Employee engagement in Higher Education Institutions - a toolkit

UCEA and Universities HR commissioned IES to develop an evidence-based toolkit for HEIs on employee engagement. The aim of the project was to provide a practical framework for use by those in leadership roles in HEIs in building employee engagement within their institutions.

Key objectives were to:

  • explore the key role of managers and leaders;
  • look at how successful organisations, including outside HE, engage their employees;
  • analyse and define key activities that contribute to engagement, and
  • focus on the specific issues and challenges in HE, with examples of innovative and effective practice.

To inform the toolkit, we updated our existing (2009) literature review and conduct one-to-one interviews with senior leaders in HEIs and stakeholder organisations. The toolkit was piloted in up to three HEIs and there was also a stakeholder event to (i) test the toolkit’s usability and content prior to publication (ii) introduce the toolkit to a range of leaders and practitioners.