Recent surveys reveal key drivers of employee engagement in UK Higher Education, highlighting benefits like purpose-driven work and challenges such as leadership issues and workload, emphasising the importance of employee feedback.A career in Further education is busy and varied. It can be extremely rewarding, and thousands of people throughout the country are eagerly working toward tenured positions, keen to make a difference and contribute to their chosen field. However, no profession is perfect, and the reality is, that staff in many universities are feeling anxious about their future. In fact, according to a UCU survey of over 7,000 UK participants in HE, nearly two-thirds said they were likely, or very likely, to leave the university sector in the next five years. Higher Education in the UK is of a remarkable standard, enjoying an international reputation for excellence. However, if this reputation is to persist, we must remain up-to-date with the state of the workplace, as we would in the private sector. How happy are the employees? What is motivating them to excel and where can Higher Education Institutions improve to retain and engage their staff? A recent report commissioned by UCEA via People Insight set out to investigate what employees value most about working in HE while highlighting areas for improvement. Insights were extracted from a dataset of over 300,000 data points specific to Higher Education to lend a nuanced perspective when benchmarked against the millions of data points spanning the private and not-for-profit sectors. Before we delve into where HE is excelling and where it’s falling behind, let’s first look at employee engagement levels within HE. Employee Engagement Levels in HE Put very simply, employee engagement is the emotional commitment an employee has to their work, their place of work and their organisation’s goals. Many elements affect an employee’s engagement level, and it’s likely to vary over time, for several reasons. Universities with high engagement scores are creating the right conditions to allow their employees to thrive. This recent report on Higher Education Institutions shows that generally, engagement levels are slightly lower in HE (74%) than in the private (78%) and public sectors (76%). To understand why this is, and to turn things around, we need to first understand the key drivers of engagement in the world of HE. The research revealed what employees love about working in the sector, along with where they feel improvements must be made. The Notable Benefits of Working in HE — According to the Data The report found that HEIs excel in the following areas: Purpose-Driven Work When it comes to working in HE, the one driver that resonates with the majority of people is that of purpose-driven work. Typically, employees in HEIs are more passionate and more driven than those in other sectors. Eight out of ten find their work both challenging and interesting, and 76% claim to derive a sense of achievement from their work — a full 4% more than those in professional services. Those working in HE value the intellectually stimulating environment, and the opportunity to think critically and carry out impactful research while engaging in complex ideas. People in HE are generally driven by a desire to have a positive impact through their work, and they feel they can make a real difference within their chosen profession. Something else that goes hand-in-hand with purpose-driven work is employee autonomy to pursue their work in a way that suits them. 79% of people in HE claim they have the freedom and flexibility to get on with their jobs, to develop ideas and to innovate while working independently. Colleagues and Teamwork One real benefit of working in HE appears to be the camaraderie, trust and collaboration between employees. More than 90% of people in HE believe they have good relationships with their colleagues, and more than three-quarters say that people help and support each other at...

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