University of California, Davis
PA-13: Assessing Employee Satisfaction

UC Davis conducted the second Davis Campus Staff Experience Survey from March 28 to April 29 of 2022. The survey was developed by UC Davis Human Resources and administered in partnership with the employee engagement focused firm Glint. Invitations were distributed to 7,511 employees selected from a pool comprising all Davis campus non-academic staff, including both represented and policy covered (non-represented) staff, with a 64% response rate. The survey addresses issues such as satisfaction, work culture, career opportunities, confidence in supervisors and campus leadership, and more. The first Davis Campus Staff Experience Survey was conducted in 2020.

Davis Campus Staff Experience Survey: https://hr.ucdavis.edu/staff-experience-survey

In 2020-2021, UC Davis participated in its third Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) Faculty Job Satisfaction Survey, as administered by the Harvard Graduate School of Education to hundreds of higher education institutions. The survey was distributed to 2,449 academic faculty members, including clinical faculty, and received a 40% response rate. The survey is designed to measure faculty members' satisfaction with the many dimensions of their work, including their research, teaching, and service activities; work-life, health and retirement benefits; merit and promotion system; academic leadership and shared governance; support for interdisciplinary and collaborative work; and collegiality of their department. UC Davis previously participated in the COACHE Faculty and Job Satisfaction Survey in 2012-13 and 2016-17.

COACHE Faculty and Job Satisfaction Survey: https://academicaffairs.ucdavis.edu/faculty-satisfaction-survey-reports-coache

Additionally, the University of California conducted the 5th system-wide Staff Engagement Survey between May 10 and June 4 of 2021. The survey was developed by the Council of University of California Staff Assemblies (CUCSA) in collaboration with system-wide Human Resources’ Employee Relations department and Willis Towers Watson, a firm that conducts the survey on UC’s behalf. Roughly 20,000 randomly selected policy-covered staff, who joined the organization on or before June 1, 2019, received an invitation email to participate in the survey by Willis Towers Watson. The employee opinions gathered through the survey help to assess the level of involvement, commitment, and satisfaction staff feel toward their work. Conducting the survey every few years enables us to identify positive trends and opportunities for improvement. Prior Staff Engagement Surveys were conducted in 2019, 2017, 2015, and 2012. 

UC Staff Engagement Survey 2021: https://staff.ucdavis.edu/uc-staff-engagement-survey-2021

After the first Davis Campus Staff Experience Survey in 2020, the Chancellor and Provost established the Davis Campus Staff Experience Advisory Group, which makes recommendations directly to the Chancellor regarding solutions and programs that can improve staff experience and engagement.

Davis Campus Staff Experience Advisory Group: https://hr.ucdavis.edu/staff-experience-survey/advisory-group

Human Resources has also taken a multitude of steps in response to the 2020 survey. These include publishing an Interactive User Guide for Salary Offers, Stipends and Equity Adjustments to improve education about compensation and classification programs, as well as an Attracting, Selecting and Hiring Diverse Talent at UC Davis playbook and certificate series. Human Resources also revived a Group Mentoring Program which provides mentoring as a professional development tool.
User Guide to Salary Offers, Stipends, and Equity Adjustments: https://ucdavis.app.box.com/s/z5zgj83m3su5xr4bo8k1y95trzxe7tsh
Attracting, Selecting and Hiring Diverse Talent at UC Davis Playbook: https://hr.ucdavis.edu/supervisors/diversity/recruiting-diverse-talent/hiring-process
Group Mentoring Program: https://hr.ucdavis.edu/departments/learning/programs/group-mentoring

Following the COACHE Faculty Job Satisfaction survey, the Office of the Vice Provost for Academic Affairs disseminated a series of campuswide reports that present the results the members of the UC Davis COACHE Advisory Committee identified as most important, and the results from the campus-specific questions that committee developed for inclusion in the 2021 COACHE survey. These results will inform policy and program development at UC Davis going forward. Examples of changes made in response to the previous survey in 2016-17 include providing more mentoring and guidance to associate professors and making advancement processes and expectations of faculty more transparent.

In response to the Staff Engagement Survey at the UC-wide level, the UC Davis Staff Assembly works with other units on campus to develop working groups to address areas of opportunity with lower ratings when compared to prior year results, other UCs or industry averages. Results of the 2021 survey indicate three areas of low favorability among responses: retention and career development, upward communication, and diversity and inclusion. The Staff Assembly is exploring each of these priority areas further, and will identify actionable recommendations for improvement.

Cora Ballek, student employee at the UC Davis Sustainability office, assisted in compiling this credit response.