Building Belonging: How Endeavors Used Honest Feedback to Transform Engagement

Location: San Antonio, TX

Industry: Human & Social Services

Employees: 1000-2499

Objective

To gather honest, confidential employee feedback to improve engagement and foster a culture of belonging and equity.

Solutions

Workplace Survey, Insights

Results

The Energage Platform enabled Endeavors to identify gaps in employee equity and belonging, leading to a comprehensive strategy that significantly enhanced engagement and inclusivity.

This transformation resulted in higher employee involvement and improved company culture, positively impacting Endeavors’ customer service.

Improving employee engagement and customer service starts with honest feedback

The Endeavors team initially turned to the Energage Platform to gather honest employee feedback and improve engagement. As a mission-driven service organization, people are at the forefront of everything Endeavors does. Because of that, leaders must ensure employees are engaged in their daily work and the company’s vision to provide the highest quality services.

After struggling with in-house surveys for some time, Endeavors decided to use Energage’s confidential survey platform to create a safe space for employees to share feedback without fear of retribution. While internal surveys can be effective, they don’t give employees the anonymity needed for honest feedback.

Danny Hernandez, Chief of Administration at Endeavors and who introduced his team to the Energage Platform, comments, “While we were on the right track with internal assessments, we weren’t feeling like we were getting the right movement forward. The [Energage] Platform really gave us that opportunity to seek information in a manner that was confidential to the employees. It gave us that third‑party look into what employees were saying and validated a lot of what we were doing. It really told us that we were moving in the right direction.”

Survey data revealed an opportunity to improve employee belonging and inclusion

That validation was vital, but data from the Workplace Survey also revealed opportunities for improvement and greater success. Feliece Murrell, Corporate People and Culture Officer at Endeavors, explains that as a leader, your first responsibility is creating value for your employees.

When survey data showed an opportunity to improve employee equity and belonging, everything clicked. Hernandez says, “Without a tool like this, I don’t think we would be able to easily recognize those gaps and overcome those barriers.”

The Endeavors team didn’t just identify a ‘blind spot’ in their organization; they transformed it into a comprehensive employee belonging strategy. This strategy, which now permeates the organization’s culture, has led to significant improvements. From enhancing recruitment materials to redefining core values and prioritizing employee community groups, every aspect of the organization has been realigned to encourage employee equity and belonging.

This inclusive approach has made employees feel valued and integral to the process. Hernandez explains that all leaders, from mid-level to C-suits, are now using employee equity and belonging to drive engagement.

A comprehensive engagement strategy improved employees’ self-value

Murrell says these improvements in company culture and belonging have not only contributed to higher customer service but also sparked a significant increase in employee engagement.

“The Energage Platform helped us build that engagement strategy. Survey results identified those gaps where we did have employees that didn’t feel that they belong. Now, I can see engagement has increased significantly. Employees are coming to the table, getting more involved, and actually supporting these initiatives. We didn’t have that before.”

Feliece Murrell,

Corporate People and Culture Officer at Endeavors