County HR reports higher employee engagement overall but flags fairness and response-rate issues

Human Resources presented results from the county’s fourth biennial employee engagement survey and proposed next steps for department-level follow-up and targeted actions.

Joni Lehi, who led administration of the survey, told the Board the 2024 survey ran Oct. 25–Nov. 15 (extended to Dec. 2) and used SurveyMonkey with two electronic access options plus paper by request. Of about 1,115 eligible employees, Lehi said approximately 540 started the survey and 483 completed it; she noted the completion total exceeded a common 95%–confidence target sample size of about 391 respondents for a 4% margin of error.

Lehi said the results generally trended upward from prior years. Questions about department leadership, workplace safety and employees’ respect for their department director rose noticeably; she said question 5, “I respect my department director as a competent professional,” increased from 79% to 90% agreement. Job-satisfaction measures and perceptions of accountability also improved, Lehi reported.

However, completion rates at the department level were lower than past cycles: about half the departments fell below a 50% response rate, Lehi said, and she identified several reasons for the dip including the removal of email-tracking reminders (to protect anonymity), fewer outreach reminders and administrative changes. She also highlighted a new “prefer not to disclose” option for demographic questions, which improves anonymity but complicates year‑to‑year comparisons.

Two items showed cause for further analysis, Lehi said: a decline on the statement “All employees are treated fairly in my department” (from 70% to 65% agreement) and comparatively low scores on teamwork and cooperation in some units. Lehi and county staff said department directors will receive department-specific results and that Human Resources and county administration will work with directors to identify focus areas, leadership training and performance-management steps.

The board discussed survey confidentiality and response methods. County administration acknowledged trade-offs between technological tracking that boosts response rates and practices that preserve perceived anonymity. Board members urged continued emphasis on encouraging participation and on using the survey to identify targeted improvements; county staff said department directors and HR will review results with managers and teams and use the data to guide training and accountability work.

Why this matters: Employee engagement affects staff retention, service continuity and the county’s ability to meet service demands. The county’s reported gains on leadership and safety measures are positive, but lower response rates and concerns about fairness and team dynamics were identified as areas for action.