Highlights of the University’s 2008 Workplace Survey

The following are some of the highlights of Yale’s Workplace Survey, conducted at the end of 2008.

Commitment: More than 80% of staff members said they would recommend Yale as a great place to work and 74% said that they intend to stay at the University.

“Employees answered all of the commitment questions at the far end of the favorable scale,” says Michael Peel, vice president for human resources and administration (see related stories). “Those ratings are at benchmark levels. Even the best organizations aspire to have commitment scores this high.”

Comments by staff members in this category often mirrored the sentiments of one employee who wrote: “Yale is a great place to work because of the caliber of people, and the pride and determination most employees have. People are generally excited and grateful to work here, and they take what they do seriously.”

Leadership: 86% of staff members say that they are confident the University “has a clear plan to assure long-term success” and 58% indicated they trust the decisions made by senior administrators. These ratings rose since 2005 and are dramatically higher than the norm at other higher education institutions, Peel notes.

Performance management: 70% of staff members said that they have clear performance goals and job expectations. This result was also significantly higher than in 2005, according to Peel.

Just over half of the respondents indicated that they had been provided a “thorough and thoughtful performance review” during the past year, an increase of 13% from 2005. Of managerial and professional employees, 80% said that they had had a performance review in 2008 — a 50% increase since 2005.

“It’s clear that the FOCUS performance appraisal for the management and professional employees has driven that dramatic increase,” comments Peel. “I think our significantly stronger performance management scores demonstrate that, if you work on something comprehensively across the University, people see the progress and it is reflected in the workplace survey results.”

Diversity: 70% of employees gave favorable ratings when queried about whether they are treated fairly without regard to race, religion, gender, disabilities or sexual orientation. Over half of the respondents said that Yale is an inclusive environment where diversity is valued and encouraged.

Survey results indicated that women were even more positive than men in how they viewed most aspects of the Yale workplace culture. However, ethnic minorities tended to respond to survey questions less positively than did white staff members.
“Of course, we’d like to see progress in this area,” says Peel. “While the overall ratings for diversity questions were relatively high, we take any staff member’s concerns about fairness and inclusiveness very seriously.”

Some Yale employees noted in their comments that the focus on inclusiveness in the Yale workplace is improving. Said one: “Yale is also, finally, paying attention to diversity in the workplace. Yale has long recognized the value of diversity in its student body and faculty, but it has been slow to make the strategic case for workplace diversity, and that is starting to change.”

Teamwork: While most employees (65%) lauded the teamwork in their own units, a lower percentage (40%) said that Yale departments work together cooperatively and effectively. Favorable ratings in this category were below the higher education and industry norms, creating an “opportunity for improvement” in this area, Peel says. “Many staff members commented that there was significant room for greater coordination and cooperation between University departments and divisions.”

Development: 70% of respondents credited their managers or supervisors with supporting them and encouraging them to take advantage of developmental opportunities at Yale.

Yet, only 30% of survey respondents indicated that they had collaborated with their managers to establish a development plan.

“This was our first time asking our staff whether a specific development plan was in place for them and the results demonstrate that this is an area that requires a University-wide effort,” Peel says.

Innovation: While 61% of employees feel that the University encourages workplace innovation and that they can have an impact on changing or improving the way work is done in their units, less than half indicated that they thought people at Yale are really open to new ideas.

Decision-making: 65% of staff members believe that they have enough authority to make job decisions, but an equal number say that their work is hampered by untimely decision making on the part of higher-level managers or other work units.

Productivity: Only 44% of staff members say their unit has successfully eliminated bureaucracy and waste. However, 61% say that employees in their units are mindful of costs and expenses.

Rewards: Most employees feel that Yale’s pay is equal to or better than market norms (69%) and most perceive Yale benefits to be very competitive (over 90%).