleagues across campus and across the causeway, for mutual guidance and support.

ProShare is for managers, aspiring managers and staff at all levels. The Administrative Management Group, or ADMAN, and Staff Assembly introduced the program in 2016 and still sponsor it.

The program works like this: Starting in January and running through July, participants will be assigned to small cohorts that will meet monthly for about 90 minutes. Within each cohort, each member will take a turn as the monthly host for programs that could include department tours, presentations to the group, and discussions of key management issues. 

The program also includes three plenary meetings: kickoff, Jan. 25; mid-program event, April 19; and closing event, July 17.

Registration can be arranged online; look for the link on the ProShare 2018 webpage. The deadline is Dec. 15.

Questions? Contact Kate Tweddale by email.

Save the date: ADMAN Conference 2018

More news from ADMAN, the Administrative Management Group:

The next ADMAN Conference will be from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 14, at the Conference Center, said Jamie Brannan, conference co-chair, who works as the business operations and finance manager at the California Lighting Technology Center.

The conference is open to staff at all levels, and theme for 2018 is “Everyone Matters!” Registration fee scholarships will be available for departments with limited training funds. Look for further information as it becomes available on the ADMAN Conference website.

Held annually, the ADMAN Conference addresses current topics of interest, looks for ways to improve and simplify business operations at all levels, promotes professional growth, and encourages work-life enrichment through training and understanding.

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