Staff Says — A Great Place to Work!

For the past two years, Covenant Village has participated in the Great Place to Work survey as a tool to gauge employees’ views on five (5) key elements including credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and camaraderie. This survey is orchestrated by “the global authority on workplace culture” — the organization Great Place to Work (GPTW) and has been used by companies around the world.

By utilizing this survey at Covenant Village, we can better understand what our employees believe we are doing well, and areas that may need improvement. To be certified as a Great Place to Work, we were required to have a minimum employee participation rate of 55% and a minimum Trust Index score of 65%. Over the past two years, the employee participation rate increased from 70% to 74%, which is ranked “Great” by GPTW, and the Trust Index jumped from 69% (“Good”) in 2021 to 78% (“Very Good”) in 2022.

Excitingly, CV received certification both years as a Great Place to Work and was recently highlighted in the Gaston Gazette for this certification (link at end of article).  GPTW believes that trust is the main ingredient in great workplaces and the smartest investment employers can make for their organization (source: https://www.greatplacetowork.com/about).

To encourage participation, our Human Resources Department offered incentives including 15 cash prizes of $150/each for employees who completed the survey by a specific date (employees were randomly chosen by GPTW) and pizza parties for departments that had at least 80% participation. CV did so well on the survey this year, that everyone received a pizza party!

When survey results came in, it showed that Covenant Village’s top 5 strengths include:

  • A belief that management trusts employees to do a good job without watching over their shoulders
  • Employees feeling that CV is a physically safe place to work
  • Employees feeling a sense of pride in their accomplishments at CV
  • Employees being given the resources and equipment to do their jobs
  • Employees being given the freedom to take off from work when necessary

We are very proud of our employees and want to continue to encourage and support them so their sense of pride in their work, as well as their trust in leadership at CV, can continue to grow!

When it comes to areas for improvement, CV’s lowest rankings were still quite high, which is very encouraging. After reviewing the results, one area that Human Resources would like to focus on is education through more focused communication from leadership to frontline staff. Some of the lower (yet still high) rankings, revolved around the key element of “fairness.” When studying the circumstances and/or areas where fairness was in question, it appears that communication from leadership could improve by providing more information (education). For example, educating staff on how CV operates, budgets, goes about internal transfers and promotions, and evaluates performance reviews can help employees understand the overall operations and the daily decision-making processes.

To show our employees how much we value their opinions, insights, and suggestions, we have started up again our Staff Council, which meets quarterly (more often if needed) to bring any cares/concerns of our employees to the table. We also have an “open door policy” and three suggestion box locations for employees to utilize.

As our world witnesses a mental health crisis unlike ever before, we at Covenant Village need to remember we are not immune to the impact that daily struggles have on our mental health. One way that the GPTW survey has opened our eyes to a role we can play in helping our employees in the workplace, and thus having the potential to positively impact their mental well-being, is by continuing creatively to let them know how much we appreciate and care about them.  It’s easy to make assumptions and speculate about circumstances we see around us, but when we are missing information, our perspective on any given situation could be skewed. In turn, we create a lot of mental and emotional turmoil within because we are lacking information. Therefore, we are being more intentional in our communication to staff, and we look forward to its positive impact on our employees’ perspectives and stress levels.

Our plan is to continue conducting the GPTW survey on an annual basis, with a goal to see greater participation and improved scores each and every year. Covenant Village will cease to exist without our hard-working, committed employees. That is why we desire frequent feedback on our workplace culture and how it impacts our workers. We truly do want Covenant Village to be the best place to work…for every employee!

Gaston Gazette Article: https://www.gastongazette.com/story/news/2022/06/02/gastonias-covenant-village-designated-a-great-place-work/7481635001/

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