Working at Iowa: Faculty, staff provide positive response about UI work experience

Photos by Tom Jorgensen.

In 2008, 62.3 percent of University of Iowa employees took the Working at Iowa (WAI) survey. An even greater number of employees likely will be interested in the results, which are now available for review.

The 2008 results show that University staff and faculty are positive about their overall work experience. The results also identify areas where things can continue to improve. A comparison of 2008 to 2006 response data shows statistically significant difference in 28 of 45 survey items. All the differences show a shift in the distribution of the six response levels in 2008 toward positive improvement.
 
Kevin Ward, executive associate director of human resources, spoke with fyi about the 2008 results and the next steps for WAI.

What were your first impressions once the WAI results were tabulated?

I am always impressed with how much people like being a part of the University of Iowa. The WAI results continue to reflect high levels of agreement with many survey items that show how very positive individuals feel about their work experience. The results also reflect a high level of interest and support for achieving excellence in what we do at the University.

The results are strengthened by the 62% participation rate—a huge jump from the 2006 survey. In your mind, what brought about such an increase?

That was the biggest surprise, the outstanding level of participation we had from all staff and faculty groups. I believe the increased participation reflects the genuine belief that we wanted to know their opinions, faith that we will act on them, and the genuine desire of our faculty and staff to make the University the best it can be. In responding to the survey, each individual wanted us to know their views on what is good about the University, and what can be made even better.

We used some new approaches to promote participation in the survey, including the use of local survey ambassadors to provide information and encourage participation among individuals in their immediate work area. These folks were great ambassadors for the survey and clearly helped in our efforts to promote participation.

The results from a larger number of respondents in 2008 confirm much of what we learned in 2006 about our strengths, as well as the areas in which we can continue to improve. The increased interest and participation in the Working at IOWA initiative will help us continue to build enthusiasm and interest in acting on these results, and communicating back to the campus on the decisions and actions taken in response to the survey.

Did anything else jump out at you?

I was also encouraged by the comparison of the 2008 responses to the 2006 baseline data. An analysis of statistically significant change in the survey responses found positive change in 28 of the 45 survey items in the overall results, with no significant change to the negative.

Three areas that met with the most disagreement in the 2006 survey—management of work-related conflicts, fair distribution of workloads, and appropriate management of poor performance—saw more favorable responses in 2008. What initiatives may have nudged these areas in the right direction, and are similar and/or additional initiatives in the works for these and other areas?

The 2006 survey results put a focus on these areas and brought renewed interest and efforts to make improvements. Multiple strategies have been used at both the University and local level.

In the area of conflict management, we have tried to recognize that some conflict is normal and sometimes healthy, if the individuals respond in ways that are constructive and serve to manage the conflict effectively. We have increased the educational opportunities and resources available to assist on both a scheduled and “just in time” basis. Similarly in the area of performance management, we have pulled people together to focus on various aspects of performance management, from improving the frequency and quality of performance appraisals to just in time resources to deal with problems when they arise.

Workload distribution is typically addressed locally, but within Human Resources, we have increased the resources we can offer the campus around work redesign and process improvement to help units deal with those issues. While these may have contributed to the improvements we have seen in the survey results, we also understand our challenge to expand these efforts and/or find new and innovative approaches to these important concerns.

What was learned in terms of job classification—did faculty, P&S staff, and merit staff have radically different responses?

The summary report contains a chart that allows you to look at the overall level of agreement for each item, and then the results for faculty, professional and scientific (and merit supervisory classifications), and then the regular merit staff. Overall, I believe the responses across the groups are largely consistent with each other.

Faculty saw agreement increases in 28 items—far beyond the levels seen in P&S staff and merit staff. Any idea why this might be?

The survey does not provide any insight as to why people responded as they did. It simply provides a point-in-time picture of how individuals felt when they completed the survey. We are encouraged by the number of areas that showed improvement and that all of the changes identified as statistical significant were toward the positive.

What’s next on the Working at Iowa front? When will the next survey occur? Will anything change about the survey—will new topics be addressed?

The next step is for us to provide each college and division with their own survey results. They in turn may request department or unit based reports (so long as there are at least 15 respondents to meet our confidentiality standard). Vice President Susan Buckley and Associate Provost Susan Johnson will then meet with each vice president and dean, along with their senior Human Resources leader, to talk about their local results and help develop strategies for communication and follow-up.

The hard work of this initiative will be to work to respond to the survey results at both the University and local level. Within Human Resources, we will re-examine our efforts to address the areas for improvement. This will include evaluating our existing strategies and approaches, and looking for new and innovative ways to improve. We also continue to partner with the Human Resource leaders across campus to help them lead improvements within their college or division.

by Christopher Clair