Sustainability Engagement Survey Results

Since 2012, the Med Center has conducted a sustainability engagement survey (SES) to gather input from employees.  The results help to measure progress and inform strategies for achieving the sustainability goals outlined in the Sustainability Master Plan(SMP).

Our engagement score is one of our 6 SMP goals, and our new score is a 57.  This is virtually unchanged from the last survey.  You might think that’s not a good thing and while you aren’t wrong, you aren’t completely right either.  This year we changed several survey questions to reflect how the field of sustainability has changed, in response to our changing world.  Those questions essentially made the survey more difficult, and so it is harder to get a higher score.  Had we scored the survey the same as before, our engagement score would have been higher.

We asked about different areas of sustainability that we previously hadn’t.  We’ll talk about them more in the future, but they are: Regenerative Systems, Climate Resiliency, Long-Term Thinking, Social Sustainability, and Financial Sustainability.

These all relate directly to our mission.  While we work “to create a healthy future for all” it has to include all of these aspects—sustainability isn’t a side project, it’s integral to how we operate as a business, as a provider of care, and as a resource user.  I’m happy to report that a whopping 92% of survey takers think that it’s important for the Med Center to take active steps to be more sustainable and 81% believe sustainability aligns with our mission.

The other big number that comes from the SES is our mode split.  This reflects the number of commuter trips coming to campus each day using active transportation (bus/bike/walk/carpool) and that number increased to 24%–our highest percent ever!  This was the first survey that we asked about a compressed work week—a schedule that has been modified from its ‘traditional’ schedule.  This could be working four, ten-hour days instead of working five, eight-hour days.  Both UNMC and Nebraska Medicine have policies allowing specific position types to potentially modify their schedule and/or potentially work from home some days.

Finally, we finished the survey asking for your feedback on any topics.  Thousands of you left us answers, and we’re reading them all.  We appreciate the information you provided and will work them in to future projects.

Thank you for taking time to participate and provide valuable feedback!