Tag: Surveys

  • Workforce Planning Meets AI: A Blueprint for Smarter Surveys – CUPA-HR

    Workforce Planning Meets AI: A Blueprint for Smarter Surveys – CUPA-HR

    by Christy Williams | May 21, 2025

    For HR professionals in higher education, workforce planning has evolved into a strategic discipline. Filling positions is no longer enough — leaders must anticipate talent needs, support professional growth and align development opportunities with institutional goals. A well-designed needs assessment gives HR teams the insight to take action with confidence and create lasting impact.

    In the CUPA-HR webinar, Survey Says! Using HR Data and AI to Maximize Analysis of Needs, presenters from Harvard University’s Center for Workplace Development shared how their team designed and executed a large-scale, data-informed, AI-supported needs assessment. The goal? To better understand learning needs and create targeted strategies for professional growth across a decentralized institution.

    Here are the key takeaways from their process.

    Start With a Strategic Why

    Before sending a single survey question, clarify what you’re hoping to learn — and why it matters.

    At Harvard, the team began their needs assessment with a clear objective to understand learning and development needs across various employee groups as part of a larger workforce strategy. This meant designing a survey aimed at uncovering more than surface-level training needs, asking instead: What do our employees really need to grow and thrive in their roles?

    Their advice to other HR teams is to anchor your assessment in your institution’s strategic goals and organizational context. Let that “why” guide your survey design from the start.

    Design a Survey That Reflects Your Workforce

    A successful needs assessment is tailored to the specific population it serves rather than one-size-fits-all.

    Harvard’s workforce includes individual contributors, supervisors and executives across many schools and units. Their team created targeted questions for each group and pre-populated some responses using data from their HRIS system to reduce survey fatigue and improve accuracy.

    Make sure your questions are relevant to different audience segments, and use the data you already have to streamline the experience for respondents.

    Boost Participation Through Targeted Communications

    Even the best survey won’t produce results without strong participation. Driving engagement was one of the biggest challenges for Harvard, as it is for many institutions. Their team addressed this by securing leadership support, crafting targeted communications and clearly communicating the value of the survey to employees.

    To boost response rates on your own campus, consider using champions across departments, timing your outreach thoughtfully and explaining how the data will be used to benefit staff.

    Use AI Thoughtfully to Analyze Large Data Sets

    If your survey includes open-ended responses, you’ll likely end up with more data than you can quickly process — especially if your institution is large. This is where AI can help.

    Harvard’s team used a combination of AI tools to analyze thousands of comments and identify themes. But they stressed that the human element remained critical. They invested time in crafting the right prompts, testing outputs and verifying results before presenting them to stakeholders.

    Their approach to AI offers an important lesson: AI can accelerate analysis and bring fresh insights, but it’s not a shortcut. You need to build a process that includes human judgment, data verification and transparency.

    Integrate HR Data for Deeper Insights

    One of the most impactful decisions the Harvard team made was linking survey responses to existing HR data. This allowed them to connect learning needs to specific job roles, departments and demographics — enabling more targeted follow-up and planning.

    By incorporating HRIS data, they were also able to personalize survey questions and reduce respondent burden. That integration enhanced both the quality of their data and their ability to act on it.

    If you’re planning a survey, consider how existing HRIS data can be used to sharpen your questions and deepen your analysis.

    Turn Results Into Action

    The final — and perhaps most critical — step is using what you’ve learned.

    At the time of the webinar, the Harvard team was in what they described as the “where are we now” stage and had begun implementing some of the recommendations from their survey analysis. They emphasized the importance of translating results into practical strategies that support learning and development, talent mobility and organizational effectiveness.

    To do the same on your campus, be sure to:

    • Share key findings transparently with stakeholders.
    • Identify priority areas for development or investment.
    • Use insights to shape programming, leadership development or change management strategies.

    Embrace Experimentation and Continuous Learning

    The Harvard team acknowledged that this process wasn’t perfect — and that was okay. They embraced experimentation, learned from trial and error, and remained open to improving their approach as they went.

    Their experience is a reminder that innovation in higher ed HR — especially when integrating AI — is a journey. Don’t be afraid to pilot new tools and adjust your process.

