Client: Dartmouth College Campus Services
Region: Upper Valley, New Hampshire
Executive overview
Over a five-year engagement, Deo Mwano Consultancy partnered with Dartmouth College Campus Services to strengthen employee voice, leadership practices, inclusion, and workplace accountability. The work connected recurring employee assessment with training, coaching, departmental support, and guidance for the leaders and council responsible for sustaining culture change.
Four years of survey results show substantial gains in employees feeling heard, included, and able to trust their leaders. These results demonstrate progress during the partnership and provide a foundation for continued improvement across an approximately 700-person division.
- Employee voice: Positive responses to feeling heard increased from 49% to 77%, a 28-percentage-point gain.
- Leadership trust: Trust in the Campus Services leadership team increased from 49% to 71%, a 22-percentage-point gain.
- Inclusion: Employees reporting that they felt included increased from 69% to 85%, a 16-percentage-point gain.
- Employee endorsement: By Year 4, 77% of respondents agreed that the culture initiative was improving Campus Services.
The organizational challenge
Campus Services supports essential college operations through frontline, skilled-trade, supervisory, professional, and leadership roles. Its departments operate across different locations and shifts, creating varied employee experiences and communication needs. In the Upper Valley rural labor market, trust, management quality, and a supportive workplace are central to maintaining workforce capacity.
DMC needed to help leadership understand employees’ concerns, build trust in the assessment process, and turn feedback into changes employees could experience in their daily work. Leadership transitions also required continuity so incoming leaders could build on earlier findings and relationships.
How DMC connected assessment to action
Accessible employee listening and continuous measurement
DMC designed recurring Culture and Climate surveys and listening approaches that considered technology access, literacy, work schedules, and shifts. Employee communications used email, short videos, graphics, posters, and team presentations to explain the initiative and encourage participation. Core survey questions supported year-to-year comparison while selected questions evolved with the work.
Employee expectations translated into everyday behavior
DMC designed Employee Expectations training around seven principles: respect, fairness, inclusion, consideration, dependability, vulnerability, and empathy. In-person and virtual sessions used discussion, role-play, and group participation to connect these principles with communication, teamwork, and everyday responsibilities. Supplemental resources and post-training feedback supported continued learning.
Practical coaching for supervisors and departments
DMC provided real-time coaching and strategic alignment support within the custodial department, with similar work beginning in Grounds. An eight-month collaboration with Dining management was reported to improve processes and communication, strengthen event coordination, and create more opportunities for employee input. This department-level work connected division priorities with the managers and routines shaping employees’ daily experiences.
Stronger leadership presence and alignment
Leadership development emphasized listening, communication, follow-through, and modeling the seven principles. The engagement update reported that senior leaders recommitted to their buddy work and began shadowing departments. DMC’s Shadow and Serve strategy encouraged leaders to work alongside frontline employees across shifts and locations, increasing their understanding of operational realities.
Continuity through leadership transitions
DMC supported the Director of Culture and Belonging’s acclimation and strategy through coaching and organizational context. The engagement also included hiring and onboarding support for HR and Learning and Development leadership, and coaching support for the communications role. These responsibilities connected incoming leaders with employee feedback, departmental relationships, and the culture work already underway.
Structures for sustained employee participation
DMC advised the Culture and Belonging Council, its chairs, and subcommittees on strategy, engagement, training, and communication. The engagement update described the council entering its third year and recruiting additional members, while the Director of Culture and Belonging built relationships through individual meetings, lunch-and-learn sessions, and division engagement. DMC’s scope also extended to aligning employee expectations with operational practices, KPIs, and performance reviews in collaboration with leadership, HR, and the union team.
Measured improvements in employee experience
The following results represent four years of employee survey data within the five-year engagement. Changes are expressed in percentage points.
| Employee experience indicator | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 | Year 4 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| My voice is heard | 49% | 57% | 63% | 77% | +28 |
| Trust in leadership team | 49% | 63% | 65% | 71% | +22 |
| Feeling included | 69% | 75% | 82% | 85% | +16 |
| Comfort discussing identity | 70% | 75% | 80% | 85% | +15 |
| Trust in supervisor | 70% | 73% | 77% | 82% | +12 |
| Supervisor credit or recognition | 69% | 68% | 74% | 88% | +19 |
| Initiative improving culture | N/A | 69% | 75% | 77% | +8 |
What the results mean for leadership
The largest recorded gain was in employee voice. More employees reported feeling heard, alongside increased trust in supervisors and the leadership team. Inclusion and comfort discussing identity also improved each year. Together, these trends indicate a more supportive employee experience during a sustained program of listening, leadership development, and departmental intervention.
These survey trends describe employee perceptions during the engagement and reflect the combined work of DMC, Campus Services leadership, and employees.
The value of the five-year partnership
DMC helped Campus Services maintain a connection between what employees shared and how leaders responded. The partnership combined assessment, training, coaching, council support, and continuity through leadership transitions. Its impact is reflected in improved survey indicators and in the recurring practices used to listen to employees and develop leaders.
For executives, this case demonstrates DMC’s ability to sustain complex workforce change over multiple years, adapt support to individual departments, and connect employee experience with leadership practices and organizational accountability.