The University of Auckland was founded in 1883 and is ranked 68 in the world. It is the top-ranked University in New Zealand, with over 40,000 students and over 5,300 full-time equivalent staff.

In 2007 the University of Auckland was one of the first Universities in NZ to start surveying staff with an engagement survey and committed to reporting staff engagement scores to the University Council bi-annually. Between 2007 and 2019 the University has run an extensive engagement survey every 2 years, which has typically taken 45 minutes to complete, and has had an increasing number of questions (86 by 2019). In 2021 and 2023 the University ran shorter ‘Employee Experience’ surveys focusing on ‘hot topics’ only, with around 22 –25 questions, taking 10-15 minutes to complete.

The survey has created many benefits for the University and is expected to provide reliable data to inform strategic initiatives and decision-making. The University has been using the same survey tool over the last 16 years and is looking to refresh the way they listen and respond to employees to better meet the needs of the workforce (post-pandemic) and the University’s vision and strategic needs.