Sacramento Area Sewer District plans annual Gallup survey, credits engagement work for stronger staff scores

The Sacramento Area Sewer District will launch its next annual employee-engagement survey in May, part of an ongoing program the district said has raised staff engagement since 2022.

Training and organizational-development manager Jennifer Weitz told the board on April 23 that the district moved from an internal "Workplace of Choice" effort to Gallup—s Q12 approach two to three years ago because Gallup—s research links higher engagement scores to better organizational performance and improved employee wellness. Weitz said the district will field the next Q12 survey in May and begin action planning after results are returned.

Weitz outlined how the program works: the district and its teams take the Gallup Q12 (12 core engagement questions), then leaders and teams review results, hold "state of the team" meetings, and create team-led action plans. About five to six months after actions begin, the district runs an "accountability index" to check whether teams met, planned actions and saw progress. Weitz said the district also adopted Gallup—s four newer questions in 2024 addressing respect, well-being, trust in leadership and mission alignment.

Weitz described measurable changes the district reported for 2024 compared with 2023: she said the share of staff the district categorizes as "actively disengaged" fell from 20% to 15% and the share identified as "engaged" rose from 32% to 43%. She said the district—s overall grand mean was 3.91 on Gallup—s 0-to-5 scale and that earning Gallup—s Exceptional Workplace Award requires a grand mean of 4.4 and additional participation benchmarks.

Weitz also described the district—s engagement champions program, a group of staff who act as peer leaders to support local engagement work. She said the program doubled the number of champions in 2024 (from 10 to 20) to broaden coverage across worksites and credited the champions, staff and executive team for the jump in engagement.

District staff and board members questioned timing and next steps; Weitz said the district will publish agency-wide results and team-level reports, continue training leaders, and return to the board with May survey results in summer.

The district said it will keep the program annual and focus on year-over-year improvement at the team level as well as the organization level. Weitz said one near-term milestone is getting a higher participation rate and raising the grand mean toward the 4.4 threshold for Gallup—s award.

Board members thanked staff and said they were encouraged by the progress. "This is a win for both our customers and our employees," one board member said during the meeting.

A follow-up report with May survey results is expected later this summer.