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Phase II: Survey Findings

January 2015

APSAC and CSSAC Presentation

Purdue Quality of Work Environment Initiative

Project Phase I: Focus Groups

Phase I: Focus Groups• 12 groups in December 2013/January 2014

• Key themes: • Respect, recognition and involvement• Advancement, career paths, and training and development• Workload and staffing• Management and leadership skills• Work/life integration• Workplace flexibility• Organizational policies and practices• Stress, health and well-being

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Drivers & Outcomes of Engagement

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Project Phase II: Staff Survey

Phase II: Staff Survey • April 2014 via Qualtrics• Non-faculty staff -- West Lafayette campus• Completed surveys: 2,575 (over one-third of staff)

• Goals: • Evaluate baseline employee perceptions of the quality of the work

environment and employee engagement at Purdue• Identify key factors that have the greatest effect on the quality of the

work environment• Evaluate influence of the work environment on employee well-being and

performance

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Characteristics of Survey Respondents

Job Group • 41% Administrative/Professional• 18% Clerical• 17% Service• 12% Operations/Technical• 11% Management• 1% Police/Fire

Age and Gender• Two-thirds women• Average reported age of 46

Years of Service (Tenure)• 17% less than one year• 15% 2–4 years• 17% 5–7 years• 17% 8–12 years• 18% 13–20 years• 17% 21 or more years

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Organizational Unit Representation

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Survey Results: Snapshot Trends

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Survey Results: Snapshot Trends

Levels could be a lot worse, but this indicates that there’s opportunity to enhance and improve the work environment.

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Notable Findings

• On average, respondents reported moderately high levels of Employee Engagement (3.7) and high levels of Job Satisfaction (4.0).

• Service employees reported feeling slightly less supported by their supervisors than respondents in other roles.

• Respondents reported that their coworkers are supportive and treat one another fairly. • Clerical and Service staff have less positive evaluations of their

interpersonal work environment. • On average, respondents perceived faculty and students provided

more respect and recognition than supervisors and coworkers.

• Staff reported feeling only moderately (3.5) comfortable reporting

harassment claims.

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Notable Findings

• All organizational units were above the neutral point on the scale as it pertained to development opportunities.

• 66% -- access to programs to learn new technology• 54% -- offered assistance with continuing education at Purdue • 69% -- sufficient time to learn new technology and skills on the job

• Clerical and Service staff rated Leadership Competence and Supervisor Support slightly lower than Management staff.

• Clerical (2.8) and Service (3.0) tend to feel like they have less control over the amount of work they are expected to accomplish compared to Management staff.

• Fourteen percent of respondents reported holding a second job. Open-ended comments had staff reporting the need for a second job was due to financial demands.

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Flexible Work Arrangements

Use of FWAs: • 54% of respondents use an FWA. Of these,

• 89% flextime • 25% compressed work week • 9% telework • 2% job sharing

Other FWA findings: • Employees with FWAs reported higher levels of engagement • Non-exempt employees with FWAs had higher levels of engagement • Exempt employees reported about the same level of engagement whether or

not they had access to FWAs. • Access to FWAs uneven, despite being a University policy used with

supervisor permission.

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Comments from Open Ended Question

Over 1,100 staff answered an open ended survey question about the Purdue work environment.  Responses from employees to open ended survey items were extremely varied. Categories of comments include*: • Enjoy Job/Enjoy Working at Purdue• Supervision/Leadership – Competence & Supportiveness• Bullying, Intimidation and Harassment• Work Control/Schedule Control• Relationship with Manager & Coworkers• Work/Life Balance• Advancement or Training Opportunities• Compensation & Benefits

* Not comprehensive and not rank ordered in any way

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Comments

“Concerning flex-time, remote work, etc., every department I have worked in did not allow for any of the benefits. They didn’t know of a way to make it fair between who could and couldn’t take advantage of the benefits so no one was allowed . . . More work needs to be done to help directors and supervisors feel comfortable and fair in allowing employees to take advantage of these opportunities.”

“I’ve been with the University for many years . . . My goal was 5 years. I’ve held 5 different positions in that timeframe; each new position was a step up the ladder or a different type of work for me. I thoroughly enjoy my work life with Purdue and within the department that I now work in.”

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Comments

“I have worked at Purdue for several years. I felt a much greater sense of community at Purdue when I started than I do now. I am very attached to my department and the people in it. However, recent reorganization has altered the organization in less than positive ways. For the first 10 years of my work with Purdue, I would have said Purdue is a great place to work. Now I would only say it is a good place to work.”

“My work environment in my current position is great, and I love my current job. However, I have worked in two other positions at Purdue where just the opposite was true, and I ended up leaving those positions. Your work environment at Purdue totally depends on the supervisor and that particular office environment – there is no consistency, in my experience.”

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Preliminary Recommendations*

Leadership and supervisor support training• programs for managers/supervisors• respecting boundaries between personal life and work life

Creating a culture of comfort around reporting bullying and harassment • communications clearly stating what constitutes harassment and what

resources are available • bullying and harassment awareness training for all employees

Increasing interpersonal support • opportunities for staff to feel their voices are heard • opportunities to serve on committees

* Not rank ordered

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Preliminary Recommendations* (continued)

Respect and recognition for staff • policies and practices that consider staff needs and priorities • make staff appreciation more visible

Development Opportunities • skill development, professional growth within a position, and promotion • clarify career paths; specify skills and abilities needed for advancement

Balancing work and non-work responsibilities • increase FWA awareness & utilization • assess Purdue’s work-life programs • programs for caregivers of children and adult dependents • identify low value work, redundancies, and practices that decrease productivity

Activities that promote health and well-being

 * Not rank ordered

Project Phases III & IV: Supervisor Training & Second Staff

Survey

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Coming Next …. Phase III: Pilot Leadership Training (January – March 2015) • Supervisors/managers of non-faculty staff (about 150 participants)• Two trainings focused on leadership competencies & supervisory behaviors• Focused on tools for better understanding staff needs in order to create

supportive work environments Phase IV: Second QWEI Employee Survey (April/May 2015)• Everyone who was invited to participate in Survey 1 • Goals are to:

• understand the Purdue work environment, assess change since Survey 1 in engagement

• evaluate training intervention pilot; determine most effective ways to enrich work lives of staff and improve quality of work environment

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Thank You

Questions, Comments

& Discussion