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Boerne staff engagement rises; city cites training, recognition programs
Summary
City staff presented findings from the latest Gallup Q12 employee engagement survey showing steady improvement since 2020, increases in recognition and development scores, and a decline in actively disengaged employees. City leaders said the results will inform budget and staffing decisions.
Mary Kelso, a city staff presenter, told the Boerne City Council at a Jan. 30 workshop that the city’s third Gallup Q12 employee engagement survey shows steady gains since 2020 and that the results will help shape budgeting and staffing choices.
The survey had 249 respondents from a workforce of about 300, Kelso said: “Our initial mean was 372 … in 2022 went to 394, and this year, up to 401.” She reported 49% of respondents are “engaged,” 41% are “not engaged” and 10% are “actively disengaged.” Kelso added the engagement ratio is now about 4.9 engaged employees for every actively disengaged employee.
The numbers matter because, city staff told the council, higher engagement drives productivity, retention and service delivery. “High employee engagement is what drives innovation in an organization,” Kelso said, describing the Gallup Q12 framework (basic needs, individual, teamwork and growth) the city uses to measure engagement.
City presenters linked several programs to the gains: a monthly tenure breakfast for employees who started in January, quarterly “lunch-and-learn” training sessions run by Human Resources, a tuition reimbursement program funded with council approval, and a new 10-month Leadership Excellence and Development (LEAD) program for future leaders. Kelso said the tuition reimbursement program has led some employees to finish bachelor’s and master’s degrees and that the LEAD program began with 13 employees drawn from across departments.
Council members and staff pressed for detail about how the city reduced the proportion of “actively disengaged” employees from 20% in 2020 to 10% in the current survey. Danny (staff member), answering a question from council, said the decline is the result of several factors, including clearer performance expectations, more frequent feedback, and accountability systems aligned to the city’s strategic management system. “I think it’s a combination of a couple of things,” Danny said, noting that some movement came from employee development while other reductions reflected turnover.
Kelso and other staff described departmental “whack-a-mole” work to prioritize low-scoring areas, and they acknowledged some items still need attention—teamwork questions such as whether “my opinion seems to count” showed little change. Kelso recommended supervisors and mid-level managers remain a focus between survey cycles because they have the most day-to-day contact with rank-and-file employees.
No formal policy or personnel actions were taken at the workshop. Staff said the engagement results will be used to refine department budgets and training investments in the coming budget process.
For follow-up, Kelso asked council to continue emphasizing recognition and development opportunities and to expect requests tied to the next budget cycle. She said employees’ development and recognition efforts would be carried forward into department work plans linked to the city’s strategic map.
