Turning Insight into Action: How George Mason Units Used the 2024 Experience Survey to Strengthen the Workplace
The Faculty and Staff Experience Survey provides insight into how employees across George Mason University experience their work, their teams, and the broader university environment. Its value comes not only from the data, but from how colleges, schools, and administrative units use those insights to improve the workplace.
After the 2024 survey, leaders and teams across Mason partnered with the HR Faculty and Staff Engagement Team to understand their results and turn feedback into meaningful action—demonstrating the university’s growing commitment to an inclusive, supportive, and continuously improving work environment.
Broad Engagement Across the University
Following the 2024 survey:
- All 10 colleges engaged directly with their survey results through consultations, presentations, action‑planning sessions, or supported retreats.
- 26 additional departments and administrative units beyond the colleges also partnered with Human Resources to understand their results, communicate findings to their teams, and develop targeted improvements.
How Units Partnered
Through leadership‑driven engagement, HR supported units with:
- Strategic consultations to identify priority focus areas
- Workshops and retreats to strengthen communication, culture, and team dynamics
- Custom dashboards to simplify sharing and discussion of results
- Pulse surveys and focus groups for deeper qualitative insight
Partnership with Organizational Development and Learning
Working with the ODL team, we:
- Delivered team retreats focused on communication, trust, team dynamics, CliftonStrengths, and leadership
- Added strengths sessions for new employees
- Expanded onboarding with “Your Strengths at Work: A CliftonStrengths Introduction for New Employees”
- Offered engagement‑centered workshops tied to unit‑level survey findings
- Supported strategic planning using Gallup best practices
- Helped departments transform survey feedback into concrete, practical action steps
From Data to Action: Real Improvements Across Mason
Units used their survey insights to make concrete, measurable changes. Examples include:
- Expanded reward and recognition, such as new departmental awards, sponsored Workplace Appreciation trainings, and increased participation in central R&R programs and resources
- New engagement councils and workgroups to sustain ongoing feedback discussions
- Improved role clarity, addressing Q1. "I know what is expected of me at work" through clearer responsibilities and performance alignment
- More employee input opportunities, including Town Halls, pulse surveys, retreats, focus groups, and more
- Stronger belonging, and morale efforts. One college started offering Bridge to Belonging sessions to enhance connection among its faculty and staff.
- Expanded professional development. For example, one college implemented a requirement for each employee to set an annual professional development objective.
These improvements reflect a shared commitment to making George Mason a more supportive and engaging place to work.
Building a Culture of Listening and Improvement
The widespread engagement with the 2024 survey shows Mason is strengthening its culture of listening, learning, and improvement. As we move toward the next survey in April 2026, Human Resources will continue providing consultations, training, data tools, and partnerships that help units turn insights into action.
Together, we are shaping a better George Mason—one conversation, one insight, and one improvement at a time.
Reach out to engagehr@gmu.edu with questions.