Employee engagement survey hits high mark for 2025

Published on Monday, April 21, 2025

By: Danny Barrett, dlbarrett@umc.edu

Photos By: Melanie Thortis/UMMC Communications

Employees of the University of Mississippi Medical Center are more satisfied with their working conditions – and more eager to spread the word about it – than the last time they were surveyed on the subject.   

Results of the 2025 Employee Engagement Survey showed 7,685 people, or 81% of the workforce, completed the survey, administered by Press Ganey, a national health care employee and patient survey developer. That beat the participation goal of 75% set by UMMC leaders and ahead of the 70% who completed the 2022 survey, mark that equaled the national average.   

“The results are the fruit of the labor of the enterprise planning committee,” said Dr. Kristina Cherry, chief nursing executive and committee member. “We focused on encouraging participation and the importance of feedback.  We used best practices to improve response rates and communicate accomplishments since the last survey. Our key messaging was we want to hear your voice and ‘you said, we did.’” 

Broken out, 4.03 out of every five employees replied with nearly the most positive answers in the engagement section. Those questions dealt with satisfaction level working at UMMC, recommending UMMC as a good place to work, whether UMMC is the place a respondent wanted to be in three years and whether the respondent felt they belonged at UMMC. The rate was ahead of the 3.85 of every five employees who answered as such in 2022. A total of 72% answered in the engaged or highly engaged category.  

“That increase is a powerful indicator of something more profound – a growing culture of engagement, trust and shared accountability,” said Frank Lenior, chief human resources officer. “When more voices are heard, we gain a clearer, more comprehensive view of our strengths and the areas where we have opportunities to grow.”  

The improvement also marked a significant upward change compared to Press Ganey’s national database of about 350 corporate surveys. UMMC is doing better in engagement than about 56% of organizations surveyed last year, said Murat Phillippe, workforce engagement advisor at Press Ganey. 

In 2022, the Medical Center had outperformed only 28% of the companies polled by the firm. Among other academic medical centers, UMMC outdid 74% of its fellow institutions. 

“That is a tremendous amount of change in the health care academic space,” Phillippe said during a presentation of results to department heads last week. “You should feel really great about those kinds of results, certainly. It’s a story of success, really, to see this kind of improvement in so many of the most important areas on the survey.” 

The survey was emailed to all employees Feb. 10. Results were kept confidential in an effort to encourage honest answers. Comment sections that appeared toward the end of the survey on the overall experience were 72 percent positive, out of 5,229 overall comment responses. 

Nearly all “key drivers” increased, including confidence in senior leadership and support of work/life balance. The lone key driver that decreased was confidence in all employees having an equal opportunity for promotion. 

Engagement among nearly all position groups at the Medical Center showed statistically significant upticks compared to the 2022 survey. The largest grouping, that of registered nurses, made up nearly 2,000 of the responses, with 3.98 out of every five answering in the most positive answer categories.   

“The survey results guide my efforts to channel my energy into areas I might not otherwise be aware requires mine or the organization’s attention,” said Gordon Gartrell, nurse manager of the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children’s of Mississippi. “The survey was clear in its objective and allowed staff to complete it without competing distractions – which was key in increasing our participation rate and overall scores in many areas.”   

Areas such as the PICU made sure the survey reflected what’s already a regular routine to evaluate themselves. 

“This year, we implemented a different approach by creating a quiet space where the employee could step away from the bedside safely,” said Maidee Parker Campbell, an inpatient nurse in the unit. “Having someone assume care for their patient so they could take their time without fear of their patients not receiving the best care was of utmost importance.” 

Post-survey manager training continues through April 30. Improvement plans are due to Press Ganey from department managers by May 31.   

Several significant improvements brought about by the 2022 survey included:  

• A merit-based performance evaluation process and pay increases tied to merit 

• Restructured senior management leadership rounds to promote patient safety 

• Improvements in multidisciplinary communication in the hospital and about work in the areas of quality and safety 

• Increased staff resources and individual department recognitions 

• Investments in technical upgrades