Membership Benefit: Keep Employees Engaged in Uncertain Times

Now is the time to prioritize employee engagement

In uncertain times, effective decisions begin with understanding your employees’ daily experiences. HEC’s annual Employee Engagement Survey, included with membership, identifies strengths, challenges, and key areas for improvement.

Why participation matters right now

Gain a clear view of employee experience. The survey collects feedback on leadership, communication, team dynamics, job responsibilities, and development, enabling informed decisions based on direct input.

Identify issues you can address quickly. Results highlight misaligned expectations, gaps in support, or communication breakdowns, allowing you to act before they lead to turnover.

Support retention and performance. Organizations that listen and respond to feedback are better positioned to improve engagement, productivity, and workforce outcomes.

Build trust by listening. Offering a confidential survey shows that employee voices matter and encourages productive conversations after results are shared.

What’s new for 2026

We’ve made several enhancements this year to improve both the experience and the value of your results:

• Now led fully by HEC: The survey has been brought in-house, allowing for stronger data insights and more tailored support for our members
• Simplified survey distribution: One general survey link for easy internal sharing
• Optional managed distribution: HEC can email individualized survey links on your behalf (additional fee)
• Enhanced reporting: Clearer, more actionable reporting with consistent division-level insights
• Uniform departments: New standardized categories (e.g., HR, Operations, Sales) to strengthen statewide benchmarking

• Role-based insights: New reporting by employee level, including individual contributors, managers, and executives
  
  These updates are designed to help you move from insights to action more effectively.

About the survey (quick overview)

The survey includes 55 questions and open-ended prompts focused on employee experience, leadership, communication, development, and culture.

Time to complete: Typically 10 to 15 minutes per employee.

Confidential: Individual responses are never shared. Results are reported in aggregate with a minimum threshold of five responses to protect anonymity.

2026 timeline

Registration: Opens Monday, May 11, 2026, and closes Friday, May 29, 2026

Employee survey window: Monday, July 13 through Sunday, July 31, 2026

Results: Participating organizations receive reports in early September, including organization results, Hawaii statewide benchmarks, and a complimentary virtual session on statewide findings.

HEC is here to help

HEC manages survey setup, administration, and analysis. Your team’s primary role is to confirm basic details and encourage participation. Optional add-ons are available for expanded support or in-depth follow-up.

Next steps

Register your organization for the 2026 Employee Engagement Survey.

Review the FAQ for details on the process, confidentiality, and reporting.

Contact [email protected] with any questions.

Add a leadership lens with Korn Ferry 360

If you want to pair engagement insights with targeted leadership development, HEC also offers Korn Ferry 360, a confidential, multi-rater assessment that provides leaders with research-based feedback on how others experience their leadership. It’s a strong complement to engagement results when you’re ready to turn feedback into specific leadership growth plans.