Staff Advisory Council
College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences
EnVision Articles

Staff Survey Reveals Communication Is the Key Results of the Staff Advisory Council survey "Strengthening the Quality of Work Life for Staff in the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences"

by Mark Erbaugh, Kyle Sharp and Susan Sommer

The results of a survey of College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences staff members consistently show communication issues to be the most important and needing the most improvement, said Mark Erbaugh, assistant director of International Programs in Agriculture and co-chair of the Staff Advisory Council Survey Task Force. Survey respondents said being kept informed of decisions made in their unit that impact their position and responsibilities was the most important of 40 issues given. The results also showed the greatest need for change was in this area. "Supervisors of staff need to involve their staff. Staff don't want to be just cogs in the wheel," Erbaugh said. "If you want to make this a more compelling place to work for staff, then talk to them and involve them in decision making." In spring 2000, the college Staff Advisory Council (SAC) sent a survey to all of the college's more than 1,400 staff - civil service and administrative and professional - and received 875 responses. The survey had four sections seeking opinions on various issues SAC members identified as important to staff. The goal was for SAC members to get a good idea of what the council could do to make the college a better place for staff to work. Some of the key results from the survey follow.

Exploring Opinions Part 1 of the questionnaire asked staff to rate the perceived importance of 40 individual statements on a four-point scale from very important (4) to not important (1). Respondents also were asked to rate each statement by the level they felt the issue or behavior was demonstrated in the college. The four-point scale ranged from demonstrated all of the time (4) to not demonstrated (1). Identified as most important to staff was "Being kept informed of decisions made in my unit that impact my position and responsibilities" with as average score of 3.86. Other statements/issues receiving a high level of importance were: "Having a clear understanding of my job responsibilities between my supervisor and me," 3.84; "Adequate equipment needed to do my job," 3.81; "The chance to make use of my skills and abilities in my work," 3.8; and "Being appreciated by my supervisor for my accomplishments," 3.75. See Figure 1 for the top 10 issues ranked by importance, and the rating for how well respondents thought the college demonstrates those issues. While it is nice to know what staff members consider most important, the most telling information from this part of the survey comes when the level of importance is compared with the level demonstrated in the college. For example, an issue may be rated as very important, but if it is already being demonstrated, then this indicates less of a problem. The things to focus on are those listed as important that are not well demonstrated. To rank issues in this way, a weighted discrepancy score (WDS) was determined for each statement by comparing the importance rating with the level demonstrated by the college. The higher the WDS on a scale from one to five, the larger the existing gap between how important the issue was and how well respondents felt the college covered it. "The weighted discrepancy score represents a 'need for change' and thus can be used to target areas for improving administrative oversight, to target areas for future resource allocations, and to suggest ways for making our college a more compelling place to work," Erbaugh said. Statements with the highest WDS were: "Being kept informed of decisions made in my unit that impact my position and responsibilities," 4.48; "A physical work environment conducive to my performance," 3.62; "Clear communication of departmental decisions to all faculty and staff," 3.53; "Being kept informed of college policies and decisions that impact my job," 3.23; and "Open communication between faculty and staff within our department/unit," 3.07. Four of these top five suggest a need for improved communication with staff. The 10 statements with the highest WDS are listed in Figure 2. To get a better idea of underlying themes in the responses, the 40 statements were sorted into seven groups or constructs, with the statements in each construct having common dimensions. The ranking of the constructs indicated that "Involvement in Decision Making" is regarded as the most important, and also the area most in need of being improved within the college. Statements within this construct had an average WDS of 3.38. The remaining constructs and their average WDS were: Performance Review, 2.86; Recognition and Reward, 2.56; Consistent Communication and Policy Implementation, 2.49; Job Flexibility, 2.13; Training, 1.86; and College Solidarity or Unity, 1.74. "In general, staff members appear to be comfortable with the level of flexibility within their jobs and their opportunities for training," Erbaugh said. "They also seem to be pretty happy with the networking or unity between the various parts of the college." To address performance review issues, which received the second highest construct WDS, the Staff Advisory Council has created a Performance Review Task Force in hopes of making an immediate impact in this area.

Exploring Preferences Part 2 of the questionnaire asked staff members to rate their top three preferred responses, by importance, to each of five questions related to rewards, recognition, orientation, development and team concept. The questions with preferences, ranked by percentage indicated as "most important," were:

1. Which of the following would you prefer to receive as a special one-time reward for a job well done? Monetary reward - 65 percent. Funding and time off to attend a developmental workshop or seminar - 13 percent. Funding to purchase items to enhance your work area - 12 percent. Gift Certificate - 5 percent. Other - 5 percent.

2. Which of the following would you prefer to receive as a special one-time recognition for a job well done? Thank you letter written by the department chair or unit head - 44 percent. Recognition certificate or plaque - 23 percent. Being recognized as employee of the month/quarter/year - 15 percent. Being recognized at a special recognition event - 10 percent. Other - 8 percent.

3. As a new or an experienced employee, what orientation opportunities would you prefer? Seminars that would provide professional development in your work area - 31 percent. Opportunity to be matched to a more experienced staff mentor - 21 percent. New personnel orientation in my department - 18 percent. Opportunity to visit other departments and to shadow staff - 14 percent. New personnel orientation seminar for the college - 7 percent. Main campus orientation and tour - 7 percent. Other - 2 percent.

4. What development opportunities would attract your participation? Opportunities for career advancement - 34 percent. Training and development of technical skills - 32 percent. Technology updates - 15 percent. Training and development of interpersonal skills - 12 percent. Mentoring opportunities - 7 percent.

5. What activities do you feel would encourage the team concept throughout the college? In-service training on a variety of topics that brings together faculty and staff - 40 percent. Departmental conferences that involve staff, faculty and students - 22 percent. Joint conferences on a college-wide level - 14 percent. Mentoring program for new staff - 12 percent. Shadowing other personnel in the college - 6 percent. Other - 6 percent.

A Letter to the Vice President Part 3 of the questionnaire asked staff if they were to write an anonymous letter to Vice President/Dean Bob Moser, what three things do they think are most important for him to consider as he works to strengthen the quality of work life for staff in the college. Themes identified were: salaries, communication, access to benefits, training and professional development, leadership, administrative visibility, work/life issues, recognition, esprit de corps, positive statements, physical facilities, college unity, programmatic funding, career advancement, diversity, personnel issues, equipment, technology, community relationships/grass roots, accountability and integrity, physical distance issues, and Extension issues.

About the Respondents Part 4 of the questionnaire asked staff members to respond to six demographic questions. Responses were intended to help SAC better understand college staff members and their needs. The highest number of respondents have worked for the college and/or Ohio State University for five years. They have worked for Ohio State University for an average of 10.1 years and for the college an average of 9.41 years. The remaining demographic information is shown in Figures 4-6. SAC would like to thank college staff members who filled out and returned the questionnaire. The council has recently addressed several of the issues identified in the survey in the following task forces: Rewards (see report on-line), Performance and Staff Development/Training. SAC also is in the process of forming a task force on Communication. For more information about SAC and the survey results, please visit the SAC Web page at http://sac.ag.ohio-state.edu.