    Watch the Webinar Recording

    Interested in learning more about Harvard’s process? The full webinar recording and slide deck are available here.

    More CUPA-HR Resources

    Harnessing the Power of Big Data for Sound HR Decision Making — This article examines using workforce data to make good business decisions with confidence.

    Data Visualization and Storytelling Tips and Tools for HR — This on-demand CUPA-HR webinar covers practical tips and tools you can use to share compelling data stories and data visualizations.

    AI in Higher Education HR Toolkit — Best practices and tools for using AI technologies thoughtfully and safely.



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  • A Guide to Engagement and Climate Surveys That Inspire Action

    A Guide to Engagement and Climate Surveys That Inspire Action

    by Julie Burrell | October 30, 2024

    Surveys can be a powerful tool for improving workplace culture and employee satisfaction, but they can have unintended consequences if no action planning follows. In fact, the lack of tangible — and rapid — action planning often lead to a cycle of employee disengagement and eroded trust, which results in fewer employees taking future surveys, and ultimately weakens their effectiveness overall.

    But getting surveys right is possible. By implementing targeted surveys and following up with action planning, higher ed workplaces can earn a reputation for valuing employee insights. CUPA-HR’s recent webinar Turning Insights Into Action: Designing and Implementing Impactful Employee Climate/Engagement Surveys explains how to build, or regain, employee trust and confidence in surveys, increase response rates, and create a campus culture in which employees’ perspectives are prized.

    Ask These Two Questions First

    Before launching a survey, ask these critical questions: Does our institution need a survey? And, if the answer is yes, does our institution have the resources to act on the survey results?

    Without a solid “yes” to both questions, consider pausing survey efforts. It’s better not to conduct a survey at all than to conduct one and not follow it with action planning.

    Surveys should also focus on clear objectives, addressing one to three specific topics in depth. They should be topics the institution is ready to act promptly on once the survey is concluded. It’s also best to avoid questions with predictable answers. For example, you may already know that employees want parking that’s both closer and less expensive. Asking more refined or open-ended questions might lead to actionable results. In the case of employee satisfaction around parking, the right question might reveal that safety is a primary concern, something that can be addressed by installing more lighting in lots or strengthening security for employees using parking garages after dark.

    Increase Response Rates by Building Trust

    Effectively communicating the survey rollout and offering incentives can boost completion rates, but responses are ultimately determined by the trust employees have in your institution and the survey process itself.

    Make it anonymous. Clearly communicate how the survey will be kept anonymous and confidential. This is especially important for open-ended or text-based responses. If you’re not using an outside vendor, consider adding a survey analyst to your committee — you probably already have employees with these skills.

    Know that timing is everything. The survey should be sent out at the right time to avoid clashing with other surveys and to steer clear of any big campus plans or events that might skew results (for example, a recently announced capital project like a new stadium). A timely response from leadership is key, as are timelines in action planning. Any follow-up items should have target completion dates.

    Be clear on when and how employees will see the results. Don’t wait for a grand reveal when action items have been completed. This might take months, long after employees remember how they’ve answered survey questions. Instead, publicize the survey results as soon as possible and begin listening sessions to both refine results and include departments and divisions in planning.

    Build in accessibility and offer time to complete it. Consider if you need to translate the survey into multiple languages or if employees working outside of an office might benefit from a hard copy. Encourage supervisors to offer incentives like an early departure after completing the survey and ask them to send calendar invites to block off time for completion.

    Take Action. This is by far the most important way to build trust. The webinar offers concrete processes for building and planning a survey, impact planning (including templates to send to campus leadership for quarterly tracking), ideas for holding listening sessions, and proven employee engagement strategies.

    Discover More Resources for Data-Informed Decisions

    Read the article Employee Engagement/Satisfaction/Climate Assessment: Producing Actionable Results, which offers a six-step guide to creating and implementing effective surveys.

    Explore other webinars in CUPA-HR’s Data and HR series: Data You Can Count On: Using CUPA-HR’s Data Resources for Strategic Decision-Making and Data Visualization and Storytelling Tips and Tools for HR.

     



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