Committed to workplace satisfaction, Yale launches fourth staff survey

Yale staff will once again have the chance to provide valuable feedback on the work culture at Yale via the 2012 Workplace Survey, taking place Nov. 12-26.

University leaders are committed to making Yale a great place to work, and note that order to do this, hearing from staff is critical.

“All staff members are urged to participate as we want, and need, your feedback,” said President Richard C. Levin in his invitation to all staff members encouraging them to take the survey.

“Yale’s Workplace Survey provides the University with important information about employee satisfaction, work unit and supervisory effectiveness, workplace communications, and organizational culture. This information will be used to develop action plans both in departments and across the University to make Yale an even better place to work,” Levin continued.

First offered in 2004-2005, the survey continues to provide information on important issues in the workforce, and helps identify areas most in need of improvement for the University and individual departments. Information from the previous survey in 2010 resulted in progress on several initiatives to enhance the working lives of staff at Yale including the development of an individual development planning process (IDP) to help staff members develop professionally and grow in their jobs. Staff feedback on the 2012 survey will help University leaders better understand how Yale is doing and what the University needs to focus on for 2013 and beyond.
In 2010, 81% of non-faculty staff members completed the survey. “While the last survey had a great participation rate, this year, we are hoping for even higher participation,” said Deborah Stanley-McAulay, the university’s chief diversity officer who leads the effort on coordinating the survey. “For everyone’s convenience, the survey is administered in both paper and electronic formats. The online survey will be able to accommodate staff members who use PCs as well as Macs and iPads. Special arrangements are being made to gain input from staff members who do not have easy access to a computer,” said Stanley-McAulay, noting that a paper survey was launched Nov. 8.
The survey is brief (7-10 minutes) and is strictly anonymous: Staff members are never asked for a NetID or name, and answers cannot be traced. The data is being collected and analyzed by the outside consulting firm Sirota Survey Intelligence, which will provide finished reports and online tools to the University. To help create measurable benchmarks for the University to assess over time, the questions being asked this year are similar to those in the survey conducted in 2010 including such critical dimensions of the work environment as commitment, diversity, leadership, productivity, innovation, and development.

For additional information, go the Workplace Survey website, www.yale.edu/conversations.