Employee Engagement Survey

This month, CHS staff came together for the Spring All Hands meetings, which keep employees informed about news and updates across all campuses. A key focus at this year’s sessions was the Employee Engagement Survey which staff completed earlier this year—February 2—13, 2026.

The survey is composed of a variety of questions aimed to gauge how staff feel about CHS leadership, their managers, and how staff are feeling about the organization. It’s also a way for staff to provide confidential feedback and make suggestions. This year’s participation was strong, with 60% of employees completing the questions and submitting more than 1,000 comments.

Vice President of HR Heather Powell shared that overall results came in at 69% favorable, 17% neutral and 14% negative. These results place CHS one point above the national benchmark for similar nonprofit organizations. Heather explained that to get these overall scores, the survey pulled from five core questions staff rated:

• I am proud to work for CHS: 81% favorable score.
• I would recommend CHS as a great place to work: 74% favorable, up slightly from last year’s survey.
• CHS motivates me to go beyond what I would in a similar role elsewhere: 69% favorable score.
• I rarely think about looking for a job at another company: 59% favorable score.
• I see myself still working at CHS in two years: 65% favorable score.

Leadership also reviewed detailed results and identified several areas where CHS is performing very well. The highest scoring question referred to employees’ understanding how their work contributes to CHS goals, which was also last year’s highest scoring question. Scores also increased by 5% for employees who feel their manager genuinely cares about their wellbeing. In addition, CHS exceeded the national benchmark of 78% for ensuring people of all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed.

“I think it’s evident in this year’s results that we’re making progress, especially in our areas of opportunity,” said Heather. “We are moving in the right direction and have grown significantly over the past year, particularly from a collaboration standpoint. COA is bringing more consistency to how we work and support each other.”

The survey also highlighted areas for continued improvement. All of our top growth opportunities showed positive changes from last year. Confidence in leadership increased by 5%, belief that action will follow the survey jumped up by 13% and 2% more employees said CHS leaders demonstrate that people are important.

These results show that while there is still work to do, staff recognize the progress being made and see CHS moving in a positive direction. Directors received reports with the survey results and will begin meeting with their teams to discuss action plans in the coming weeks.