Inspire HE data reveals the connection between engagement and action

Employee surveys only create value when something happens afterwards. In Higher Education, staff want to know that their feedback will lead to visible change, rather than simply being acknowledged and promptly set aside.

That is why belief in action matters post-survey. When employees trust that survey results will lead to follow-through, confidence in the whole process skyrockets listening becomes more meaningful.

The Inspire HE Awards rank qualifying universities each year based on employee experience, giving the sector a valuable picture of which institutions are performing most strongly. This year, we explored the data in more detail to see how the highest-performing universities compare with the wider sector and what gives them their edge.

One theme stands out clearly. The top-performing HEIs for employee experience are more committed to acting on survey results, and employees are noticing the difference.

Let’s take a closer look at this trend, what the data tells us and what other institutions can learn from these high-performing HEIs.

Belief in action is improving across Higher Education

One of the most encouraging findings from this year’s Higher Education data is the improvement in sentiment around action. In 2025, 41% of staff agreed that action would be taken as a result of the survey, up from 38% in 2024. While that remains below the cross-sector figure of 51%, it points to clear progress in Higher Education.

This matters because belief in action reflects whether employees feel that listening is credible. If staff believe their feedback disappears into a void, trust weakens and future participation becomes harder to sustain. The fact that Higher Education still sits below the cross-sector figure also shows there is more to do. But the upward shift suggests that more universities are beginning to close the feedback loop in ways employees can see.

In a sector where change can be incredibly complex sometimes difficult to communicate, that improvement is a positive sign. It suggests that more universities are not only gathering insight, but showing employees that their voices can help shape progress.

Higher-performing institutions are taking more action

The clearest pattern in the data comes from the relationship between institutional performance and action-taking behaviour.

Between 2024 and 2025, managers across the sector created almost 22% more actions post-survey. That points to stronger momentum across Higher Education, with institutions placing greater emphasis on moving from insight to implementation.

The more striking difference appears when institutions are compared by performance level.

Top- and Upper-Middle-ranking institutions within the Inspire HE set created around three times more actions than lower-ranking HEIs. That is a substantial gap. It suggests that the highest-performing universities are not simply generating stronger employee experience scores by chance. They are also more likely to be putting survey findings into action in a visible and structured way.

This mirrors the higher belief-in-action scores typically seen among leading institutions. Where action is more frequent, more organised and better communicated, employees are far more likely to feel confident that change will follow.

The relationship is clear. More action-taking is associated with higher belief-in-action scores. Less action-taking is associated with lower confidence and slower improvement.

That gives HR and OD leaders something practical to focus on. It shifts the conversation away from broad aspirations and towards the behaviours that help build trust.

Why leading institutions still have to work hard

The Inspire HE data also shows that Inspire Top Quartile institutions saw an uplift in belief in action, although the increase was smaller than the sector-wide rise.

That is not especially surprising. These universities are already starting from a stronger position. In many cases, they have more mature cultures of listening, clearer action-planning habits and higher existing levels of trust. Once confidence is already relatively high, it becomes harder to achieve dramatic year-on-year gains.

That makes their results no less important. Sustaining top-tier employee experience takes continued effort. Leaders and managers still need to show that listening leads to action, even when staff already expect a relatively strong response.

In other words, action planning never becomes optional. Even the highest-performing institutions need to maintain visibility, consistency and follow-through if they want to preserve trust and keep improving.

What high-performing HEIs seem to be doing differently

The data points to a strong pattern. Higher-performing universities are creating more actions and employees in those institutions are more likely to believe something will happen as a result of surveys.

That suggests that one of the real differences between leading institutions and the wider sector is not simply that they listen. It is that they act, and they do so in a way that staff can recognise. Employees do not judge listening by the survey alone. They judge it by what follows, whether priorities are made clear, actions are owned and progress is visible over time.

For other HEIs, there are several lessons here:

1. Action planning needs to be treated as a core part of the survey process, not an optional extra once the results are published. Gathering feedback is just the start of the journey.
2. Line managers play an incredibly important role. The growth in manager-created actions suggests that local ownership matters. When managers are supported to interpret results and turn them into meaningful next steps, staff are more likely to feel that listening is real.
3. Communication matters just as much as the action itself. Institutions may be doing more than employees realise, but if progress is not visible, confidence will not rise in the same way.
4. Finally, consistency matters. Trust is built when employees can see that feedback leads to a pattern of response over time, not just a short burst of activity after a survey closes.

A positive story with a clear lesson for the sector

Taken together, the data tells an encouraging story for Higher Education.

Belief in action is rising. Action-planning activity is increasing. And the universities performing most strongly for employee experience appear to be setting themselves apart through a stronger commitment to acting on what employees say.

That is positive news. It suggests that more institutions are recognising that listening is not enough on its own. What matters is whether employees can see that their feedback has weight and that change follows.

At the same time, the data offers a clear lesson. If top- and Upper-Middle-ranking institutions are creating around three times more actions than lower-ranking HEIs, then the difference is not just about perception, but rather about practice.

For institutions looking to strengthen employee experience, the message is clear. The survey is only the beginning. What creates trust, credibility and momentum is what happens next.

People Insight

Jane Tidswell, HE Director

Jane.tidswell@peopleinsight.co.uk