## Summary The [FY'22 Pulse Engagement survey](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/engagement/#fy22-pulse-engagement-survey) ran from [November 4, 2021 - November 18, 2021](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/engagement/#fy22-pulse-engagement-survey-timeline). The Product division ended with an 85% participation and an overall engagement score of 84% favorable. That’s 8 points higher than our [New Tech](https://www.cultureamp.com/science/insights/new-tech-1000-plus) peer group, which consists of ~150 fast-growing and disruptive tech companies who have ~1000 total team members. We also scored 2 points higher than we did in the 2020 Engagement Survey overall. The purpose of this issue is to share results with the Product division so we can review data and collaborate on proposed actions. Our [action planning](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/engagement/#taking-action) approach this year is slightly different than last year. We will have an epic at the division level across the company, and ask that leaders and managers open issues outlining actions in issues within the epics. We should align to the division-level actions across the division, but managers have the flexibility to add in additional team or section-level actions as well as needed depending on results. ### Timeline - 2021-12-02: E-group received access to engagement survey results for respective divisions - 2021-12-07: Department head received engagement survey results for respective departments - 2021-12-14: All managers and sub-department leaders received access to Culture Amp reports for their respective teams - 2021-12-15: Division-wide survey results and proposed actions discussed synchronously during PLT meeting - 2021-12-16: Epic opened with an overview of highlights, lowlights, and condensed action proposals - Through 2021-12-31: Functional group action planning (finalize actions and owners) - 2022-01-31: Functional action plans added to FY'23 Q1 OKRs - 2022-02-08: Concrete actions and next steps to be shared with the wider Product division during 2021-01-11 Product Management sync. This session will be lead by @justinfarris and @david ## Highlights 1. Our overall question favorability increased +2 from the Nov 2020 engagement survey 2. Our participation rate increased 2% from the Nov 2020 engagement survey 3. Against the [New Tech benchmark](https://www.cultureamp.com/science/insights/new-tech-1000-plus), we are higher in favorability than the standard for the vast majority of the questions (those that are lower are not statistically significant, I.E. less than 5 percent deviation) 4. Out of our 4 bottom questions, 75% improved significantly from the Nov 2020 survey. This speaks to our [action taken](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/Product/-/issues/1986). - For Total Rewards question, it increased +12 in favorability compared with last year’s survey - For “I have seen positive changes taking place…” question, it increased +10 in favorability compared with last year’s survey - For “I rarely think about looking for a job…” question, it increase +9 in favorability compared with last year’s survey ## Lowlights 1. Comments indicated lack of focus (too many OKRs/KPIs) 2. Comments indicated Staffing concerns (need for more people) and recruitment process 3. “GitLab is a great company to make a contribution to my development” went down -12 in favorability from Nov 2020 engagement survey - Indicated as one of our top impact questions according to Culture Amp’s algorithm (The questions that are identified as the top drivers are the questions that are most likely having the biggest impact on Engagement (or whatever measure you have set up as your outcome). So if you were able to improve your scores on these questions, you are likely to improve your Engagement score. You can find more information on how "impact" is determined [here](https://support.cultureamp.com/hc/en-us/articles/208026545-Impact-and-driver-analysis-FAQs).) - Our other top impact question is “I believe there are good career opportunities for me at GitLab”, which is also related. 4. Our Company Confidence question (“GitLab is in a position to exceed over the next three years”) is trending low - Minus 8 compared to Nov 2020 survey and -10 against company overall. - We scored the lowest out of all divisions on this question. 5. Female team members scored lower than male team members 6. EMEA scored significantly lower in several areas than Americas based team members ## General Observations 1. Product Management department had a significantly higher participation rate compared to Product as a whole (PM was 95% versus 85% for Product division) 2. Product Management dept overall favorability was slightly lower than the Product division as a whole (81% favorability PM versus 84% favorability Product) ## Potential Actions **1. Focus groups and Reverse AMAs** 1. _Purpose:_ We saw data indicating significantly lower overall assessments for team members based in EMEA, but the comments weren't as insightful in this area. The goal of conducting focus groups would be to: 1. Better understand the sentiment behind the discrepancy in favorability 2. Aim to identify core themes 3. Identify targeted action items to improve 4. Communicate an action plan Focus Group Team: * Facilitator: @david * Note-Taker: @justinfarris * PBP: @glucchesi [Action issue](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/Product/-/issues/4311) post session. 2. Reverse AMAs with females in R&D. @david and @justinfarris will continue Reverse AMAs with the females in R&D alongside Eric Johnson. We kicked off these Reverse AMAs in April 2021, and will continue here give the lower favorability we saw in engagement scores from females. **2. Career Development Focus** _Purpose:_ Our two highest impact questions are the questions related to career growth in the "Growth & Development" factor in Culture Amp. _Actions:_ - Following [Talent Assessment](https://gitlab.com/groups/gitlab-com/-/epics/1682#note_822594729) and annual [compensation increase conversations](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/total-rewards/compensation/compensation-review-cycle/#annual-compensation-review-timeline), all managers should conduct Individual Growth Plan conversations with their team members. We will leverage the the `Career Goals` tab in our [CDF Template](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1bojC8gGcgxckjBpMigLII-N4ATau4UfB2xwVuMW9Mps/edit#gid=325513433) for these conversations. The expectation is that `Career Goals` are revised/updated twice annually to allow for sufficient time to work towards goals, with regular touchpoints on progress during CDF reviews. **The first discussion should occur prior to February 28, 2022.** - Follow up on Development Plans for all successors (discussed at the Product FY22 Q4 Offsite) ## Resources - [Company wide results](https://about.gitlab.com/handbook/people-group/engagement/#fy-22-q4-pulse-engagement-survey-results) - [Product division slide deck results](https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1WPSGqTt6yqHvxs4yoXjjq4bYBm7-CnBDNS0qH7XCxHI/edit#slide=id.gfc95bd0cde_0_143) - [Product Comparative Overview sheet](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1fA_n3Hsf2_uPHXU2EEAi_AxSUDZG8VNKjjcnbsnl5-g/edit#gid=85318839) (comparative overview of FY’22 survey against a.) GitLab Overall, b.) the New Tech (1000+ employees) benchmark, and c.) our results from the FY’21 survey) - [Product FY'21 Engagement Survey Results](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-com/Product/-/issues/1986)