The 2024 UCLA Administration Work Environment Survey provided valuable feedback and data that will help each department enhance the work environment for employees. A key metric of this survey is to ensure that we utilize the survey to make improvements. We are committed to using your insights to make meaningful changes across all areas within Administration. To this end, we have asked each department to focus on improving how we listen to employee concerns, as well as addressing one other key issue from the survey that has the most significant impact on the work environment.
When focusing on listening to employees' concerns, a common theme across departments is the emphasis on enhancing communication and actively engaging with employees. For example, to foster open dialogue, some departments have introduced initiatives such as regular feedback sessions, open forums, and one-on-one meetings. These efforts promote a culture of transparency, trust, and continuous improvement, empowering employees to play an active role in creating a more supportive and collaborative work environment.
Beyond listening to employees' concerns, departments have undertaken a range of initiatives aimed at further enhancing the work environment. To see the specific actions of each department, please click on the departments below:
My department listens to my concerns:
- Fostering Transparent Communication: Implemented recurring 1:1 meetings between CHR supervisors and their direct reports to encourage open dialogue, strengthen relationships, and provide a consistent forum for feedback, support, and alignment on goals.
- Facilitating Open Dialogue: CHR Admin established a monthly open forum with AVC Lubbe Levin, providing employees a platform to share suggestions, voice concerns, and offer feedback. Two sessions have been successfully held to date.
My workload is manageable:
- Optimizing Workload Efficiency: CHR units have identified 10 non-essential processes to be eliminated or streamlined, reducing administrative burden and allowing teams to focus on higher-priority tasks.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Manager Communication Development: Strengthened managers’ ability to engage in meaningful conversations with employees by providing resources, including The Coaching Habit book, to enhance coaching skills and communication effectiveness.
- Employee Satisfaction Advisory Board (ESAB): Established the ESAB to improve communication between employees and leadership, collaborating with Senior Leadership to enhance the effectiveness and engagement of All-Staff meetings.
- Leadership Communication with Teams: Fostered open dialogue and productive interactions with AVC Curtis Plotkin through a rotating schedule of team meetings. Teams have demonstrated strong preparation and effective use of these meetings to:
- Communicate program updates
- Address key concerns
- Identify and discuss program needs
Share progress on ongoing projects
Meetings are productive:
- Improving All-Staff Meeting Effectiveness: Conducted a survey to identify the root causes of meeting dissatisfaction, revealing that All-Staff meetings needed improvement, while 1:1 and unit team meetings were rated satisfactory. The ESAB is collaborating with the internal Administration team to enhance the structure and engagement of these meetings.
- Enhancing Meeting Structure and Feedback: Partnered with EH&S Admin to refine All-Staff meeting invitations, locations, and agenda items for a more effective experience. To encourage continuous improvement, an anonymous survey QR code will be displayed at the end of each meeting, allowing staff to provide real-time feedback and suggest future discussion topics.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Coaching Conversations Enhancement: Fostered deeper engagement between managers and employees by reviewing and refreshing the Coaching Conversations initiative. Every supervisor and manager completed the program with their teams. Multiple training sessions were conducted, introducing a new focus on teaching managers how to effectively solicit employee feedback and ideas.
- Employee Feedback Channels: Established an anonymous suggestion box to ensure all employees can easily share feedback and ideas. Three suggestions have been submitted and they are currently in progress.
- Employee Recognition and Idea Implementation: Revitalized the Kudos program to recognize employees for submitting and implementing ideas. Senior leadership encouraged staff to utilize the platform and additional recognition methods were introduced, such as team lunches, thank you notes, the anonymous virtual suggestion box, and shout-outs in Tony's Topics.
Meetings are productive:
- Improving Meeting Effectiveness: To enhance meeting efficiency, each unit has developed plans to increase the productivity of their meetings. In Strategic Projects meetings, leadership has been encouraged to reassess the necessity of each scheduled meeting to ensure time is used effectively.
