Measuring employee engagement

The Challenge

We were approached by a Multi Academy Trust (MAT) of twelve primary schools. The schools vary in size and range from large urban schools in towns with pupil numbers above 600 and 86 members of staff, to smaller village schools, including one of the smallest rural schools in the county with just 37 pupils and 7 members of staff. The Trust was formed in September 2017, after a merger between two smaller Trusts. Managing the schools centrally, the Trust provides school improvement opportunities, financial stability and a family network of schools under the common synergy of a Christian-based learning environment. As the Trust was celebrating its third anniversary, the leadership team wanted to gauge employee engagement and set a strategy for its internal communications so they could communicate with their multiple stakeholders as effectively as possible.

The Solution

ADPR recommended a detailed employee engagement research project to establish where the Trust was with employee engagement, set a benchmark for success and use the insights to refine positioning and key messages. This was developed to establish what changes need to be made as well as the best strategy, tactics and channels to create deeper engagement levels.

Activity included:

• An anonymous online survey designed and shared with all staff, with tailored surveys for the schools and the central team.
• Individual calls with randomly selected staff.
• A review of existing communication tools and materials from the Trust.

The Results

ADPR spent two months on the measurement exercise and created a detailed report with the findings. The data showed general engagement across staff, where the strengths were and areas for improvement. The combined results from the survey and the interviews revealed some key themes, which were used to inform the Trust’s internal communications strategy. The Trust then used the initial research as a benchmark to continue staff engagement activities and reporting.