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2000 Employee Opinion Survey Results Summary

Normative Data

	WorkUSA is Watson Wyatt's biannual study of the attitudes and opinions of the American workforce.
	The margin of error of the total WorkUSA database is less than +/- 0.5%.
	Ohio University’s results are compared to the subset of employees in government and education (This subset represents the responses of 372 organizations).

Survey Dimensions

	Key Demographics		Supervision
	Communications		Compensation
	Work Organization		Career Development and Training
	Quality and Customer Service		Job Content and Satisfaction
	Performance Management		Ohio University Image
	Teamwork		Change
	Decision Making		Leadership
	Management Effectiveness		Employee Accountability

Survey Results Used as Input
Survey information will be used as input into the following project steps:

To assist the project team to understand the current culture of the university to ensure that the design takes into consideration strengths and concerns.

The major themes that emerged, as described in Issue 4 of the project newsletter, will help shape the competencies that will be created in the Invent Phase.

The survey results will also aid in developing a communication strategy for Phase 3, Deliver.

 

		1302 employees responded to the survey that was sent to 2200 classified, administrative, IT, and faculty with administrative appointments
		Number responding by employee group:

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Communications

		Communication around pay, benefits, significant changes at the university, and performance expectations.
		Receiving enough information to meet goals and feeling free to voice one's opinions.
		The university seeking the opinions of employees and acting on those suggestions.

Comparing the university's responses to the normative data suggests that employees do feel free to voice their opinions, and also that the way employee pay is determined should be better communicated.

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Work Organization

The reasonableness of individual workloads, staffing levels in departments, and whether or not university policies support balancing work and personal life issues.

The university's responses tend to match normative data on this dimension.

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Quality and Customer Service

		Availability of resources to work effectively.
		In one's work area, the extent to which the focus is on preventing problems.
		Employees' understanding of how their jobs affect internal and external customers.

Compared to normative data, the university's response is similar or a bit higher.

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Performance Management

		Performance evaluations are fair, timely, and useful in helping employees to improve.
		The university's favorable response rate on these personal issues ranged from 52-68% which is similar to the normative data. Specifically on fairness, which is of importance for the project.

Favorable response rates for recognizing good performance and managing poor performers are quite a bit higher at the planning unit level than at the university level.

Of most interest for the project is employee perception of their planning unit to recognize good performance.

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Teamwork

		Working effectively as a team within and across departments.
		A climate of mutual respect among employees of diverse backgrounds.

Teamwork within units is strong, but the university needs to work on teamwork across departments (significantly below normative data). The university response is similar to normative data regarding a climate of mutual respect.

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Decision Making

		Employees feel involved in decisions that affect them, and believe that the university explains reasons behind major decisions.
		Employees feel they have the decision making authority needed to do their jobs effectively.

Involving employees in decisions and explaining reasons behind decisions are areas where the university needs to improve.

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Supervision

Your supervisor's ability to enable you to balance work and personal life responsibilities, to clearly communicate, to coach employees and give performance feedback, to communicate goals and to keep you informed about management decisions, to help you make time to participate in training, to treat you with respect, and appreciate your contributions.

In every area, the university's favorable response rates were moderately to significantly higher than the normative data. While this is very positive information, there has been enough anecdotal information in recent years to suggest the issues around supervision run deeper than this dimension indicates.

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Management Effectiveness

		Ability of planning unit leadership to control costs, make changes necessary to compete effectively, encourage employee involvement. The university response is much higher than the normative data.
		Ability of planning unit leadership to create continuous learning climate and to motivate employees to perform at a high level. The university response is similar to the normative data.
		At Ohio University, extent to which people are held accountable, information and ideas are widely shared, people skills are considered important selection criteria for leadership positions, and highly qualified people are retained.

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Compensation

		Employees believe they are paid fairly compared to those in similar jobs at Ohio University and compared to those in similar jobs in other organizations.
		There is a clear link between pay and good job performance at Ohio University, and a clear link between good job performance and planning unit strategy.
		Ohio University's pay programs motivate employees to improve performance.
		Employees understand the value of their total compensation package and how it compares to other organizations.

Strengths include employees knowing the value of their total compensation packages and how that compares to other organizations. Areas for improvement include: perceptions of pay fairness within the university (internal equity perceptions), improving the linkage between pay and university and planning unit strategies, and in designing pay programs that motivate employees.

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Career Development and Training

		Ohio University does a good job of:    1) providing training needed to perform one’s job,    2) cross training, and    3) promoting qualified employees. Normative data is not available.
		Planning unit does a good job of:    1) providing training needed to perform one’s job,    2) cross training, and    3) promoting qualified employees. The university’s response rate is similar to normative data.
		Ohio University promotes from within if there is a qualified candidate. The university’s response rate is similar to normative data.
		Employees have access to training to:     1) develop skills for career advancement         (significantly above norm), and     2) keep up with changes in technology         (Normative data is not available).
		Ohio University does a good job providing opportunities for personal development (above norm) and for advancement (similar to normative data).
		Employees receive fair consideration for career opportunities and promotions regardless of racial/cultural background, gender, or age (similar to normative data).
		Ohio University does a good job of clearly defining the skills needed to be successful (below normative data), and good job security for good performers (above normative data).

Strengths include: having access to training to develop skills for advancement, providing opportunities for personal development, and job security. The university needs to do a better job of clearly defining the skills needed to be successful.

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Job Content and Satisfaction

Satisfaction with current job, knowing how your job contributes to the university achieving its goals, and liking the people you work with.

The university's response rate is significantly higher than normative data on the topic of liking the people we work with, and similar to normative data in the other areas.

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Ohio University Image

		Satisfaction with Ohio University as an employer; comparing to other organizations and recommending Ohio University as a place to work.
		Preference in remaining at Ohio University if comparable job in another university were available (retention).

In all areas, Ohio University is significantly higher than the normative data.

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Change

To what extent the university has changed for the better, the rate of change, and how well the university has prepared employees to work effectively in a rapidly changing environment.

On the question of employees feeling prepared to work effectively in a rapidly changing environment, the university's response rate is significantly higher than the normative data. While at the same time, employees rated the pace of change within their work areas less favorably (either too fast or too slow) compared to normative data.

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Leadership

Trust levels between senior leadership and employees, and planning unit leadership and employees.

University trust level between planning unit leadership and employees is comparable to normative data. No normative data is available on the senior leadership question.

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Employee Accountability

		Extent to which employees feel a sense of personal responsibility for their planning unit success and for the university's success.
		Employees' personal responsibility to update their skills to do their jobs.

These are university designed questions, so no normative data is available.

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