- Training for Effective Meetings: Completed training on best practices for effective meetings, which has been implemented across units within the department to improve meeting outcomes and drive better engagement and productivity.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Active Listening for Employee Engagement: Strengthened employee engagement by having 24 managers complete 96 "walk-the-jobs," creating opportunities for direct conversations with employees. These interactions allowed managers to actively listen to feedback, gain insights for improvement, and encourage the sharing of innovative project ideas.
- Encouraging Employee Feedback: Created a supportive environment for employees to share input, resulting in 71 feedback emails received by 24 managers and 109 one-on-one meetings conducted.
- Ensuring Responsive Communication: Strengthened timely feedback processes, with 24 managers maintaining an average turnaround time of 0.9 days for addressing employee concerns.
- Enhancing Employee Recognition for Ideas: Fostered a culture of innovation and appreciation by recognizing and rewarding employees for their contributions, resulting in the issuance of 134 On-The-Spot awards.
I have ways to provide feedback:
- Expanding Leadership Communication: Expanded Kelly’s Coffee Talks to include management teams, fostering open dialogue with AVC Kelly Schmader. A total of 21 sessions have been conducted, enhancing direct communication and engagement.
- Enhancing Active Listening Skills: Strengthened management’s listening abilities by providing training in communication, coaching, and feedback. As a result, 24 managers completed 60 LinkedIn Learning courses, equipping them with the skills to actively listen, understand employee needs, and respond with more effective feedback.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Consistent Communication: Established 1:1 meetings for each unit. Regular 1:1 meetings have provided employees with a dedicated space to share feedback, discuss concerns, and receive guidance from leadership.
- Foster a sense of community and collaboration: F&OS has organized team events to keep employees connected, engaged, and motivated.
- Active listening and continuous improvement: OED successfully implemented a suggestion box for all F&OS employees to share ideas, feedback, and concerns in a structured and accessible way. The suggestion box provides a direct channel for employees to contribute ideas and share insights, fostering a culture of openness and inclusion.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Active Listening Development: Strengthened management’s active listening skills by creating employee resources and implementing a formal training course for managers. Two training sessions have been completed, with two more scheduled.
- Communication Channel Optimization: Improved the effectiveness of information sharing by developing a decision tree to guide the appropriate use of communication channels. Provided training to managers to distinguish between meetings, training sessions, one-on-one conversations, and email communication.
- Coaching Leadership: Conducted interactive workshop where participants learned about coaching fundamentals, tools for adopting a coaching leadership mindset, and skills for effectively developing others. The goal is to help managers and supervisors cultivate trust and respect through coaching conversations beyond the performance assessment period. Two sessions have been completed, and more will scheduled next quarter.
Meetings are productive:
- Creating Effective Meetings: Developed resources to equip managers and employees with a framework for organizing and leading productive meetings. Training sessions are available to staff, with two courses completed and two more scheduled to enhance meeting effectiveness across the organization.
My department listens to my concerns:
- Transparency and Engagement: Increased transparency and employee engagement by dedicating time at the end of each All-Staff and Leadership Team (LT) meeting for open discussions, allowing for Q&A, providing decision-making rationale, and gathering employee input.
- Employee Feedback Mechanisms: Strengthened feedback channels by regularly conducting Pop-Ins to assess concerns, gather insights, and promote open communication.
- Enhancing Listening for Leadership Development: Strengthened leadership growth and organizational alignment by hosting bi-weekly Senior Leadership Team (SLT) and Leadership Team (LT) meetings. These sessions provided key updates, professional development opportunities, and most importantly, served as a platform to actively listen to feedback for continuous improvement.
My department is focused on achieving results that help UCLA be a great university:
- Achieving Strategic Alignment: Ensured alignment with ITS’ vision by establishing the CIO's Strategic Goals, complete with key deliverables and timelines. The Senior Leadership Team (SLT) uses these goals to create specific objectives for their areas, which are then cascaded to teams as part of the new performance management process, driving measurable results.
- Driving Results with Data: Launched a quarterly By the Numbers report, offering clear metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to track the progress and impact of ITS initiatives, ensuring accountability and continuous improvement.
