At CSUS in the Fall of 2013, the number of Executives reporting positive job satisfaction was just 74%.
For Staff, the job satisfaction number was 61%. For Faculty at Sacramento State, it was 52%.
Survey Context
Relative to their numbers on campus, Faculty were proportionally under-represented among survey respondents. Relative to the Staff, the opinions of Executives (Management Personnel Plan MPPs) tended to skew positive, while those from Faculty skewed negative. Greater participation from faculty could have tilted the results in either direction. Within and between group variance was not reported.
Lovely also said that "the response rate was not as high as we would have liked" (N = 533), but did not report the response rate (% of employees) or survey confidence values.
Human Resources Campus Climate Report
The Survey Results file is a 30 page printout showing the aggregated response frequencies for each survey question.
The report contains no comment or explanation, no narrative and no discussion section.
The survey's comment fields (the direct feedback and "input") were not quantified, summarized, referenced or published.*
Findings - High and Low
The high point of agreement in the survey - 90% positive - was that Staff members treat people with respect. As a percentage, more Executives and Faculty agreed that "Staff members with whom I interact treat me with respect" than did the staff themselves.
The corresponding respect-shown-by ratings for MPPs (75%) and Faculty (76%) were not as positive.
The rating for supervisors ("The person to whom I report treats me with respect") was 81%.
The low point? Only 21% agreed "I am satisfied with my salary."
A table in the report ("Statements With Largest Disagreement Among Groups") shows that compared to Staff, 23% more of the MPPs were satisfied with their salaries.
Between MPPs and Faculty, there appears to be no disagreement, the dissatisfaction is shared.
Other Findings
Equal opportunity and diversity: The overall positive value for questions on equity issues was given in the report as 79%. The perceptions at the department level actually exceed that. The positive response to "people of all genders are treated fairly in my department" was 83%.
Similar response values were obtained for ethnicity and culture (83%) and sexual orientation (84%).
Asked if "Sac State promotes a work environment where all people are welcomed," the positive response rate fell just slightly to 77%.Fairness: With gender, ethnicity and orientation taken out of the equation, the employee perceptions were less positive on questions related to fair treatment.
The number of employees who said their direct supervisor "evaluates my performance fairly" was 64%.
The number who agreed that "work is assigned equitably in my department" was only 48%.Work climate: The HR report gave the value for "work climate" as 75% positive overall, but did not specify which items were considered in that category.
The number of respondents who agreed or strongly agreed that Sacramento State is "an employee friendly work environment" was 65%.
The number who said there was "a spirit of cooperation" in their department was similar at 66%.
73% gave a positive response to the item "I feel valued by my department."
The number who feel "valued as a member of the Sac State community" was 64%.
The number who would "recommend Sac State as a good place to work" was 67%.Recognition: In the SHRM study of U.S. workers, only 56% were satisfied with management's recognition of their performance.
At CSUS, a similar number (only 54%) said they were "recognized for finding better ways of doing things."
In contrast, however, 70% at CSUS said that "the person I report to gives me praise when I do good work." That is the same percentage (70%) given in the SHRM study for the number of U.S. workers reporting positive relations with their supervisor.Co-workers: 79% of CSUS employees believe their "colleagues are ethical" and 75% think their "colleagues perform their responsibilities."
These figures compare favorably to the number in the national survey who are satisfied with their relationships with co-workers: 73%.Fear and Safety: Nationally, three-quarters of employees (75%) say they feel safe in the work environment. At Sacramento State, that figure appears significantly higher: 82% feel safe.
To the extent that it is comparable, the number at CSUS who said they feel they "can make recommendations without fear" was 71%. Given this number's similarity to the positive relations with supervisor value, good relations may be the equivalent of trust (or lack of fear).Communication: The positive response to "leadership in my department communicates essential information to all levels in the organization" was 65%.
The positive response to "I receive information essential to do my job on a timely basis" was 62%.
The most comparable rating from the national survey is for "communications with senior management." At 53%, the positive rating in the U.S. sample was much lower than at CSUS.Stress: The number of CSUS employees who agreed that "the amount of stress associated with my job is appropriate for my position" (i.e., the stress is as expected) was 58%. More than forty percent considered the possibility that there could be less.
71% at CSUS agreed that their department "creates a flexible environment that allows me to balance my work and personal life," suggesting that work-life balance is not a primary source of stress among employees (if it contributed, it should be at or below the 58% figure).
Similarly, the perception of personal control ("the opportunity to participate in making decisions that affect my work") was endorsed as positive by 70%. Again, that would not explain the stress ratings.
Complaint resolution stands out as a potentially significant source of workplace stress. Less than half (47%) of the CSUS employees felt that their "department effectively resolves staff issues."
Human Resources VP Lovely cautioned that it should be "reviewed in context."
The context for this survey is provided in a report commissioned by HR in 2012. At that time, because of workload pressures, Human Resources was "in a real sense, at a tipping point," according to a memo from Lovely to the University Budget Advisory Committee (UBAC).
As reported in the Sacramento Bee, the grievance caseload at CSUS was "two to three times that of any other CSU campuses surveyed," reflecting what the consultant described as "the difficult nature of the campus climate."
From these survey results, it appears that the campus climate may not be as difficult as suggested. Positive sentiment about the institution is abundant in the responses. Areas of concern can be identified.
There is a gap between feeling valued at the department level and at the university-as-a-community level. MPPs and Faculty may be significantly less respectful to others than the Staff. The percentage who believe they receive fair performance evaluations falls below the number who say they have a good relationship with their supervisor. The number who think that work is equitably assigned falls well below that.
The ability of the institution to effectively resolve grievances, complaints and other "staff issues" appears to be a rather salient concern. The low rate of endorsement on this item (less than half) is quite discrepant from the number of employees who said their colleagues were ethical and responsible (almost 80%), as well as the number who respect their supervisors. The people are viewed as reasonable, the process and the outcomes not so much.
Job satisfaction ratings are highly correlated with salary satisfaction. 60% of the SHRM sample said that salary was important, placing it higher than any other factor.
Other factors are at play in the CSUS job satisfaction numbers. Only 40% of the employees were satisfied with their "opportunity for career advancement," and that is something that employees would consider in deciding whether to recommend the campus as a place to work.
Whatever the contribution of other factors, it remains fair to assume that the earnings (falling below expectations) are creating a drag on other sectors of employee morale.
*Note: CSUS has said that it will release the comments from employees under the public records act. The unpublished raw data are available for purchase; ordering details are being worked out.
