We strive to be a place where employees love to work, grow and stay— and Exit Surveys are a key part of that effort.

Since August 2020, UC Davis has conducted Exit Surveys in an effort to maintain our reputation as an employer of choice and identify reasons behind employee separations. 

Survey Details 

This year, 7,716 surveys were sent by Gartner, a third-party company that collected confidential data to promote honest responses. 

The surveys were sent to all staff employees (excluding students and academics) who voluntarily separated from employment at UC Davis and UC Davis Health. Consistent with previous years, we saw a 30% response rate for 2023.

At A Glance Favorability

• The majority of exiting employees were favorable/neutral about their employment experience (77% Davis | 78% Health)

Next Steps 

Insights gathered from Exit Surveys are reviewed with leadership, employee groups, human resources business partners and other stakeholders to make UC Davis an even better place to work. 

Exit Survey data is compiled and analyzed to identify key issues, and suggested actions are taken to make improvements aimed at retaining our valuable talent.

Additionally, we provide Exit Survey Reports to the leadership of all major schools, colleges, and departments on both campuses, ensuring that the entire UC Davis community benefits from the feedback and contributes to our ongoing standard of being a Best Employer.

Continuously Listening to Our Employees

Exit Surveys are just one part of our commitment to open communication with employees. We’re also able to make data-driven decisions thanks to other sources of employee feedback: 

• Staff Experience Survey (Davis campus)
• CommUNITY Feedback Survey (UC Davis Health)
• Academic and Staff Satisfaction Survey
• The Hiring Experience onboarding surveys
• Internal Movement surveys

FAQs

• Who is administering the exit survey?

• Gartner administers this survey, known as “Departure View”. Gartner administers the survey at other UC locations and hundreds of organizations across the country. Participants are guaranteed data security and can remain anonymous when completing the survey.

  Human Resources will invite separating employees to participate in the survey via email, with a link to the exit survey maintained by Gartner. That email will be sent from exitsurveys@ucdavis.edu.
  
   

• Will we complete exit surveys with involuntarily separated staff?
• No, there are no plans to do so at present because there are other channels available for involuntarily separated staff to raise concerns about their employment, such as grievance and complaint processes.
• Who will receive an exit survey?
• Staff employees are invited to complete an exit survey when separating from employment. Staff who provide the standard two-week notice to their supervisor, will receive an email invitation with a link to the exit survey approximately ten days before their last day of employment. Those not receiving the survey include academics and student employees.
• How will exit survey results be made available?

• To promote workplace excellence, information from the exit survey will be shared annually so that data-driven improvements can be implemented across the Davis campus and Health. Central HR will receive reports from Gartner, after a sufficient number of responses are received to ensure confidentiality. Central HR will share aggregate data to reveal areas of opportunity and best practices along with trends over time. In addition to schools, colleges and divisions, Human Resources plans to partner with various groups in this effort, such as the HR Advisory Committee and partners across UC Davis (e.g., Staff Assembly, SDAAC, etc.).

  If an issue is reported that requires follow-up or investigation, HR will involve the appropriate offices. 

• Will schools/colleges/divisions get to see their data/reports?
• Yes. The information will only be provided to schools/colleges/divisions after a minimum number of responses are received, to preserve the confidentiality of the respondents. 
• My department already does exit surveys, can we continue?
• Yes. The intent is to supplement existing exit interviews or surveys. It is designed to provide a more holistic set of data and institutional insights across the Davis campus and Health.