Most universities and colleges know that their reputation starts and often ends with what their own staff think about them. If employees are unaware of , or ill at ease with, the institution’s vision, priorities or achievements, then it is likely that the external world will be equally confused  or unimpressed. If reputation in itself is not enough, there is increasing awareness that an engaged work force are more likely to be retained, productive and better at what they do. HEliX, the project supported by HEFCE and the universities of Leicester, Bristol, Oxford Brookes and Edge Hill, is designed to scope and improve staff engagement from a specific higher education view point, exploring the extent to which staff understand and listen to one another and collaborate, rather than looking simply at whether they are ‘satisfied’.