Overall Rating Gold - expired
Overall Score 68.95
Liaison Daryl Pierson
Submission Date June 30, 2016
Executive Letter Download

STARS v2.0

Portland State University
PA-10: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 0.09 / 1.00 Molly Bressers
Program & Outreach Coordinator
Campus Sustainability Office
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Has the institution conducted an employee satisfaction and engagement survey or other evaluation that meets the criteria for this credit?:
Yes

The percentage of employees (staff and faculty) assessed, directly or by representative sample:
9

A brief description of the institution’s methodology for evaluating employee satisfaction and engagement:

Process

July 2015: Link to a survey was emailed to all 380 benefits-eligible employees and taken by 274 of them (72% participation rate!). The survey was available for benefits-eligible employees to take from June 15-July 1, 2015.benefits-eligible FADM employees. The survey was available in three languages. The survey, administered by Gallup, measured engagement by understanding information like whether employees feel respected at work and if they have the necessary tools and support to do their work.

August 2015: FADM Leadership reviewed survey results and decided to gather more information from employees using three different methods:

Follow-up Survey: In October 2015, a survey was emailed to employees to gather further feedback. Employees were asked what is currently working for them and what changes they would like to see regarding four questions from the original survey:
I know whatís expected of me at work.
At work, I have the opportunity to do what I do best every day.
At work, my opinions seem to count.
This last year, Iíve had opportunities at work to learn and grow.
Department meetings: During Fall 2015, department and division managers led discussions about the survey and gathered feedback about employeesí experience in their department.
Focus Groups: In November and December 2015, voluntary focus groups were conducted using a third-party facilitator. These groups were used to gather feedback anonymously from employees. Discussions were focused on the same four questions as the follow up survey (listed above).
February 2016: FADM leadership decided on actions to be taken based on the feedback received and created the FADM Employee Engagement page to communicate the feedback received and next steps.


A brief description of the mechanism(s) by which the institution addresses issues raised by the evaluation (including examples from the previous three years):

Three main themes came out of the feedback provided through the FADM Employee Engagement process. Below is a summary of those themes, and the actions planned for the next year.

Professional Development, What we heard:

Want more professional development opportunities.
Opportunities are not evenly distributed among FADM units.
Process improvement could free up time for professional development.

What we're doing

Creating tools & training for managers to develop opportunities for employees.
Creating work group to focus on FADM process changes.
Committment by each FADM department to provide professional development opportunities for their employees.

Communication & Input, What we heard:

Lack of communication and opportunity for input, especially when changes are made.
Need more communication from the top and between departments.
Lack of clarity on goals & priorities of FADM and individual departments.

What we're doing

Anonymous Suggestion Box to gather feedback.
Periodic meetings with departments to provide information and gather input.
Identifying and celebrating improvements made in the last year.

Management Development, What we heard:

Need improvement in communication and prioritization skills of managers.
Would like more regular performance feedback, including goal-setting.
Would like managers to plan better to avoid frequent crisis management.

What we're doing

Managers will be attending a training series provided by HR.
Creating opportunities for managers to network and learn from other managers.
Updating FADM job descriptions over the next year.
Increasing accountability for conducting performance evaluations on time.
Creating development plans for FADM managers to assess and support skills and opportunities for improvement.


The year the employee satisfaction and engagement evaluation was last administered:
2,015

The website URL where information about the institution’s employee satisfaction and engagement assessment is available:
Data source(s) and notes about the submission:

Total employees figure from Fall 2014: 4071


Total employees figure from Fall 2014: 4071

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.