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Office of Human Resources

Employee Engagement Survey

Help Us Make TXST An Employer of Choice

Quick Facts

Tracker 9.24

What is this survey?

Texas State is launching its first Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey for faculty and staff this fall. The survey is designed to help the university better understand the employee experience and use that insight to support meaningful action over time.

The Gallup Q12 is a brief, research-based survey that asks employees about key parts of their work experience, including expectations, recognition, support, teamwork, and opportunities to learn and grow. The goal is to better understand the conditions that help people do their best work.

Why does it matter?

Texas State is growing and evolving, and the university wants to understand how that experience feels for the people who make this work possible every day. 

This survey gives Texas State practical tools to improve the employee experience and strengthen our workplace. The Gallup Q12 focuses on the conditions that help people do their best work – not just how satisfied they feel – so the results point to specific actions leaders and teams can take, and help them make informed decisions about where to invest for the greatest impact.

This is not just about collecting feedback. It is about listening, learning, and taking action so Texas State can continue building a workplace where people feel supported, connected, and able to thrive.

Learn More: Info Session Recording

Missed our recent faculty and staff info session? No worries! This video covers the essentials of the upcoming Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey, including the participation timeline, confidentiality protections, and how your voice will shape localized action planning at TXST.

When can you share your voice?

Timeline

  • September 21–October 2, 2026: Survey open
  • Late fall 2026/early spring 2027: Results reviewed and shared in summary form
  • After results are shared: Team conversations and action planning begin

Common Questions during a Q12 Survey Administration

Below are the most common questions employees ask while a Q12 Employee Engagement Survey is live. Answers are provided directly from Gallup.

Expand FAQ List

How your responses are protected

The survey is administered by Gallup, an external partner. All survey data is managed entirely by Gallup on external servers, not on TXST infrastructure.

Texas State does not receive individual responses. Gallup shares results with the university only in aggregate form, and reports are available only when there are enough responses to protect confidentiality. If your immediate team has fewer than four respondents, your data is automatically rolled up into a larger, broader aggregate report, so individual voices are permanently protected. 

This approach helps create the trust employees need to respond honestly and openly. Clear communication about confidentiality is an important part of making feedback meaningful.

Common Questions about the Confidentiality of Q12 Survey Results

Below are the most common questions employees ask regarding confidentiality. Answers are provided directly from Gallup.

Expand FAQ List

  • Independently of your organization, Gallup administers the entire survey. Your organization only receives the aggregated results. 

    Gallup includes individual results with other respondents’ data it receives and reports these results at the work-unit, business-unit and company-wide levels, not the individual level. Gallup uses specific rules to ensure confidentiality of individual responses. 

    No member of your organization has access to data that identify specific employee responses.

  • No. 

    The reports contain engagement results for the group only. To protect each person’s confidentiality, Gallup does not generate reports for groups that did not have enough people answer the survey items. Data from groups that did not have enough people are rolled up into the next organizational structure.

  • No. 

    The only information that your organization receives is a collective breakdown of a business unit’s results. No reports contain information about individuals or ways for a manager to determine individual responses.

  • Individual survey access codes ensure that each employee can take the survey only once (not multiple times) and that Gallup knows how to aggregate the data for each workgroup in the organization. 

    Gallup uses specific data suppression rules to ensure confidentiality of individual responses. No member of your organization has access to data that identify specific employee responses.

How your feedback leads to action

Once the survey window closes, Gallup will analyze the confidential data and provide aggregated summary results to Texas State.  

This survey is not a "checkbox" exercise or a report card for supervisors—it is a diagnostic tool for continuous improvement. Because managers influence roughly 70% of the team experience, but do not control the entire environment, action planning is a shared responsibility. HR Business Partners will partner directly with divisional leadership to guide localized action planning, bringing together collaborative groups of supervisors and individual contributors to co-create practical solutions.  

The survey is the start of an ongoing conversation, not the end of one. To ensure real follow-through and track our progress over time, Texas State will resurvey every two years as part of our sustained commitment to our campus culture.  

The Process at a Glance:

  1. You share your feedback (Confidential & managed off-site)  
  2. Texas State reviews aggregate results (Guided by HR Business Partners)  
  3. Teams co-create action plans (Leadership + individual contributors working together)

Common Questions about the Post Survey Process

Below are the most common questions employees ask about what happens after the survey closes. Answers are provided directly from Gallup and HR.

Expand FAQ List

  • After the survey closes, Gallup will analyze responses and share aggregated results with Texas State. Here is how results will turn into action:  

    • Confidential Analysis: Gallup compiles aggregate reports—individual responses are never shared, and small teams are combined to protect privacy.  
    • Guided Support: HR Business Partners will partner directly with divisional leaders to guide local planning.  
    • Collaborative Planning: Divisional teams (including supervisors and individual contributors) will meet to discuss feedback and co-create practical solutions together.

  • All leaders with a sufficient number of respondents to the survey receive employee engagement results, which provide a summary for their workgroup and area of business, via Gallup's online platform. 

    Each leader will share the results with their team and co-create one to three simple areas to focus on for action planning.

  • If an insufficient number of employees participate in the survey in any given workgroup (i.e., fewer than four respondents), the report will show results for larger, relevant groups in the organization. 

    Use this information to begin the discussion about your workplace as a team.

General FAQs

Expand FAQ List

  • The Employee Engagement Survey is a short questionnaire that asks faculty and staff about key parts of their work experience. Texas State is using Gallup’s Q12 framework to better understand what helps employees feel supported, connected, and able to do their best work.

  • We often use "satisfaction" and "engagement" interchangeably, but they represent different levels of connection to our work:

    • Workplace Satisfaction (Passive): Being comfortable with pay, benefits, and facilities, but remaining psychologically unattached to team outcomes.
    • Employee Engagement (Active): Having a sense of purpose, feeling valued, knowing your opinions count, and having opportunities to grow. Engaged employees directly drive our strategic mission and our students' success.

  • Texas State is committed to building a workplace where people can contribute, grow, and thrive. As the university continues to grow, this survey will help leaders better understand the employee experience and identify where support, resources, or changes may be needed.

  • Participation is voluntary, but it is strongly encouraged. The more voices Texas State hears, the more useful and representative the results will be.

  • If a team does not have enough responses to protect confidentiality, results will be combined into a larger reporting group. Any team with fewer than four respondents will have their data is automatically rolled up into a larger, broader aggregate report, so individual voices are permanently protected. 

  • Yes. This first survey will help establish a baseline, and future surveys may be used to measure progress over time. Texas State University will resurvey in 2 years.